Читать книгу Foreign Exchange: The Complete Deal - James McDowell. Sharpe - Страница 34

All claims on foreign currency payable abroad, whether consisting of funds in foreign currency held with banks abroad, or bills or cheques, again in foreign currency and payable abroad, are foreign exchange (also called Forex or FX). In the trading of foreign exchange between banks only foreign currency held with banks abroad is concerned. For the purposes of this book foreign exchange only applies to bank balances denominated in foreign currency.

Foreign bank notes are not foreign exchange in this sense. They can be converted into foreign exchange provided they can be placed without restriction to the credit of an ordinary commercial account abroad. A currency, whether in foreign exchange or bank notes, is deemed convertible if the person holding it can convert (exchange) it freely into any other currency. Convertibility may be unrestricted or partial. Sterling, since 1979, is fully convertible whether the holder is resident in the UK or abroad, and regardless of whether it is a matter of current payments or financial transactions. Some countries recognise only external or non-resident convertibility.

Regulations may also draw a distinction, as far as convertibility is concerned, between funds arising from current transactions (goods and services) and those coming from purely financial operations. Exchange controls were common in the West until the 1980s. They now tend to be operated in emerging countries, especially in Asia and the Far East. It is important to ascertain prior to any transactions what conditions apply. It is usually easy to invest into a country but can prove extremely difficult to repatriate.