Triennial Central Bank Survey of Foreign Exchange and Derivatives Market Activity
Every three years, the BIS coordinates a global central bank survey of foreign exchange and derivatives market activity on behalf of the Markets Committee and the Committee on the Global Financial System. The objective of the survey is to provide comprehensive and internationally consistent information on turnover and amounts of contracts outstanding in these markets. The exercise also serves as a benchmark for the semiannual OTC derivatives market statistics, which are limited to banks and dealers in the most important financial centres.
The first three surveys were limited to the foreign exchange markets (1989, 1992, 1995). Subsequently both the foreign exchange and the derivatives markets have been surveyed (1998, 2001, 2004, 2007). For the survey, each participating central bank collects data from the banks and dealers in its jurisdiction and calculates aggregate national data. These are provided to the BIS, which compiles global aggregates. The number of participating countries has increased over time.
In April 2007, 54 central banks and monetary authorities collected daily data on turnover in traditional foreign exchange markets (those for spot, outright forwards and swaps) and in the OTC currency and interest rate derivatives markets. Preliminary results on turnover were published on 25 September 2007, and an analysis of the results for the traditional foreign exchange markets will be included in the December 2007 issue of the BIS Quarterly Review. The 2007 survey will also cover data on amounts outstanding of OTC foreign exchange, interest rate, equity, commodity and credit derivatives at the end of June 2007. The full report on the Triennial Central Bank Survey is expected to be published by the BIS in December 2007.