what exactly separation entails. we did not intend to be too prescriptive here. the main principle is the appropriate segregation of the information flow. there may be a number of different ways of achieving this. an issue which arises here is that the separation of business is clearly more complicated in smaller currencies than it is in the more heavily traded currencies. in response to these issues, i will consult with my fellow central banks and securities regulators on these questions and determine if more guidance can be given around this. third, the group made a number of recommendations around the appropriate sharing of information. these recommendations focused on general principles around information sharing. the group ’ s assessment was that outlining a set of principles was more beneficial in ensuring appropriate behavior than more prescriptive statements. detailed prescriptions run the risk of being incomplete with the potential for market participants to make the assessment that if something was not in the prescriptions then it must be allowable. a set of principles require market participants to think more carefully about their general approach to information sharing. codes of conduct a similar set of principles are to be embodied in a code of best market practice and shared global principles, which is currently in the final stage of being written jointly by the various foreign exchange committees. the aim is to promote a set of shared global principles common across all the fx committees, notwithstanding the fact that the various jurisdictions employ different codes of conduct. a final version of the statement of shared principles should be published following the next global meeting of foreign exchange committees in tokyo in march. the fxbg also recommended that market participants should demonstrate stronger compliance with the various codes of conduct than has been the case in the past, as well as with their own internal codes. various initiatives are under way on this recommendation at both the institutional level as well as with the market as a whole. appropriate enforcement of these codes remains a major challenge. in the uk, the femr highlights this issue as a significant opportunity for reform. bis central bankers ’ speeches much of this comes down to ensuring that the institution, and the fx market more generally, has the appropriate culture. but the same problem arises with codes of conduct as with the principles for information sharing i talked about a minute ago. if the codes of conduct are too prescriptive, they are very difficult to draft, they quickly become unreadable and they run the risk that if something is not explicitly prohibited, it must be okay. matt levine articulates this problem very

, not least in exchange rates. meanwhile, the chinese economy has become more of a concern for many observers. it is not that the actual data on the chinese economy are all that different from what we had been seeing. they paint a picture of softness in growth – but they were already saying that some time ago. the more recent anxiety is probably best described as greater uncertainty over the intentions of chinese policymakers and over whether they will be able to carry off the economic transition china needs. this anxiety has been reflected in capital flows. commodity prices have generally fallen further over recent months. most prominent was the further fall in crude oil prices to about us $ 30 per barrel. while this level of oil prices is not especially low in a longer - run historical context, it is a large decline from prices prevailing in recent years and is bringing considerable adjustment. oil - producing companies and nations are seeing a decline in their incomes, and yields on debt issued by corporates in the energy sector have increased sharply. exploration expenditure and investment in new capacity is being rapidly curtailed. sovereign asset managers for some key oil producers are liquidating some assets to help manage the effects on fiscal positions. as with most price changes, there are gainers as well as losers. the fall in energy costs is a windfall to energy users and represents a terms of trade gain for countries that are net importers. importantly, it does not appear to be the case that the fall has predominantly been caused by weak demand for oil. indications are that oil demand has still been rising, albeit not as quickly as it had been. supply increases appear to have been more important than demand factors in explaining the large price fall, at least thus far. hence, we should not interpret the decline in oil prices as uniformly negative. on the contrary, a fall in oil prices resulting from additional supply has usually been seen clearly as a bonus for consumers and many businesses in advanced economies, including australia. in financial markets, as investors and traders have sought to make sense of all these conflicting currents, we have seen a period of volatility recently. this has been apparent in bis central bankers ’ speeches equity and bond markets, as well as foreign exchange markets. equity markets are lower, yields for core sovereign obligations are lower, spreads for lower - rated corporates and emerging market sovereigns are wider. exchange rates have seen more variability, with currencies for many emerging market countries weaker. the australian dollar is around the same level now as when we last