FX turnover
I am struggling to find someone who was not surprised by the BIS data on Monday, I think most of us who study the FX committee semi-annual data closely expected somewhere around the $6 trillion mark, but obviously it blew through that by another 10%. This very much reflects the growth in emerging markets to […]
The number used globally to measure the size of the FX market will be set at $6.6 trillion per day after the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) released the results of its Triennial Survey for Foreign Exchange Turnover. The BIS says that globally $6.59 trillion was executed daily across FX products in April 2019, a […]
A notable figure in this year’s Bank for International Settlements (BIS) survey of FX turnover highlights the increasingly important role of firms like retail aggregators in the FX market. While in the 2016 survey the “Other” category of the Other Financial Institutions segment of the report (this is largely the retail aggregator/prime-of-prime sector) was responsible […]
After upsetting non-bank market makers and then banks in recent weeks, Colin Lambert takes a shot at the buy side in this week’s In the FICC of It podcast when Galen Stops asks him, “will the buy side adopt the FX Global Code?” Our two podcasters discuss next year’s review of the Code as Stops […]
What to make of the latest round of FX turnover surveys? Obviously the “big daddy” of them all is due in just over a month’s time, but historically the FX committee surveys have done a good job of reflecting what is happening in the world, so why, when so many people are bemoaning the lack […]
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) formally launched the 12th Triennial Central Bank Survey of Foreign Exchange and Over-The-Counter (OTC) Derivatives Markets – the survey that is universally used as the benchmark measure of the size of the daily FX market.
Conducted every three years since 1986, the Triennial Survey is the most comprehensive source of information on the size and structure of global foreign exchange and OTC derivatives markets. It aims to help central banks, other authorities and market participants monitor developments in OTC markets and inform discussions about reforms to OTC markets.
Aside from what one news service decided was the headline – more like click bait – “FX Volumes Slump Globally” (guess what, yes, there was a dip from April, but on a more considered year-on-year basis FX turnover is up 8.9% at the third highest mark ever), there were actually a few interesting snippets in this week’s FX committee surveys. The two that stood out for me were the surge in RMB trading and a quite remarkable resurgence for the voice brokers in the UK.
There are those in the FX world who believe the narrative of a return to bilateral, relationship-based trading was driven by a group of liquidity providers talking their book. Looking at the numbers in last week’s FX committee turnover surveys, specifically the spot e-trading statistics from the UK and US, I think it is fair to say that the cynicism is wrong, or the narrative is working, or both, because the last two years has seen a definitive shift in trading away from anonymous venues towards disclosed channels.
The latest round of FX turnover data from six of the world’s FX Committees shows volume at its highest level since they started recording results in 2005. The new high mark was powered by new peaks in activity in the UK, Singapore, Japan and Canada.
The total turnover across Australia, Canada, Japan, Singapore, UK and US was $4.883 trillion per day in April 2018. If the six centres maintained their current share of global turnover, the numbers suggest a BIS survey number just shy of $6 trillion per day.
This is normally the column where I “entertain” you with my own semi-annual complaint about the FX committees’ semi-annual turnover reports all being different (perhaps this is a task for the GFXC – produce uniform reporting?) I have, though, given up on that crusade for a while and prefer to take the data for what it is – an interesting snapshot into the FX market on a regional basis.
The surveys in the UK and US are the most comprehensive (but still structured differently!) and I wonder if we are starting to see evidence of the impact democratisation in FX markets?
