The BoJ, RBA, RBNZ, BoC and SNB

Bank of Japan

For decades the BoJ held rates near or below zero and bought assets on a vast scale, which made the yen the world's funding currency for carry trades. It began raising rates only in 2024. Japan's Ministry of Finance, acting through the BoJ, has intervened repeatedly to strengthen the yen when it weakened sharply, and warnings from officials move USD/JPY by themselves. The yen strengthens in global scares as carry trades unwind.

Reserve Bank of Australia and Reserve Bank of New Zealand

Both economies export commodities and trade heavily with Asia, so their currencies track iron ore, dairy, Chinese growth and global risk appetite. The RBA meets eight times a year and the RBNZ seven; the RBNZ has a reputation for moving early and decisively. AUD and NZD are risk currencies: they rise when markets are confident and fall when they are not, regardless of what the banks do that day.

Bank of Canada

Canada's economy is tied to the United States and to oil, so the Canadian dollar moves with US data, the Fed and crude prices. The BoC meets eight times a year and was among the first major banks to raise rates in 2022 and to cut in 2024. USD/CAD is unusual in that both currencies respond to the same US news, which dampens some moves and sharpens others.

Swiss National Bank

The franc is a safe haven, and the SNB spends much of its time trying to stop it strengthening. Between 2011 and 2015 it held a floor under EUR/CHF and abandoned it without warning, producing the largest one-day move in a major currency in modern history. It still intervenes and it meets only quarterly, so its decisions are large and infrequent. Treat CHF pairs as carrying policy risk that other majors do not.

Safe havens and risk currencies

Key takeaways

• The BoJ and SNB run low-rate, intervention-prone policies; their currencies are safe havens.
• AUD, NZD and CAD are commodity and risk currencies that move with global sentiment.
• The BoC follows US data and oil; USD/CAD reacts to both sides.
• Intervention risk is real in the yen and the franc.