In a currency transaction, the value date (VD) is the date at which the trade is settled and one currency is exchanged against another. In a spot market transaction the most common value date is two days after the transaction was agreed If the value date is more than 48 hours away from the day the transaction was agreed, it is called a forward market transaction. It can be weeks, months or, in cases involving very liquid currencies such as USD and EUR, even years after the contract has been signed. In forward markets, the value date is freely agreed between the buyer and the seller. This is not the case with futures markets transactions, where the VD is standardised by the futures exchange.