Daily volumes in the global currency market surged to their highest in more than a year in June, the burst of trading around the Brexit vote lifting trading activity back above $5 trillion a day, settlement system CLS said on Thursday.
The news, which confirms initial indications from some of the electronic platforms where banks and other major institutions trade openly with each other, offers a welcome fillip to an industry beset by declining activity over the past year.
Daily volumes have been hurt in recent months by regulatory changes that have crimped banks’ risk-taking ability, and by lower global trade flows.
The surge in volatility of the pound and other major currencies around Britain’s EU referendum on June 23—which some platforms said more than doubled normal trading—pushed volumes from $4.61 trillion a day in May to $5.19 trillion in June.
“Both values and volumes have increased significantly in comparison to May 2016, most likely influenced by the high volatility in the pound and the UK referendum result,” CLS said in a statement.
The average daily input volume submitted to CLS, combining the settlement and aggregation services, was at 1,163,083—20% from 969,061 in May 2016.