02 November 2022

Bank of England: Comments on latest BIS survey of turnover in the markets for forex and OTC derivatives

The UK remains the single largest centre of foreign exchange activity with a share of 38.1% of global turnover, despite this being a decrease from the 43.2% in recorded in April 2019.

In April this year, central banks and monetary authorities in 52 countries, including the United Kingdom, conducted the latest triennial survey of turnover in the markets for foreign exchange and over-the-counter (OTC) interest rate derivatives. The survey is co-ordinated on a global basis by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), with the aim of obtaining comprehensive and internationally consistent information on the size and structure of the corresponding global markets. The Bank of England conducted the UK survey, which covers the business of leading financial institutions located within the United Kingdom in these markets.

The results of the UK survey are summarised below:

• Average daily turnover in the UK foreign exchange market was $3,755 billion in April 2022, up from $3,576 billion per day as recorded in April 2019.
• The UK remains the single largest centre of foreign exchange activity with a share of 38.1% of global turnover, despite this being a decrease from the 43.2% in recorded in April 2019. Although a lower share than in 2019, the global share recorded in the 2022 survey is broadly in keeping with the UK global market share recorded in previous surveys.
• Average daily turnover in OTC interest rate derivatives was $2,626 billion during April 2022, decreasing from the $3,670 billion per day recorded in April 2019.
• OTC interest rate derivatives activity in the UK market accounted for 45.5% of global turnover in April 2022, slightly lower than the market share of 50.6% in April 2019. The UK remains the largest centre for OTC interest rate derivatives activity, as other large centres, particularly the US, have also seen decreases activity since the previous survey in 2019. The 2022 survey is in keeping with the UK global market share recorded in recent surveys other than 2016, when it was notably lower.

The Bank of England will provide further details of the UK’s results at a later date.

The BIS is publishing preliminary global results Opens in a new window today, with a detailed analysis to follow in December 2022. Central banks of many other countries are also publishing their own survey results. Links to their websites can be found on the BIS website.

Bank of England

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