The US sold euros to buy yen last week to support the Japanese currency and
informed the European Central Bank only after the trades were executed, the
Financial Times reported. ECB officials said they learned of the euro sales
after execution on Friday. ECB President Lagarde spoke with US Treasury
Secretary Bessent on Saturday. The operation was part of a rare US‑Japan
coordinated effort to bolster the yen — the first in nearly 30 years — and,
unusually, used euros rather than dollars. Some senior ECB officials called the
decision to use euros an unprecedented breach of long‑standing cooperation
norms. A person familiar with ECB discussions described the euro sales carried
out by the New York Fed on behalf of the US Treasury as "striking" and
"regrettable."
