Last week’s collapse of Crown Currency Exchange was terrible news for their customers; at Currency Index we had long been suspicious about their practices and in fact had reported them to the authorities several times over the last 18 months. Unfortunately, Crown were only registered with the FSA as a “Small Payment Institution”, and so were not fully regulated.
We would like to remind clients that Currency Index is an “Authorised Payment Institution” regulated by the FSA. This means that any money transferred through us is held in safeguarded client accounts, and that we are required to hold a significant amount of spare capital in the business.
Currency Index has been speaking to the media in the last week about the difference between “Authorised” and “Small” currency companies. We appeared on Radio 4’s Moneybox programme on Saturday; to listen to the podcast click here.
You can also see more on the story, along with our comments, on the following sites:
Clients should be assured that using Currency Index is 100% safe and secure, and that we are calling for better regulation of all currency companies in the future. Please feel free to contact us with your thoughts.
To verify the regulatory status of a currency provider, visit the FSA Register and click on ‘Payment Services Firm Search’.
Currency news
The Pound continues to struggle against the Euro, although against the US Dollar we are still seeing excellent exchange rates for anybody who needs to transfer money to the USA.
This week, the main UK data comes on Wednesday with unemployment figures, as well as tomorrow’s inflation and house price figures. Given recent economic news we are not optimistic about the prospects for either, and therefore think the Pound may fall during the course of the week.
Don’t forget you can fix an exchange rate up to 2 years ahead by using a Forward Contract from Currency Index.
Data releases this week
Monday 11th
US/Canada bank holiday (Columbus Day/Thanksgiving)
No major data releases
US/Canada bank holiday (Columbus Day/Thanksgiving)
No major data releases
Tuesday 12th
0930 – UK CPI & RPI inflation and DCLG house price index, plus August trade balance
1900 – US Federal Reserve minutes
Wednesday 13th
0930 – UK unemployment rate & jobless claims
1900 – US monthly budget statement
Thursday 14th
0900 – Eurozone ECB monthly report
1330 – US PPI inflation & jobless claims
Friday 15th
1000 – Eurozone CPI inflation & trade balance
1330 – US CPI inflation & retail sales
