This survey is conducted once every three years by the central banks or monetary authorities of participating countries and regions, and is coordinated by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).7 The April 1998 survey was conducted by the central banks or monetary authorities of 43 countries and regions, which collected the data from approximately 3,200 reporting institutions in total.8 The Bank of Japan obtained the data from 255 Japanese banks, 101 foreign banks, 3 Japanese securities companies, 6 foreign securities companies, and 10 FX brokers.9 The BIS will aggregate and publish the data collected from participating central banks or monetary authorities on a global basis.
In this survey, the foreign exchange transactions are classified into three instrument types, and derivatives activities are classified into five instrument types.10 Transactions of each type of instrument are further broken down by currency or currency pairs, category of counterparties, and location of counterparties (local or cross-border).