The fixings, provided across many different currency pairs, were used in many different ways – including for multicurrency portfolio valuation and for the valuation of key financial market indexes. In regard to the WMR 4 p.m. London fixings, the group identified important changes to strengthen the construction methodology and reduce the scope of potential manipulation. Specifically, it recommended that the length of time over  8  See the U.K.’s Fair and Effective Markets Review Final Report for related insightful discussion on fixed income, currency and commodities (FICC) markets. Available at: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/markets/Documents/femrjun15.pdf. 9  In the United States, the CFTC has regulatory responsibility for most FX products. 10  The WMR London fixing is now subject to regulatory oversight by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the U.K., in addition to the FSB initiatives. See the FCA’s report Bringing additional benchmarks into the regulatory and supervisory regime, https://www.fca.org.uk/news/ps15–06-additional-benchmarks. BIS central bankers’ speeches  5  which the fixing was calculated be extended. In addition, it recommended that this fixing incorporate price feeds and transaction data from a broader range of sources. These recommendations resulted in changes to the WMR calculation methodology, which were implemented in mid-February of this year. The FXBG also identified a series of recommendations to strengthen market conduct and reduce the scope for manipulation and mistreatment of customer flow and information. For example, the recommendations encouraged greater clarity around fixing transactions through transparent pricing for such transactions and by establishing a clearer separation of fixing transactions from other types of activity.

2  BIS 2013 Triennial Central Bank Survey. The Triennial Survey is coordinated by the BIS under the auspices of the Markets Committee (for the foreign exchange part) and the Committee on the Global Financial System (for the interest rate derivatives part). The latest survey of turnover took place in April 2013. Central banks and other authorities in fifty-three jurisdictions participated in the 2013 survey. They collected data from about 1,300 banks and other dealers in their jurisdictions and reported national aggregates to the BIS, which then calculated global aggregates. The survey, among other things, provides data on turnover, instruments, counterparties, and currencies, which are referenced in this speech; http://www.bis.org/publ/rpfx13fx.pdf. 3  SIFMA US Bond Market Trading Volume; http://www.sifma.org/research/statistics.aspx. 2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  Changes to market structure The foreign exchange market is a dynamic market with a long history of change and innovation. Today, I would like to focus on two of the more significant recent changes in the market’s structure: first, the broadening of participation, and second, how execution is taking place within the market. Participation in the FX market The broadening of participation in the foreign exchange market is one reason why growth in FX trading volumes has far outpaced growth in global trade. The BIS Triennial Survey on foreign exchange market activity provides evidence of the degree to which this expanded participation is taking place. 4 Traditionally, volumes in the foreign exchange market were dominated by what is known as the inter-dealer market – trading between dealers.