foreign currency

On Tuesday the Securities and Exchange Commission reported that it had obtained an emergency court order to freeze the assets of Texas A&M finance professor Robert D. Watson, Houston lawyer and certified public accountant Daniel J. Petroski, and two firms. They are charged with defrauding U.S. investors by using forged bank records to make it appear they were earning spectacular returns in foreign exchange trading.

On Monday the Federal Reserve signed additional agreements with the four central banks, including Japan, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the European Union. To date the Fed established or expanded 14 currency swap agreements since the inception of the credit crisis. Under these arrangements the U.S. central bank provides dollars in exchange for reserves of the other nations' currencies.

Zimbabwean mobile communications service provider Econet Wireless introduced a new payment system that charges the mobile subscribers for their using the service in foreign currency. As a result of this move a significant number of customers became unable to make telephone calls and top up their mobile balances. The new payment method was adopted by the mobile network after it was granted foreign currency licenses by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.