Singapore: Will SMX carve itself a niche?

	Thomas McMahon and Jignesh Shah (first and second left) of the Singapore Mercantile Exchange with Ong Chong Tee of the Monetary Authority of Singapore at the SMX’s inauguration

Singapore Mercantile Exchange, billed as the first pan-Asian multi-product commodity and currency derivatives exchange, rang its opening bell on August 31. The next question: will people use it? Chief executive Thomas McMahon describes the rationale as so obvious “it was like a light switch flicking on”. Asia is the new home of world commodities demand and Singapore the natural hub to trade it: its Jurong Island is one of the world’s densest oil-refining areas, and its port one of the busiest.