Euro in Madrid. The euro was introduced to world financial markets as an accounting currency on 1 January 1999, replacing the former European Currency Unit (ECU) at a ratio of 1:1 (US$1.1743). Physical euro coins and banknotes entered into circulation on 1 January 2002, making it the day-to-day operating currency of its original members, and by March 2002 it had completely replaced the former currencies. While the euro dropped subsequently to US$0.83 within two years (26 October 2000), it has traded above the U.S. dollar since the end of 2002, peaking at US$1.60 on 18 July 2008. In late 2009, the
WCU – World Currency Unit WCU – World Currency Unit The World Currency Unit (WCU) is an indexed unit of account (unit of account) that stands for a unit of real global purchasing power. Proposed by Lok Sang Ho of Lingnan University, Hong Kong, it was first intended to be the basis for denominating global bonds, a debt instrument that is issued globally and subscribable by people and institutions around the world. Since each unit by design represents a stable unit of purchasing power, the stipulated interest rate on WCU-denominated bonds represents a real interest rate. In principle, the common denomination of bonds by issuers