GERMANYA EUROMONEY SURVEY - June 1996The most recent of the surveys that the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) conducts every three years showed Germany ranking a moderate seventh in the world currency trading league table as at April 1995. According to the same survey, Germany's locations for foreign exchange (besides Frankfurt, also Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Munich, Berlin and several other local centres) together had an average daily trading volume of $76.2 bn or a market share of around 5%. The 39% increase over the 1992 figures is slightly below the weighted average of 46% for all the countries covered by the survey. These figures indicate a certain consolidation that is also reflected in the use of the German currency as a trading unit. Whereas in 1992, the Deutschmark accounted for 40% of aggregate turnover (in 1989 this was 27%) this share slipped to about 37% in the last survey. However, the Deutschmark remained second to the US dollar, and well clear of the third-placed Japanese yen with 24%. Trading in the other currencies of the European monetary system was up, with exchange rate expectations and position adjustments probably driven by plans for European monetary union. |