Finanse, Rynki Finansowe, Ubezpieczenia

Purpose – The article is devoted to the comprehensive analysis of geographical structure of the foreign exchange market with particular emphasis on the Asia Pacific region. The research thesis proposed by authors is as follows: in the case of the share of Asian currencies in the global turnover of forex, the role of financial centres located in Asia and Pacific in the global foreign exchange turnover has remained stable for many years, and thus the growing importance of Asian financial centres in the global economy is not commensurate with the development in the area of foreign exchange markets. Design/methodology/approach – In the article it was used the synthesis and analysis method, involving the analysis of statistical data collected every three years by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). Another source for research carried out in the article were the data-gained from Z/Yen Institute, the project of creating a recurring ranking within The Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI). Findings – In 2013 Asia-Pacific region was responsible for 21% of daily currency turnover, taking second place in the ranking of the world’s foreign currency transactions, but even in the most popular Asian currency, the yen, did not achieve a leading position. Participation of all Asian financial centres in the daily turnover of a global currency market was lower (totally 15.3%) than achieved by London and New York (UK – 41%, USA – 19%), even though there are three well-developed financial centres in Asia. Originality/value – The comparison of the development degree of global financial centres located in the Asia-Pacific region to the turnover of foreign currency, based on the currency pairs involving the US dollar, euro and Japanese yen, leads to the conclusion that the centres located in the analysed region are developing dynamically in the context of external environment and settlement infrastructure, and still less distance separates them from the major global financial centres. However, it does not coexist with the increase in the volume of turnover in foreign exchange market.