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      The EUR-JPY foreign exchange transaction has resulted in the trading of one exposure for another.

      Even when something is bought for money, the seller has increased his exposure to the currency of the money he receives. Someone living in New York and trading in dollars does not consider receiving more dollars as a risk because he is not exposed to changes in exchange rates. But in international commerce most market participants do worry about exposure to all currencies including their domestic currency which may attract less deposit interest than an alternative, making holding money in that currency less attractive.

      1.3 Market participants

      We use the example of a forward trade to illustrate various market participants. Other trades such as spot trades (immediate buy and sell) and options (rights to buy and sell in the future) have similar participation.

      Imagine an apple grower owning a number of orchards. His product sells once a year and his entire income is dependent upon the size and price of his harvest. He can take steps to maximise his crop but he can do little to predict or control the price. He would rather have a fixed and known price for his produce than be subject to the vagaries of the market price at harvest time. How does he achieve a fixed price? He enters into a forward trade with a speculator obliging him to supply a fixed quantity of apples in return for a guaranteed price. He has now removed price uncertainty (or risk) and can concentrate on producing enough apples to meet his obligation.

      A cider manufacturer requires a certain supply of apples in six months' time. He is willing to pay more than the current market value to guarantee fresh stock is available when it is useful to him. His desire is to reduce his exposure to fluctuation of supply.

      A speculator takes a view on the likely direction of price change. If he sees a future shortage of apples, he will buy forward contracts now and hope to take advantage of his ability to supply later. He will take the opposite position and sell forward contracts if he forecasts a future glut. He is a risk taker, prepared to take advantage of other market participants' desire to reduce their level of risk.

      The market maker brings together buyers and sellers. He creates a market where it might be difficult for them to trade directly. He doesn't require the produce himself, nor does he have a view on the direction of price change; he is the middleman. He makes the market more efficient and helps to ensure prices reflect supply and demand.

      1.4 Means by which trades are transacted

      This section explains how trading actually takes place.

      Individuals and small financial entities cannot always get direct access to market makers. This may be due to their unknown credit worthiness, their small volume of trading or their specialised nature. They must rely on brokers to transact their trades. A broker, in return for a commission, will act on their behalf to execute a transaction at a given price or at the best possible price.

      Sales departments of investment banks also have a broking function. Customers of the bank may request orders for financial instruments which the sales force transacts on their behalf either at their own bank or using their contacts with other banks.

      An organised trading exchange is a safe and reliable place to trade. Prices are published, there is a plentiful supply of all products covered by the exchange and counterparty risk is virtually eliminated. There is a set of products traded, each one is well-defined, eliminating legal risk and liquidity is maintained by the guarantee of a market in each of the products.

      Market participants buy or sell a product with the exchange taking the other side of the trade. Members of the exchange ensure that the exchange has sufficient funds to cover any transaction and the members themselves are vetted to ensure they behave according to the rules of the exchange. Examples of exchanges are:

      It is increasingly common for trading to be conducted electronically. Most exchanges have moved beyond open outcry, where participants shout out or visually indicate their requirements and prices. Electronic exchanges work by having participants sending in orders and setting prices across a network of computers connected to the main exchange which publishes all the information simultaneously to all subscribers. This creates a virtual market place: the traders can operate from their own locations without ever meeting their counterparts.

      Breaches of security are a greater risk to electronic exchanges – it is essential that the participants are bona fide members of the exchange and that their details, prices and orders are kept secure. There is also communication risk where a computer or network fails in the central exchange or in one location, preventing some or all members from access to the market data.

      Exchange trades are limited to:

      If trading is required without these restrictions, it has to be done directly between the counterparties. This is known as over-the-counter (OTC) trading. There is increased flexibility because the counterparties can agree to any trade at any time but the absence of an exchange carries greater risks. Nowadays, much OTC trading is covered by regulation to ensure, inter alia, that both counterparties are competent and knowledgeable enough to trade, and understand the risks entailed.

      1.5 When is a trade live?

      A trade is live between the time of execution and the time of maturity. Final delivery may sometimes occur after the maturity date, in which case although the trade has no value at maturity, it does still bear the risk of non-delivery. Even when a trade has matured it may still feature in trade processes, such as for compilation of trading statistics, lookback analysis, auditing or due to outstanding litigation.

      1.6 Consequences of trading

      Once a trade has been executed, there will be at least one exchange of cash or assets at some future time ranging from within a few hours or days for spot trades, to many years for trades such as swaps, to unlimited periods for perpetual bonds. (Assets here include cash.)

      Apart from exchanging cash or assets, the trade itself has value while it is still live. So all processes and risk analysis must work with both the cash or asset exchanges and the intrinsic trade.

      The buyer and seller are holding different sides of the same trade. Although at execution the price they agreed was the same for both, the value of each side of the trade may vary over time.

      Here is an example that shows how a trade has two independent sides that result in intrinsic value and exchange of cash.

      On 11th January X buys a future contract from Y in EUR/JPY where he will in six months pay one million EUR and receive 137.88 million JPY (that is a 6m future at 137.88).

      On 11th April, the three-month future price is 140. X holds but Y buys a three-month future from Z.

      On 11th July, both futures settle.

      X

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