FinTech entrepreneur and Honorary Consul of Monaco believes in the power of supporting local communities.
Born in Canada in 1976, Martin St-Hilaire is the Honorary Consul of the Principality of Monaco in Vanuatu since 2022.
Mr. St-Hilaire is a qualified Canadian Chartered Professional Accountant (CA, CPA Auditor) and member of the Ordre des Comptables Professionnels Agréés du Québec. After obtaining a Bachelor’s degree from HEC Montréal and a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Laval University in Quebec City, he honed his skills at several “Big 4” accounting firms in Canada (Arthur Andersen/Deloitte) and in New Caledonia (KPMG).
In 2007, he joined AJC Vanuatu, a leading advisory firm specialised in audit and accounting, incorporation of local and international companies, citizenship by investment, corporate secretarial services, and support for investors seeking business, financial, or regulatory licences issued by the country’s authorities.
Initially co-chairing the firm with its founder, Paul de Montgolfier, he later assumed full leadership alongside his wife, Marie-Eve. Under their stewardship, AJC solidified its position as a key player in Vanuatu’s financial services industry, recognised for its operational efficiency and commitment to raising standards in service quality and regulatory compliance.
In 2018, Mr. St-Hilaire became Managing Director of Titan FX, a derivatives brokerage firm he had previously helped license in Vanuatu. Under his leadership, the company grew to a team of over 150 employees across four continents.
From the beginning, he made a point of building a strong local presence with a core team of over 25 Vanuatu-based professionals specialising in finance and accounting, risk management, and regulatory compliance. Titan FX is now widely recognised in Vanuatu for its commitment to community development through an extensive sponsorship programme spanning education, sports, health, and civic life.
Mr. St-Hilaire has been President of the Financial Markets Association of Vanuatu since 2020, and previously served as Chairman of the Financial Centre Association from 2015 to 2023. He also sits on the boards of a number of Vanuatu businesses including Pacific Private Bank, 83 Islands Distillery, and the Yumiwork incubator and co-working space; and he’s a partner in Singapore-based global mobility firm EC Holdings.
In recognition of his prominent standing in the community, he was appointed as Honorary Consul of the Principality of Monaco in Vanuatu by H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco through an Ordonnance Souveraine dated 7 September 2022.
His official approval (or exequatur, in diplomatic parlance) was issued on 25 November by Vanuatu’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and External Trade, the Hon. Jotham Napat, who currently serves as Prime Minister.
Mr. St-Hilaire was naturalised as “Ni-Vanuatu” in 2017 and is now a dual Canada-Vanuatu passport holder. In 2023, 20 years after he set foot in Vanuatu, he received the National Medal of Merit.
Being appointed as an Honorary Consul
Tell us what exactly is an Honorary Consul?
“Honorary consuls are volunteer diplomats who work in their home country to represent the interests of the foreign nations that appoint them.
The system has existed for centuries and there are now thousands of honorary consuls worldwide. They often fill in the gaps in places where a fully funded diplomatic mission would not make sense, as is often the case between smaller countries.”
What is your main role as an Honorary Consul?
“One of my duties is to offer immediate assistance to any Monegasque national who may require it; but most of my time is devoted to another important role vested in me by His Serene Highness: the promotion of Monaco.”
You are not Monegasque; how come your name came up for this position?
“Actually, most honorary consuls do not need to have the nationality of the country that appoints them. What’s more important is that they are knowledgeable about and well established in the consular district, and that they uphold their function with loyalty.
My wife Marie Eve is Canadian and Ni-Vanuatu like me, and she has been the Honorary Consul for Sweden for many years. And my predecessor in this role, Patrick Morvan, was a French national.
Marie Eve invited Patrick to use our offices at AJC, and that’s how she and I had the honour to be introduced to His Serene Highness Albert II during his visit to Vanuatu four years ago.
When Patrick left his functions, I contacted the Monaco authorities and offered to replace him, and they accepted. The Principality’s coat of arms and the official portrait of the Prince remain proudly displayed at our offices – only now with a new consul.”
How often do you make a trip back here to Monaco?
“I visit at least once a year, typically during the National Day in November. As Honorary Consul, I’m invited to participate in various events related to the celebrations.”
