28 June 2022
The Global Foreign Exchange Committee (GFXC) met in Zurich on 27–28 June in-person, with the option of virtual participation. The majority of GFXC members met physically for the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. The GFXC meeting was led by its Chair, Andréa Maechler of the Swiss National Bank, and its Co-Vice Chairs, Richard de Roos of Standard Bank and Stefanie Holtze-Jen of Deutsche Bank.
The GFXC agreed on the work programme for the next two years, which will cover the interim period until the next three-year Code review. Discussion on the programme began at the previous GFXC meeting in December 2021, and Local Foreign Exchange Committee (LFXC) members expressed their interests and priorities in a survey in February 2022. The results of the survey and conclusions were shared with LFXCs in May 2022. Andréa Maechler indicated, “Our priorities going forward are clear. Almost a year since the publication of the revised Code a number of market participants have signed up to the Code and the GFXC expects those who have not yet renewed their Statement of Commitment to do so shortly. In order to foster even more widespread adoption of the Code, the GFXC must continue its efforts in ensuring that the cost of adherence reflects a market participant’s role in the FX market and that the tangible benefits of adherence are well understood.”
To explore ways to make the Global Code and Statement of Commitment even more accessible to a wider group of market participants, a working group was established already in December 2021. The working group lead, Richard de Roos, presented a prototype of a web-based tool, which aims to help market participants highlight those Principles in the FX Global Code that pertain most closely to their activity in the FX market. “I am sure this will be an invaluable resource for all buy-side participants and hopefully reduce the barriers to signing the Code even further, as they grow more comfortable with how the Code applies to them,” Richard de Roos said. Additionally, the GFXC decided to establish a second working group to broaden the motivation for adherence to the Code. “It is vital to explore how the Code could play a more visible role in market participants’ good corporate governance by linking Code adherence to the ‘G’ in ESG,” said Stefanie Holtze-Jen, who will chair the group.
The GFXC also agreed to conduct a survey on the effectiveness of the Code as revised in July 2021, and its associated material, including disclosures. This survey of market participants will take place in the third quarter of 2023 and will serve as a starting point for the transition to the next Code review.
Furthermore, the GFXC discussed market participants’ access to high-quality market data in order to ensure a robust, fair, open, liquid and appropriately transparent FX market. The discussion showed that there was a need for the GFXC to further discuss this issue in more detail as part of the next Code review. Three industry executives, from Baton Systems, CLS Bank and Fnality, showcased new technological venues in the area of FX payment and settlement. The Chair of the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) Working Group on FX Payment-versus-Payment (PvP) provided a progress update on their work. The GFXC agreed that it was important to keep abreast of technological innovations that could affect how FX transactions are settled and looked forward to the forthcoming CPMI consultative report on options for expanding PvP settlement.
On the second day of the June GFXC meeting, the Israeli FX Committee, which joined the GFXC as an associate member in 2020, provided an overview of the Israeli FX market structure. GFXC members representing LFXCs reported on the conditions in their markets, including the impact of the war in Ukraine. They also provided an update on their Code outreach activities.
The meeting minutes will be published in July 2022.
For additional details on the GFXC and the FX Global Code, please visit the GFXC website.
Press inquiries:
Claudia Aebersold Szalay
Swiss National Bank
media@globalfxc.org