London's dominance of the global foreign exchange market continues to grow sharply¹ as the share of New York and Japan slips, a survey has revealed.

国际清算银行(BIS) 3年一度的最新调查显示，英国市场在全球外汇交易额中所占比例已经从2004年4月的31.3%，跃升至今年4月的34.1%。

The UK's share of foreign exchange trading volumes jumped from 31.3 per cent in April 2004 to 34.1 per cent in April 2007, the latest triennial survey from the Bank for International Settlements has revealed.

这几乎是最大竞争对手美国的两倍多。美国市场所占比例则从19.2%降至16.6%。

This was more than double that of the US, its nearest rival, which saw its share of the market fall from 19.2 per cent to 16.6 per cent.

伦敦在这一全球最大金融市场的优势地位不断上升，可能会对纽约构成新的打击。纽约的全球金融中心地位一直面临着竞争压力。

The news of London's rising pre-eminence in the world's largest financial market will come as a fresh blow to New York, which has seen its position as a financial centre come under competitive² pressure.

分析人士表示，伦敦突出的全球地位令外汇投资者从规模经济中受益。

Analysts³ said London's pre- eminent⁴ global position allowed currency investors⁵ to benefit from economies of scale.

"大型投资者希望在具有流动性的地方交易，"巴克莱资本(Barclays Capital)的David Woo表示，"一旦你达到临界规模，就有一种自我维持的趋势。"

"The biggest investors like to trade where there is liquidity," said David Woo at Barclays Capital. "Once you obtain critical mass, it has a tendency to feed off itself."

他补充称，目前，全球多数大型外汇投资者都驻扎伦敦。

Mr Woo added that most of the world's large currency investors were now based in London.

此外，亚洲各国最近一些年累积了巨额外汇储备，而作为亚洲各央行青睐的交易中心，伦敦受益匪浅。分析人士表示，对于亚洲各央行而言，伦敦的时区也远比美国方便。

The city has also benefited as the preferred trading centre for Asian central banks, which have built up massive⁶ foreign exchange reserves in recent years. Analysts said London's time zone made it a much more convenient place for them to trade than the US.

CLS Bank首席执行官罗布o克罗斯(Rob Close)表示："人们一直认为，伦敦比美国更国际化。很明显，伦敦一直处于市场领先地位。"全球超过一半的外汇交易由CLS Bank进行结算。

"London has always been seen as more international than the US, it's clear that it is staying ahead of the market," said Rob Close, chief executive⁷ of CLS Bank, which settles more than half of global currency trades.

调查还显示，全球外汇市场的日均交易额已经从2004年4月的1.88万亿美元增至今年4月的3.21万亿美元，激增71%。

The survey showed that global average daily volumes on the foreign exchange markets exploded by 71 per cent from $1,880bn in April 2004 to $3,210bn in April 2007.