Foreign Exchange Working Group

A global code of conduct for wholesale foreign exchange markets was released in London on 25 May 2017. The publication is the culmination of a two-year effort by members of the central bank Foreign Exchange Working Group (FXWG), in close cooperation with currency market participants. The Code will be maintained by a new Global Foreign Exchange Committee, a global association of FX committees.

The FXWG also produced a Report on Adherence setting out a framework to promote awareness and incentivise adherence to the Code's standards.

Central bank Governors participating in the Global Economy Meeting welcomed the publication of the Code and the establishment of the new committee (press release). 

Background on the Foreign Exchange Working Group

The Foreign Exchange Working Group (FXWG) was set up in 2015 to establish a single set of global principles of good practice for foreign exchange markets. Operating under the auspices of the Markets Committee, it was headed by Guy Debelle (Reserve Bank of Australia). The group's objectives were to:

  • maintain and enhance principles-based approaches to best practice
  • facilitate the establishment of a single global code of conduct containing standards and principles to be adopted accross jurisdictions globally
  • develop proposals to promote and incentivise adherence to the Code 

The group's membership covered major financial centres in both advanced and emerging market economies, and its work was supported by a private sector Market Participants Group (MPG). The work was divided into two stream: one focused on drafting the Code and the other on developing proposal on adherence. The first phase of the Code was published in May 2016 and the full version in May 2017.

First phase of the code of conduct

The first phase of the global code of conduct for wholesale foreign exchange markets and principles for adherence to the new standards were released on 26 May 2016 in New York. The following documents were released:


Workstreams

The work programme was organised around two workstreams. The first, led by Simon Potter (Federal Reserve Bank of New York), was tasked with drafting the new Code, while the second, led by Chris Salmon (Bank of England), was tasked with developing proposals to promote and incentivise adherence to the new Code.

The work of both streams built upon that of the various regional foreign exchange committees (FXCs), as agreed at a global FXC meeting.

Member institutions

Reserve Bank of Australia
Central Bank of Brazil
Bank of Canada
State Administration of Foreign Exchange (China)
Bank of France
European Central Bank
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
Reserve Bank of India
Bank of Japan
Bank of Korea
Bank of Mexico
Monetary Authority of Singapore
Sveriges Riksbank
Swiss National Bank
Bank of England
Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Market Participants Group

The private sector Market Participants Group (MPG) drew on participants from the sell side and buy side of the market as well as FX infrastructure providers. The MPG was chaired by David Puth, Chief Executive Officer of CLS.

The group's role was to:

  • provide insight, expertise and effort to help support the development of and effective adherence to a single global code of best practices for the foreign exchange market. This included providing input on content for the Code, formulating frameworks and occasionally preparing initial drafts on topics not adequately covered in existing codes.
  • serve as a centralised, private sector coordinating mechanism on FX best practices work for FXCs and other regional representatives. MPG members coordinated with their respective FXCs and regional counterparts, as appropriate, and channelled their full individual and institutional expertise and experience into the work of the MPG.

MPG members

Chris Allen, Barclays
Hiroaki Aoyama, Mizuho Bank
Marshall Bailey, ACI Financial Markets Association International
Cédric Beaurain, Société Générale
James Bindler, Citi
Adrian Boehler, BNP Paribas
Justin Chan, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited
Chris Concannon, BATS Global Markets
Cui Qi, China Foreign Exchange Trade System
Patrick Fleur, PGGM
Alex Gerko, XTX Markets
Grady Stephen, LGIM Legal & General Investment Management Ltd
James Harvey, Rolls-Royce
Darryl Hooker, EBS Broker Tec
Akira Hoshino, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
Hyun Soo Jo, Industrial Bank of Korea
Tony Kearney, Moore Capital
Hugh Killen, Westpac Banking Corporation
Han Young Ko, Seoul Money Brokerage Services, Inc
Claas Carsten Kohl, Airbus Group
Geoff Kot, Standard Chartered Bank
Chee Kin Lam, DBS Group Holdings and DBS Bank
Russell Lascala, Deutsche Bank
Ernst Lienhard, Swiss Re
Federica Mazzucato, UBS Investment Bank
Joseph A Molluso, Virtu Financial
Ed Monaghan, Royal Bank of Canada
Stina Norrhede Ekberg, SEB
Mike O'Brien, Eaton Vance
Shantanu S Pradhan, State Bank of India
Ankur Pruthi, Norges Bank Investment Management
David W Puth, CLS Bank International
Troy Rohrbaugh, JP Morgan
Gilberto Romero Galindo, Banco Ve por Más
Marcus Samuelsson, Ericsson
Lee Sanders, Axa Investment Managers
Lisa Scott Smith, Millennium Global
James Sinclair, MarketFactory, Inc
Marco Antonio Sudano, Banco Itaú BBA
Sun Wei, China CITIC Bank
Robert Tull, Fifth Third Bank
T Venkatesan, Tata Consultancy Services
Christopher John Vogel, BlackRock
Phil Weisberg, Thomson Reuters
David Woolcock, ACI Financial Markets Association International