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Glossary

Navigate the complex world of currency management with our comprehensive dictionary of financial terms and definitions.

foreign exchange market

The foreign exchange market is the place where currencies are traded. A EUR-based company selling in USD will ultimately be interested in receiving EUR, just as a USD-based exporter to Europe would want to receive USD. Because it would be inconvenient for individual buyers and sellers to seek out one another, the foreing exchange market was developed to act as an intermediary. Most currency transactions take place through the worldwide interbank market, the wholesale market in which major banks trade with one another. According to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the size of the foreign exchange market is $6.6 trillion a day. The foreign exchange market comprises the spot market, the forward market, the futures market, as well as swap transactions. While spot trading amounts to about $ 2 trillion per day, the size of the forward market is just below the $ 1 trillion mark. The most widely traded currencies in foreign exchange markets are USD, EUR, JPY, GBP and CHF.