Global Foreign Exchange Committee Semi-Annual Surveys Released

Leading central banks from around the world published their semi-annual Forex Forex Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Read this Term Exchange trading surveys for their respective countries. The surveys are a joint effort conducted by the US, UK, Singapore, Japan, Australia, and Canadian Foreign Exchange Committees. The surveys include data from leading FX dealers and banks and provide average daily volume data from the beginning of May through October 2012.

As the figures below show, spot FX volume data is similar to trends we saw in 2012 from US retail firms with the US and Japan being underperformers compared to the rest of the world, with overall declines occurring. The volumes also show that FX Swaps Swaps Swaps can be defined as a derivate contact composed of two parties that exchange to cash flow between two separate financial instruments.They are generally divided into two categories. This includes contingent claims (options) and forward claims, where forward contracts, swaps, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are exchanged. Commodity price, equity price, interest rate, and foreign exchange rate are common variables used as one of the cash flows in swaps upon initiation. Different Types of Swaps Swaps can be defined as a derivate contact composed of two parties that exchange to cash flow between two separate financial instruments.They are generally divided into two categories. This includes contingent claims (options) and forward claims, where forward contracts, swaps, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are exchanged. Commodity price, equity price, interest rate, and foreign exchange rate are common variables used as one of the cash flows in swaps upon initiation. Different Types of Swaps Read this Term continue to be a massive market, with the post global financial crisis contraction of 2010 being a thing of the past. In the US and UK where FX Swaps did slightly decline, the drop may have been the result of financial institutions having greater exposure to Europe as well as upcoming MIFID II and Dodd-Frank regulations. With Dodd-Frank laws effecting the Swaps market ready to go into effect during July 2013, many firms are still initiating plans to comply with the new requirements.

Links to individual country surveys can be found at the conclusion of the New York FED Survey summary report.

(Correction: In a previous post of this news, figures for Japan were overstated incorrectly at $900 and $1741 billion, but were corrected below)