Zaiteku’s most visible manifestations are the staggering daily volumes on the Tokyo foreign exchange market – up from an average of $2 billion in 1979 to $48 billion today.
The driving force behind this is corporate Japan. Customer trading makes up a third of the total volume, compared to 14% in New York and II% in London, where interbank transactions dominate, according to Bank of Japan figures.
“Corporate activity is huge,” said Michael Simpson, Irving Trust vice president and foreign exchange manager in Tokyo.
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