THE FOREIGN EXCHANGE MARKET: STRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS 21
When there is an arbitrage opportunity, what can be done to make an arbitrage profit? That
is, which currencies should be purchased and which ones should be sold to make a profit? In
the current example, the arbitrageur should buy GBP with US dollars at a spot rate of 2.0592,
buy Australian dollars with pounds at 0.4256, and then buy US dollars with Australian dol-
lars at the spot rate of 1.1310. By doing so, the arbitrageur makes a riskless profit of [1 —
(GBP/USD) × (AUD/GBP) × (USD/AUD] percent = 0.88 percent. If such a situation were to
exist in reality, the arbitrage transactions would tend to cause the GBP to appreciate against
the USD and to depreciate against the AUD. Fur