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U.S. sale of euros to prop up yen blindsided ECB
By Olaf Storbeck, Claire Jones, and Kate Duguid
Financial Times, London
Thursday, August 6, 2026
Washington's sale of euros to boost the yen late last week blindsided the European Central Bank, with the U.S. informing its counterparts in Frankfurt only after the historic currency intervention.
The ECB was made aware of the U.S. move to sell euros to buy yen on Friday after the trade had been executed, according to several people familiar with the matter.
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ECB president Christine Lagarde and Treasury secretary Scott Bessent spoke about the intervention on Saturday, one of the people said.
The lack of co-ordination highlights the unusual nature of the first joint Washington-Tokyo effort to boost the yen in almost 30 years. Typically, the U.S. would have been expected to use dollars in such an operation.
Some senior ECB officials viewed the U.S. decision to use euros in its trade as an unprecedented breach of longstanding conventions on co-operation between Western monetary authorities, the people said. ...
... For the remainder of the report:
https://www.ft.com/content/d9922d0b-51a0-48be-811b-42e08f90985a
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U.S. Treasury Undertakes Historic Intervention in Yen Market
By Kate Duguid, Claire Jones, Katie Martin, Ian Smith, and David Keohane
Financial Times, London
Friday, July 31, 2026
The U.S. Treasury intervened in yen exchange rates on Friday, marking the first time Tokyo and Washington joined forces to support the Japanese currency via outright purchases in nearly 30 years.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York undertook the unusual move of conducting a sale of euros to buy yen on behalf of the Treasury, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The sales were conducted through Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, according to two of those people.
The Treasury had earlier told several banks on Wall Street that it was considering an intervention to support the Japanese currency, which on July 23 hit its weakest level against the dollar since 1986.
U.S. authorities were in touch with European Central Bank officials about the move, according to people familiar with the matter.
The New York Fed and Goldman Sachs declined to comment. The Treasury Department and Morgan Stanley did not immediately respond to a request for comment. ...
Atsushi Mimura, Japan's vice-minister of finance for international affairs, said: "We understand that we are receiving support from the U.S. authorities that goes beyond mere moral support. We have been in constant contact with them." ...
... For the remainder of the report:
https://www.ft.com/content/0f9b2fe7-bde4-4f5f-b49e-93ccb5da9ea8?syn-25a6b1a6=1
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