The triennial survey, conducted every three years, starting April 1989, is a global central bank survey of foreign exchange and derivatives market activity coordinated by the BIS on behalf of the Markets Committee and the Committee on the Global Financial System.

The objective of the survey is to provide the most comprehensive and internationally consistent information on the size and structure of global foreign exchange markets, allowing policymakers and market participants to better monitor patterns of activity in the global financial system. 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 Full Text of the reports (pdf format)  are 1989, 1992, 1995, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2010 (prelim report)

This survey has been modified since April 1995 to include OTC interest rate derivatives. Previous triennial surveys have used the expression “traditional foreign exchange markets” to refer to spot transactions, outright forwards and foreign exchange swaps. This expression excludes currency swaps and currency options, which are under OTC instruments. Beginning with the 2010 survey, the expression “global foreign exchange markets” will include all five foreign exchange instruments. Turnover on global foreign exchange markets and in interest rate derivatives is analysed in Tables 1 to 5 and in Tables 6 to 9, respectively.

In April this year (2010), 53 central banks and monetary authorities participated in the eighth Triennial Central Bank Survey of Foreign Exchange and Derivatives Market Activity (“the triennial survey”).   Coordinated by the BIS, participating institutions collect data from some 1,300 reporting dealers on turnover in foreign exchange instruments and OTC interest rate derivatives. The prelimnary report was published in September 2010 and final detailed report was published in December 2010.

The headline figures from the April 2010 survey are the following:

1. Turnover on the Global foreign exchange market

• Global foreign exchange market turnover was 20% higher in April 2010 than in April 2007, with average daily turnover of $4.0 trillion compared to $3.3 trillion.
• The increase was driven by the 48% growth in turnover of spot transactions, which represent 37% of foreign exchange market turnover. Spot turnover rose to $1.5 trillion in April 2010 from $1.0 trillion in April 2007.
• The increase in turnover of other foreign exchange instruments was more modest at 7%, with average daily turnover of $2.5 trillion in April 2010. Turnover in outright forwards and currency swaps grew strongly. Turnover in foreign exchange swaps was flat relative to the previous survey, while trading in currency options decreased.
• As regards counterparties, the higher global foreign exchange market turnover is associated with the increased trading activity of “other financial institutions” – a category that includes non-reporting banks, hedge funds, pension funds, mutual funds, insurance companies and central banks, among others. Turnover by this category grew by 42%, increasing to $1.9 trillion in April 2010 from $1.3 trillion in April 2007. For the first time, activity of reporting dealers with other financial institutions surpassed inter-dealer transactions (ie transactions between reporting dealers).
• Foreign exchange market activity became more global, with cross-border transactions representing 65% of trading activity in April 2010, the highest share ever
• The percentage share of the US dollar has continued its slow decline witnessed since the April 2001 survey, while the euro and the Japanese yen gained relative to April 2007. Among the 10 most actively traded currencies, the Australian and Canadian dollars both increased market share, while the pound sterling and the Swiss franc lost ground. The market share of emerging market currencies increased, with the biggest gains for the Turkish lira and the Korean won.
• The relative ranking of foreign exchange trading centres has changed slightly from the previous survey. Banks located in the United Kingdom accounted for 36.7%, against 34.6% in 2007, of all foreign exchange market turnover, followed by the United States (18%), Japan (6%), Singapore (5%), Switzerland (5%), Hong Kong SAR (5%) and Australia (4%).

2. Turnover in OTC interest rate derivatives

• Activity in OTC interest rate derivatives grew by 24%, with average daily turnover of $2.1 trillion in April 2010. Almost all of the increase relative to the last survey was due to the growth of forward rate agreements (FRAs), which increased by 132% to reach $601 billion.

On 16-Nov-2010, BIS released the latest statistics on positions in the global over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives market at end-June 2010. These comprise the preliminary results of the second part of the Triennial Central Bank Survey of Foreign Exchange and Derivatives Market Activity as well as the regular semiannual OTC derivatives statistics.

Amounts outstanding and gross market values at end-June 2010

• Growth in the positions of OTC foreign exchange instruments was moderate at 9%, compared with an increase of 83% in notional amounts outstanding of currency instruments in the 2004-07 period.
• In contrast, market values of these instruments almost doubled against a backdrop of increased financial market volatility during mid-April and early June 2010.
• Trading activity with other financial institutions also drove the increase in the global foreign exchange positions. Their share (45%) surpassed transactions with reporting dealers (36%) for the first time in 2010.

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More detailed results on developments in the foreign exchange and OTC derivatives markets and comprehensive explanatory notes describing the coverage of and terms used to present the statistics are included in the separate statistical release of the data. Explanatory notes follow statistical tables.