Are you currently involved with any social activities or giving back to any of the Monaco communities?
“We are currently exploring various sponsorship and community support opportunities and we are open to receiving new solicitations.”
Entrepreneurial spirit
Have you always wanted to be an entrepreneur?
“Yes, ever since I was a kid, whenever someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I’d say, “I want to make money.” Money always seemed closely tied to freedom of choice, and I’ve always wanted to decide what I do, where I do it, and how I do it. So, I guess you could say I’ve had an entrepreneurial spirit from the start, a passion for Freedom and thus for money!”
Vanuatu is an interesting place where ideas are not limited. For instance, Vanuatu Post has created the world’s only Underwater Post Office.
Situated within the Hideaway Island marine sanctuary, the Post Office sits in around three metres of water and both divers and snorkellers are able to post special “waterproof postcards”.
This spectacular idea of an underwater Post Office recognises that the Republic of Vanuatu is made of 83 islands and is a marine paradise.
Titan Fx
In 2018, Mr St-Hilaire joined Titan FX, a world-class fintech company deeply invested in Vanuatu.
What was the founding vision behind Titan FX, and how has it evolved since its launch?
“We’re part of the fintech wave – a new generation of brokers who’ve been leveraging technology to provide a better trading experience to retail investors, and in our case, offering high-leverage speculative instruments that weren’t readily available to a large audience before.
Previously, investors had a limited range of choices due to the large amount of capital required to get started, but we’ve lowered the barrier of entry and changed who a modern trader can be.”
Why Vanuatu and not another international fintech hub?
“We believe Vanuatu provides the perfect environment for fintech businesses to grow and prosper.
We’re definitely the kind of people who want to stay and make a meaningful contribution to the Vanuatu community, not just economically, but socially and culturally as well.
Vanuatu offers a balanced and flexible legislative framework for brokerage firms and financial institutions, along with a favourable time zone for serving the Asia-Pacific region where half of the world resides. And, like Monaco, Vanuatu is a tax-neutral jurisdiction.”
What were the biggest challenges you faced during the early stages of Titan FX, and how did you overcome them?
“When I joined Titan FX, the company was transitioning from its startup stage to its growth phase. The core team was already assembled, but we lacked a unifying direction.
With 15 nationalities spread across 18 countries, most of us non-native English speakers, my priority was to align everyone around a shared set of values and goals; we needed a culture.
One key decision was establishing our Vanuatu headquarters as our cultural anchor. Team members from all over the globe are encouraged to visit regularly, immerse themselves in our company spirit, and contribute to the many community initiatives we support on this extraordinary Pacific island. Vanuatu is where we reconnect, not just as colleagues but as human beings.
The care we extend to traders at Titan FX is rooted in the same care we show for each other and the community we live in. We’re not just a team. We’re the Titan FX family!”
How do you define success as a fintech entrepreneur in such a competitive and fast-changing space?
“We rely on internal real-time dashboards, periodic reports, customer surveys, and a wide array of data points to give us a sense of our performance and alignment with our broader business strategy. A few years back, we implemented the OKR methodology. Our business is fully digital, a cloud-based operation; however, we keep in mind that humans are our clients and humans are our teammates.”
How does Titan FX differentiate itself from other global forex and CFD brokers?
“We stand out in three ways: by delivering the best possible order execution, by empowering traders with all the knowledge and the tools they need to improve their outcomes, and by genuinely caring for their overall experience, from transparent pricing to attentive customer support. We want to position ourselves as the preferred venue for investors to elevate their trading experience and achieve their financial ambitions.”
What markets or client segments are you currently focusing on for growth?
“We strive to be the venue of choice for all kinds of traders, both amateur and professional, whether they’re “scalpers” with a need for speed, “algos” leveraging our exclusive tools, or regular day traders looking for deep liquidity and low spreads. They all keep coming back for the same reason: we offer them the best available technology so that their mind is free to focus on strategy.”
What motivates you every day as a CEO, and what are you most proud of today when you look at Titan FX?
“We are the best high-leverage online broker out there. We’re objectively at the top regarding pricing, order execution, customer support, education, and every other metric that matters. What makes me proud is that these results aren’t accidental; they reflect a relentless focus and a team that genuinely cares about our clients, our colleagues, and the community we’re part of. It’s a privilege to lead a company where performance and purpose go hand in hand.”
