Friday Finance

(ENSAE's Petits-Déjeuners account for 10 points of the Institut des Actuaires' PPC). Every day, 24 hours a day, the equivalent of between 4 and 5,000 billion dollars is traded on the world's largest financial market, the international currency market; Thus, since the advent of the floating exchange rate system in 1971, through the liberalization of capital markets in most OECD countries, the gradual opening-up of emerging economies, the gradual appearance of increasingly complex financial instruments, and the remarkable creation of the euro in 1999, the foreign exchange market has undergone unparalleled change, recently stimulated by the emergence of Internet-based transaction platforms. How is it structured today? In particular, what are the main instruments (spot, forward, derivatives) available today, and how are they used and liquid? Which players operate the foreign exchange market, and with what degree of transparency? With the development of emerging economies, how can we hedge or take currency positions in these zones? Finally, at a time when the focus is on currency imbalances between the world's major economic zones, how should we interpret the current dynamics of the major currencies and associated capital flows? What are the main issues, particularly in terms of regulation and development, on which the international players in the foreign exchange market are working today? And finally, will the financial crisis of 2007/2009 have had an impact on the way the market operates? Jean Pierre Ravisé, current Managing Director of ACI Forex, an association bringing together all the international players in the foreign exchange market, will share his 40 years of experience in this field with us. He was Central Director in charge of capital markets and a member of the Executive Committee of Crédit du Nord, then Director of Clearnet (clearing house for the French stock market); Finally, unlike almost all central bankers and financial economists, he is capable of executing a foreign exchange transaction himself. ACI Forex, founded in 1955 as the "International Association of Foreign Exchange Dealers", is a forum for exchange, training and discussion between foreign exchange market professionals, as well as a recognized interlocutor for their regulators.