Definition of Reserve currency

Reserve currency

A foreign currency held by a central bank or monetary authority for the purposes of
exchange intervention and the settlement of inter-governmental claims.

Reserve Currency

A currency, frequently the U.S. dollar, that is used by other countries to denominate the assets they hold as international reserves.

Asian currency units (ACUs)

Dollar deposits held in Singapore or other Asian centers.

Blocked currency

A currency that is not freely convertible to other currencies due to exchange controls.

Currency

Money.

Currency arbitrage

Taking advantage of divergences in exchange rates in different money markets by
buying a currency in one market and selling it in another market.

Currency basket

The value of a portfolio of specific amounts of individual currencies, used as the basis for
setting the market value of another currency. It is also referred to as a currency cocktail.

Currency future

A financial future contract for the delivery of a specified foreign currency.

Currency option

An option to buy or sell a foreign currency.

Currency risk

Related: Exchange rate risk

Currency risk sharing

An agreement by the parties to a transaction to share the currency risk associated with
the transaction. The arrangement involves a customized hedge contract embedded in the underlying
transaction.

Currency selection

Asset allocation in which the investor chooses among investments denominated in
different currencies.

Currency swap

An agreement to swap a series of specified payment obligations denominated in one currency
for a series of specified payment obligations denominated in a different currency.

Devaluation A decrease in the spot price of the currency

Dual-currency issues

Eurobonds that pay coupon interest in one currency but pay the principal in a different
currency.

Eurocurrency deposit

A short-term fixed rate time deposit denominated in a currency other than the local
currency (i.e. US$ deposited in a London bank).

Eurocurrency market

The money market for borrowing and lending currencies that are held in the form of
deposits in banks located outside the countries of the currencies issued as legal tender.

European Currency Unit (ECU)

An index of foreign exchange consisting of about 10 European currencies,
originally devised in 1979.

Excess reserves

Any excess of actual reserves above required reserves.

Federal Reserve System

The central bank of the U.S., established in 1913, and governed by the Federal
reserve Board located in Washington, D.C. The system includes 12 Federal reserve Banks and is authorized
to regulate monetary policy in the U.S. as well as to supervise Federal reserve member banks, bank holding
companies, international operations of U.S.banks, and U.S.operations of foreign banks.

Foreign currency

Foreign money.

Foreign currency option

An option that conveys the right to buy or sell a specified amount of foreign
currency at a specified price within a specified time period.

Foreign currency translation

The process of restating foreign currency accounts of subsidiaries into the
reporting currency of the parent company in order to prepare consolidated financial statements.

Free reserves

Excess reserves minus member bank borrowings at the Fed.

Hard currency

A freely convertible currency that is not expected to depreciate in value in the foreseeable future.

Multicurrency clause

Such a clause on a Euro loan permits the borrower to switch from one currency to
another currency on a rollover date.

Multicurrency loans

Give the borrower the possibility of drawing a loan in different currencies.

Official reserves

Holdings of gold and foreign currencies by official monetary institutions.

Reporting currency

The currency in which the parent firm prepares its own financial statements; that is, U.S.
dollars for a U.S. company.

Required reserves

The dollar amounts based on reserve ratios that banks are required to keep on deposit at a Federal reserve Bank.

Reserve

An accounting entry that properly reflects the contingent liabilities.

Reserve ratios

Specified percentages of deposits, established by the Federal reserve Board, that banks must
keep in a non-interest-bearing account at one of the twelve Federal reserve Banks.

Reserve requirements

The percentage of different types of deposits that member banks are required to hold
on deposit at the Fed.

Soft currency

A currency that is expected to drop in value relative to other currencies.

Virtual currency option

A new option contract introduced by the PHLX in 1994 that is settled in US$ rather
than in the underlying currency. These options are also called 3-Ds (dollar denominated delivery).

Federal Reserve (the Fed)

The central bank in the United States, responsible for setting interest rates.

Excess Reserves

reserves of commercial banks in excess of those they are legally required to hold.

Federal Reserve Banks

The twelve district banks in the Federal reserve System.

Federal Reserve Board

Board of Governors of the Federal reserve System.

Federal Reserve System

The central banking authority responsible for monetary policy in the United States.

Foreign Exchange Reserves

A fund containing the central bank's holdings of foreign currency or claims thereon.

Fractional Reserve Banking

A banking system in which banks hold only a fraction of their outstanding deposits in cash or on deposit with the central bank.

International Reserves

See foreign exchange reserves.

Legal Reserve Requirement

See reserve requirement.

Required Reserves

reserves that the central bank requires commercial banks to hold.

Reserve Ratio

See reserve requirement.

Reserve Requirement

Fraction of total deposits that a commercial bank is required by the central bank to hold in the form of reserves.

Reserves

Commercial banks' reserves consist of their holdings of cash and their balances in deposits with the central bank. See also foreign exchange reserves, excess reserves, required reserves, reserve requirement.

Reserve Ratio

This calculation is used by states to determine the unemployment contribution rate to charge employers. The ongoing balance of a firm’s unclaimed
contributions from previous years is reduced by unemployment claims for the past year and then divided by the average annual payroll, resulting in a "reserve ratio".

Cookie Jar Reserves

An overly aggressive accrual of operating expenses and the creation of
liability accounts done in an effort to reduce future-year operating expenses.

Reserved material

Material that has been reserved for a specific purpose.

International Monetary Fund

An organization founded in 1944 to oversee exchange arrangements of
member countries and to lend foreign currency reserves to members with short-term balance of payment
problems.

Other capital

In the balance of payments, other capital is a residual category that groups all the capital
transactions that have not been included in direct investment, portfolio investment, and reserves categories. It
is divided into long-term capital and short-term capital and, because of its residual status, can differ from
country to country. Generally speaking, other long-term capital includes most non-negotiable instruments of a
year or more like bank loans and mortgages. Other short-term capital includes financial assets of less than a
year such as currency, deposits, and bills.

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