Compliance, Data Protection and Security
Titan FX is known for its low latency and lightning-fast execution. What infrastructure supports this performance and fast execution?
“We’ve developed our own architecture called ZeroPoint Technology, which aggregates external and internal liquidity at the speed of light to match every single order at the best pricing available anytime, anywhere in the world. We’ve spent years fine-tuning it to the point it has become a key competitive advantage – our “tech moat” like they say in the business.”
How do you approach platform security and data protection?
“A third of our workforce are software engineers, and they all place computer security and data integrity at the heart of everything they do, because they know Titan FX is nothing without the trust of our customers. It’s part of the “Caring” culture I referred to earlier, and the best testament is our perfectly clean slate with zero breach or data security incident recorded in our 11 years of existence.”
How do you ensure transparency and trust for both new and experienced traders?
“In addition to delivering the best possible experience on our trading platforms, we strive to elevate traders with data and knowledge to improve their skills over time, because we want them to keep coming back over the long term. Most brokers offer some level of market information and educational content to their customers, but I can say we’ve gone far beyond that by now, with our industry-leading Research Hub.
The Research Hub is a free online resource, open to everyone, where we share every possible token of knowledge we can gather on global markets across many asset classes. That includes a wide variety of indicators, ratios, calculators, and also internal data such as the depth of our order book and our win/loss ratio, which are things most brokers usually keep private.”
How does Titan FX maintain compliance with financial regulations?
“When you invest in foreign exchange, corporate stocks, commodities or precious metals through our platform, you don’t directly buy or sell these assets as you would with a traditional broker. Instead, we provide derivative products known as Contracts for Difference (CFD), which are much easier to trade online at speed without the complications of settlement or custodianship.”
Since the first CFD was issued in early 1990 by investment bankers at UBS, it has become a widely used instrument among both day traders and long-term investors. Recent estimates suggest that each month, around 5 million people actively trade CFDs, with volumes as high as 15 trillion USD.
“CFDs are subjected to their own form of regulation, which differs from one place to another. In our case, we are multi-licensed in Vanuatu (our headquarters), the British Virgin Islands, the Seychelles, and Mauritius. These four jurisdictions strike the perfect balance between flexibility and security, allowing brokers to offer high leverage while protecting traders against accidental loss and fraud, on a global scale. We maintain our four licenses through rigorous regulatory compliance processes, in order to earn and maintain the trust of our customers.”
How do you help new traders avoid common mistakes?
“We encourage every new customer to start with a demo account to practice their skills. They can use it to join our monthly trading tournaments and compete for real cash prizes before depositing any actual funds. Once they’re ready, traders can ease in gradually, increasing their leverage from 1x to 5x, 30x, and eventually 500x or even 1000x.
Our traders can always rely on the Research Hub to watch training videos, explore market insights, use advanced indicators, or experiment with trading algorithms. “Generating alpha”, as traders like to say, requires dedication, skill, and hard work. So we guide our users on a path of continuous improvement. There’s always something new to learn.”
How do you see retail trading evolving over the next five years?
“I expect significant growth, especially on mobile devices, which make it so easy to trade on the go. Our role is to keep feeding traders the right insights and instilling in them the discipline to improve their outcomes. The more they succeed, the more new traders will join them!”
How has AI or machine learning impacted your operations or platform development?
“I find AI to be fascinating. I don’t think robots can replace the satisfaction of trading for our customers, many of whom do it as a hobby or even a passion, but they will certainly help them refine their views on the market and improve their financial outcomes. As for our side of the business, AI might reduce the need to hire more people as we will be able to do more with less, but the ones we do hire will have a better time as they can focus on the most rewarding tasks while robots do the grunt work.”
Titan FX for Monaco Residents
Monaco has a sophisticated investor base. How does Titan FX cater to high-net-worth individuals and professional traders in the Principality?
“Our business is location-agnostic; we target a global customer base with no specific nationality or residence. We do not operate in Monaco, and this interview is certainly not meant to solicit Monaco residents.
