PURPOSE
Automate the daily retrieval and update of exchange rates for CS Lucas, ensuring accurate and timely currency conversion data.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
- Automatically update system rates, eliminating error-prone manual entries
- Ensure data quality and consistency
- Provide reliable rates for:
- Generating accounting journals
- Revaluating open treasury positions for risk management
DATA SOURCES
Sources for exchange rate data:
1. International Monetary Fund (IMF)
URL: https://www.imf.org/external/np/fin/ert/GUI/Pages/CountryDataBase.aspx
2. Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)
URL: https://eservices.mas.gov.sg/Statistics/msb/ExchangeRates.aspx
DATA SOURCING STRATEGY
1. Prioritize IMF exchange rates
2. Supplement missing currencies/rates from other sources
RATE SOURCING AND CONVERSION
See working in Excel
1. Prioritize IMF exchange rates
Supplement missing currencies/rates from other sources
2. The CSL rates are normalised to amount of foreign currency per 1 USD
Example: CAD 1.396987628 = USD 1.00
3. The normalised rates is consistent with what is published by IMF on their website except for AUD, GBP and EUR
On the IMF website, these are quoted in amount of USD per 1 unit of foreign currencies.
Example
| IMF website | CSL Rates | Calculation | |
| AUD | 0.6402 | 1.562011871 | =1/0.6402 |
| EUR | 1.1262 | 0.887941751 | =1/0.1262 |
| GBP | 1.33895 | 0.746853878 | =1/1.33895 |
4. MAS rates are quoted in amount of SGD for an unit of USD, GBP and EUR. For the other currencies it is quoted in amount of SGD for 100 units of foreign currency.
Example
On 19-May-2025, the MAS published rate are
1 USD = SGD 1.2985
100 IDR = SGD 0.007887
SGD 1 = IDR 12,679.09218 (=100 / 0.007887)
USD 1 = IDR 16,463.80119 (= 100 / 0.007887 * 1.2985)
5. Calculating cross rates from CSL Rates.
Example
Compute the cross rate between SGD and TWD.
CSL Rate of USD 1 are
SGD/USD = 1.2985 (
TWD/USD = 30.17521844
TWD/SGD = 26.70727835 (=30.17521844/1.2985)
SGD/TWD = 0.037442977 (=1.2985/30.17521844)
INTEGRATION WORKFLOW
1. Daily data retrieval from authoritative sources
2. Data normalization and conversion
3. Rate are pushed to CSL Application and then rounded to 6 significant digits and the system is updated.
4. System update
5. User approval process for final rates
IMPORTANT NOTES
Some currencies may have missing rates due to:
- Public holidays in the country of origin
- Archival limitations of source databases
Always verify data before final system integration
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