Marcus Goi (pictured), chief executive of Orient Futures’ Singapore arm on Monday said the firm’s priority was not just Southeast Asia, though Orient has been successful in connecting Asian clients into China, having established overseas subsidiary in Singapore. He said the firm is preparing to expand into Dubai and Europe.

Goi spoke with Paul MacGregor, executive director at Arjun Global during an event in Dubai, according to a latest social media episode from Arjun Global.

“Dubai has become very prominent in the past 5 years, and we do have a lot of clients in Dubai. The importance of Dubai, in my own perspective, is no longer just a hub that bridges Europe, US and Asia. It has become a global hub. I think from a capital market perspective the region is not going to be missed. We just got to capture opportunities, and I think Dubai has become quite important,” Goi said.

Speaking on plans to expand into Europe, he said the Chinese broker has got approval to set up an entity in the UK. “It is likely to happen this year and we will start the process of getting the UK Financial Conduct Authority license hopefully.”

Goi said membership in the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Europe will deepen and widen the products Orient Futures can offer to the firm’s commercial clients in China.

“China is one of the biggest participants into metals market and ICE EU is one of the biggest participants in the energy market. Europe has become important for us and primarily in the UK we need to get the membership very soon.”

The Chinese broker expects more foreign investor participation as channels for products such as liquefied natural gas gradually open up. Jenny Wang, head of global business division at Orient Futures, said last month that products that allow for cross-border arbitrage and have high volatility are anticipated to attract foreign investors to Chinese futures exchanges.