But the Principality is renowned around the world for its charm and beauty, its cosmopolitanism, and its freedom-loving way of life, and we certainly love the idea of associating our brand with these values. The Magazine is widely distributed, and the readers are international citizens.”
Are there any limitations or specific regulatory considerations Monaco residents should be aware of when opening a Titan FX account?
“Again, we do not operate in Monaco, and our services are neither tailored to nor marketed towards its residents. We are not regulated in Monaco; we are regulated in Vanuatu, BVI, Seychelles, and Mauritius.
This article is not intended to be perceived as solicitation, and we are not offering our products and services specifically to Monaco residents.
Monaco is a cosmopolitan city, a city of the world. Millions of people know Monaco, visit Monaco, and dream of Monaco, whether reading that magazine at home, on a plane, on a train, or online from Brazil or Korea.
Monaco is more than a Principality; it is a concept of beauty and liberty. It is important to note that we are only providing the “tools” — we do not offer investment advice, and all our clients are self-directed traders.”
Can Monaco-based clients fund their accounts in EUR, CHF, or GBP—and are local bank integrations available?
“As we serve an international clientele, funding options are available in multiple currencies for eligible clients. We support direct deposits in EUR, USD, AUD and JPY.
We offer a vast array of funding methods: credit and debit cards, local and international bank wires(swift and sepa), e-wallets like Skrill and Neteller, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. . Other than specified, all deposits are free of all fees with instant or fast processing.”
What is the minimum amount to open a Titan FX account?
“The minimum deposit to open a live trading account is $2000, or equivalent in supported currencies. We also offer a lower entry point with the Zero Micro account, which has no strict minimum. Basically, anyone can access the highest quality of service on our platform.”
Does Titan FX offer dedicated relationship managers or account support for clients in Monaco or Western Europe?
“Titan FX provides 24/7 multilingual customer support via live chat, email, and phone, with a focus on responsive, knowledgeable assistance for all clients worldwide.
However, dedicated relationship managers are primarily reserved for our Introducing Broker (IB) partners and high-volume traders. While we do not offer region-specific managers, our global support team handles all inquiries with the same commitment to expertise and care.”
How do you ensure fast execution and minimal latency for traders operating from Monaco or the French Riviera?
“Our proprietary Zero Point Technology ensures lightning-fast execution by aggregating liquidity from external providers and internal sources at a micro-transaction level.
The infrastructure is hosted at the Equinix NY4 data center, a global hub for low-latency financial trading, delivering execution times under 1ms in most cases.
We minimize latency through optimized routing and partnerships with top-tier liquidity providers. In addition, we offer a Virtual Private Server to qualifying customers to further reduce ping times, enabling seamless scalping, algo trading, and high-frequency strategies from anywhere in the world.”
Can Monaco residents participate in any exclusive investment opportunities or advanced instruments through Titan FX?
“Titan FX does not offer exclusive or Monaco-specific investment opportunities. We provide the same range of trading products to all eligible clients worldwide.
Our advanced ECN execution is available to qualifying customers to support advanced strategies such as hedging and algorithmic trading. Onboarding is always voluntary and for self-directed accounts only, and again, this is not a targeted offer for Monaco residents.”
With many Monaco residents focused on wealth preservation, how does Titan FX support risk management, diversification, and portfolio resilience?
“Wealth preservation is core to successful trading. Our services are tailored specifically to empower all clients to pursue long-term portfolio resilience through education, technology-driven execution, and discipline.
Our platform includes risk management features such as stop-loss orders, take-profit levels, and trailing stops to help limit downside exposure. Traders can also diversify risk across uncorrelated assets, including forex, stocks, commodities and cryptos, all from a single account, helping to offset losses in volatile conditions.
Our Research Hub provides a wide range of tools including economic calendars, market analysis, proprietary indicators, and internal data to support informed and resilient strategies. We encourage all traders to start with demo accounts and low leverage in order to build discipline and confidence.
Traders focused on wealth preservation must limit their exposure to CFD as that asset class is highly volatile and requires attention and discipline.
It is, however, a good asset class in a diversified portfolio and it could help reduce overall risk if used by knowledgeable individuals,” – concludes Mr St-Hilaire.
EXCLUSIVE:
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