The average daily turnover in the City this year was $1.85 trillion (£1.2 trillion) – or 37pc of global turnover, according to a three-year report into currency dealing by the Bank of International Settlements.
Around $4 trillion changed hands around the world every day in April, up from $3.3 trillion in April 2007.
The report, in which 53 central banks and monetary authorities took part, covers a period of extreme financial turmoil, from the sub-prime crisis to Lehman Brothers’ failure and subsequent massive bank bailouts to stop a collapse of the global …

The fear that has been hanging over markets for most of August lifted on Wednesday. For how long remains anyone’s guess.
The stock market started September with a jolt, turning sharply higher after a pair of encouraging reports on manufacturing sent investors seeking out riskier investments. Prices for the safest assets — Treasurys, gold and the dollar — all fell.
With investors suddenly willing to embrace risk, the Dow Jones industrial average added 255 points, its best day since July 7. All 30 stocks in the Dow closed higher. That marked a …

3M Co., the conglomerate whose products range from Post-Its to respirators, computer arms and films for LCD TV screens, is trying to expand into the security market by buying Cogent Inc. for about $943 million.
Cogent develops automated systems that read finger and palm prints, and it makes iris and face recognition systems used by government, law enforcement and border patrol agencies.
Cogent’s board of directors already has agreed to the deal and is recommending that shareholders accept it. 3M said Monday it will pay $10.50 per share for Cogent, or nearly …

Stocks fell in thin trading Monday after more signs of slowing economic growth got investors worried ahead of a key report on jobs later this week.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost ground throughout the day and closed with a loss of 141 points. Other indexes also fell more than 1 percent. Bond prices rose, sending interest rates lower, as money moved back into the Treasury market.
The latest cause for worry on the economy came in a report early Monday showing that personal incomes rose less than expected in July. That …

In a major position paper, Charles Bean said that the Bank had been powerless to prevent what he called the “Great Contraction” of 2008 because control of interest rates was not, in itself, a powerful enough tool.
He also hinted that the days of quantitative easing may not be over: “The deleveraging process is incomplete, the recovery remains fragile and a considerable margin of spare capacity is yet to be worked off,” he said. “Further policy action may yet be necessary to keep the recovery on track.”
He was speaking at the …