§ 1 Currency Code and Currency Symbol

1.1 International Organization for Standardization（ISO）

Given the size and dynamic participants，there originally has no absolute rule nor unified regulation in the foreign exchange market.Over time，many standards have been developed to bring in uniformity.One institution focuses on uniformity is the International Organization for Standardization.In short，it is called ISO.It is an independent，non-governmental international organization with a membership of 168 national standards bodies.Through its members，ISO brings together experts to share knowledge and develop voluntary，consensus-based，market relevant International Standards that support innovation and provide solutions to global challenges.

1.2 Currency Code

ISO has over 24770 International Standards covering almost all aspects of technology and business，among which，ISO 4217 deals with standardization of currency codes.Currency code is a three-letter ISO 4217 abbreviation.ISO 4217 specifies a 3-letter alphabetic code as well as 3-digit numeric code.Currencies can be represented in the code in two ways：a three-letter alphabetic code and a three-digit numeric code.This book applies a three-letter alphabetic code.

Take the Special Drawing Rights currency basket for instance，it is composed by USD，EUR，CNY，GBP and JPY as shown in Figure 3-1.USD is for U.S.dollar，EUR for Euro，CNY for Chinese yuan，GBP for British pound and JPY for Jananese Yen.

More specifically，the first two letters of each currency code represent the abbreviation of country name while the last letter indicates the currency name.In CNY，“CN” stand for China，and “Y” for Chinese currency unit “yuan”.

Table 3-1 gives a detailed explanation for these five currencies.

“ISO 4217：2015” is the 8th edition standard.The 7th edition（“ISO：4217：2008”）was canceled in Aug.2015.Changes to the currency codes lists occur if a currency is created，withdrawn or amended from time to time.Figure 3-2 for example，shows that on 24th Feb.2016，three amendments were announced by ISO：

① The Reserve Bank of Malawi requested the currency name change from Kwacha to Malawi Kwacha；

②The Central Reserve Bank of Peru has change its currency name from Nuevo Sol to Sol，effective Dec.15，2015；

③ Venezuela amended currency name as“bolívar” with an accent on the letter i.

1.3 Currency Symbol

A currency symbol is a graphic symbol used as a shorthand for a currency's name，especially in reference to amounts of money.The placement of currency symbols with respect to the amount of money varies among currencies.Latin American and English-speaking countries typically place money symbols before the amount（＄100 or 100）while many European countries place the symbol after the amount（100 ）.The Cape Verdean places its symbol in the decimal separator position（20＄00）.

All currencies in the world have currency codes，still most have no specific currency symbol.There are countries share the same currency symbol.For example， are used both in China and in Japan.The ISO 4217 set of currency abbreviations are a method of representation that passes unchanged and without difficulty in all of these media.It has been long used by the international banking community.Table 3-2 lists frequently traded currency symbols.One can find that some currencies share the same symbol while their ISO codes are unique.