US sale of euros for yen intervention blindsided Europe: report
Some ECB officials viewed the US using euros, instead of US dollars, as an unprecedented breach of longstanding conventions
Published Fri, Aug 7, 2026 · 11:50 AM
THE US blindsided the European Central Bank (ECB) last week with its historic currency intervention to help Japan, only informing its counterparts in Frankfurt after it sold euros to buy the yen, the Financial Times reported, citing several people familiar with the matter.
ECB president Christine Lagarde and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spoke about the transaction on Saturday (Aug 1) after the US’ Jul 31 trade had been executed, the report said, citing one of the people.
Some senior ECB officials viewed the US using euros, instead of US dollars, as an unprecedented breach of longstanding conventions on cooperation between western monetary authorities, the people said.
The operation was aimed at helping Japan support the yen after the currency hit a 40-year low. Tokyo stepped in the foreign exchange on last week by selling US dollars to buy the yen.
The US selling euros instead of selling US dollars to help Japan adds to the view that Washington does not want to see interventions lead to a sell-off of US Treasuries and higher US yields.
Both Bessent and Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama warned on Aug 3 that they would have no hesitation to take action on the yen again if needed.
Japan’s Finance Ministry has signalled that the nation would utilise a US Federal Reserve facility going forward that provides central banks with US dollars using US Treasury holdings as collateral, without the need to sell them. BLOOMBERG
