Pension funds and other ‘non-bank’ financial firms have more than $80 trillion of hidden, off-balance sheet dollar debt in FX swaps, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said.
The BIS, dubbed the central bank to the world’s central banks, also said in its latest quarterly report that 2022’s market upheaval had largely been navigated without major issues.
Having repeatedly urged central banks to act forcefully to dampen inflation, it struck a more measured tone and picked over crypto market troubles and September’s UK bond market turmoil.
Its main warning concerned what it described as the FX swap debt “blind spot” that risked leaving policymakers in a “fog”.
FX swap markets, where for example a Dutch pension fund or Japanese insurer borrows dollars and lends euro or yen before later repaying them, have a history of problems.
They saw funding squeezes during both the global financial crisis and again in March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic wrought havoc that required central banks such as the U.S. Federal Reserve to intervene with dollar swap lines.
This report’s information was first seen on REUTERS; to read more, click this link.
