In a transaction that caught the attention of the financial market and monetary authorities, a user of foreign currency market Monex paid ¢ 5.555 for each of the $63,000 they bought.
Monex is a wholesale currency market that operates on a technology platform provided by the Central Bank of Costa Rica. It is a “blind market” where buyers and sellers of foreign exchange are not revealed.
According to the data of the transaction, at about 10 a.m. on Wednesday a buyer made an offer to acquire $63,000, which was closed with two operations for $23,000 and $40,000. For this amount they paid almost ¢350 million, when they should have paid around ¢35 million.
Central Bank officials confirmed that the technology platform worked completely fine and now they are making inquiries about this transaction to verify the will of the parties.
The Monetary Authority shall later explain if there is an involvement on the reference exchange rate, as the high price of the transaction could affect the average.