SEC OFFICE of INVESTOR EDUCATION and ADVOCACY

SEC
OFFICE of INVESTOR
EDUCATION and ADVOCACY
Investor Bulletin:
Foreign Currency Exchange (Forex) Trading For Individual Investors
Individual investors who are considering participating
in the foreign currency exchange (or “forex”) market
need to understand fully the market and its unique
characteristics.  Forex trading can be very risky and is
not appropriate for all investors.
It is common in most forex trading strategies to employ leverage.  Leverage entails using a relatively small
amount of capital to buy currency worth many times
the value of that capital.  Leverage magnifies minor
fluctuations in currency markets in order to increase
potential gains and losses.  By using leverage to trade
forex, you risk losing all of your initial capital and may
lose even more money than the amount of your initial
capital.  You should carefully consider your own financial situation, consult a financial adviser knowledgeable in forex trading, and investigate any firms offering
to trade forex for you before making any investment
decisions.
Background:  Foreign Currency
Exchange Rates, Quotes, and Pricing
A foreign currency exchange rate is a price that
represents how much it costs to buy the currency of
one country using the currency of another country.  Currency traders buy and sell currencies through
forex transactions based on how they expect currency
exchange rates will fluctuate.  When the value of one
currency rises relative to another, traders will earn
profits if they purchased the appreciating currency, or
suffer losses if they sold the appreciating currency.  As
discussed below, there are also other factors that can
reduce a trader’s profits even if that trader “picked” the
right currency.
Currencies are identified by three-letter abbreviations.
For example, USD is the designation for the U.S.
dollar, EUR is the designation for the Euro, GBP is
the designation for the British pound, and JPY is the
designation for the Japanese yen.
Forex transactions are quoted in pairs of currencies
(e.g., GBP/USD) because you are purchasing one currency with another currency.  Sometimes purchases
and sales are done relative to the U.S. dollar, similar
to the way that many stocks and bonds are priced in
U.S. dollars.  For example, you might buy Euros using
U.S. dollars.  In other types of forex transactions, one
foreign currency might be purchased using another
foreign currency.  An example of this would be to
buy Euros using British pounds – that is, trading both
the Euro and the pound in a single transaction.  For
investors whose local currency is the U.S. dollar (i.e.,
investors who mostly hold assets denominated in U.S.
dollars), the first example generally represents a single,
positive bet on the Euro (an expectation that the Euro
will rise in value), whereas the second example represents a positive bet on the Euro and a negative bet on
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1the British pound (an expectation that the Euro will
rise in value relative to the British pound).
There are different quoting conventions for exchange
rates depending on the currency, the market, and
sometimes even the system that is displaying the quote.
For some investors, these differences can be a source of
confusion and might even lead to placing unintended
trades.
For example, it is often the case that the Euro exchange rates are quoted in terms of U.S. dollars.  A
quote for EUR of 1.4123 then means that 1,000
Euros can be bought for approximately 1,412 U.S.
dollars.  In contrast, Japanese yen are often quoted in
terms of the number of yen that can be purchased
with a single U.S. dollar.  A quote for JPY of 79.1515
then means that 1,000 U.S. dollars can be bought for
approximately 79,152 yen.  In these examples, if you
bought the Euro and the EUR quote increases from
1.4123 to 1.5123, you would be making money.  But
if you bought the yen and the JPY quote increases
from 79.1515 to 89.1515, you would actually be losing
money because, in this example, the yen would be depreciating relative to the U.S. dollar (i.e., it would take
more yen to buy a single U.S. dollar).
Before you attempt to trade currencies, you should
have a firm understanding of currency quoting conventions, how forex transactions are priced, and the
mathematical formulae required to convert one currency into another.
Currency exchange rates are usually quoted using a
pair of prices representing a “bid” and an “ask.” Similar
to the manner in which stocks might be quoted, the
“ask” is a price that represents how much you will
need to spend in order to purchase a currency, and the
“bid”  is a price that represents the (lower) amount
that you will receive if you sell the currency.  The difference between the bid and ask prices is known as
the “bid-ask spread,” and it represents an inherent cost
of trading – the wider the bid-ask spread, the more it
costs to buy and sell a given currency, apart from any
other commissions or transaction charges.
Generally speaking, there are three ways to trade foreign currency exchange rates:
1. On an exchange that is regulated by the
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
(CFTC).  An example of such an exchange is the
Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which offers currency futures and options on currency futures
products.  Exchange-traded currency futures and
options provide traders with contracts of a set unit
size, a fixed expiration date, and centralized clearing.  In centralized clearing, a clearing corporation
acts as single counterparty to every transaction and
guarantees the completion and credit worthiness of
all transactions.
2. On an exchange that is regulated by the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
An example of such an exchange is the NASDAQ
OMX PHLX (formerly the Philadelphia Stock
Exchange), which offers options on currencies
(i.e., the right but not the obligation to buy or
sell a currency at a specific rate within a specified
time).  Exchange-traded options on currencies also
provide investors with contracts of a set unit size, a
fixed expiration date, and centralized clearing.
3. In the off-exchange market.  In the off-exchange market (sometimes called the over-thecounter, or OTC, market), an individual investor
trades directly with a counterparty, such as a forex
broker or dealer; there is no exchange or central
clearinghouse.  Instead, the trading generally is
conducted by telephone or through electronic
communications networks (ECNs).  In this case,
the investor relies entirely on the counterparty to
receive funds or to be able to trade out of a position.
Risks of Forex Trading
The forex market is a large, global, and generally liquid
financial market.  Banks, insurance companies, and other financial institutions, as well as large corporations,
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2use the forex markets to manage the risks associated
with fluctuations in currency rates.
The risk of loss for individual investors who trade
forex contracts can be substantial.  The only funds that
you should put at risk when speculating in foreign
currency are those funds that you can afford to lose
entirely, and you should always be aware that certain
strategies may result in your losing even more money
than the amount of your initial investment.  Some of
the key risks involved include:
• Quoting Conventions Are Not Uniform. While
many currencies are typically quoted against the
U.S. dollar (that is, one dollar purchases a specified amount of a foreign currency), there are no
required uniform quoting conventions in the forex
market.  Both the Euro and the British pound,
for example, may be quoted in the reverse, meaning that one British pound purchases a specified
amount of U.S. dollars (GBP/USD) and one
Euro purchases a specified amount of U.S. dollars
(EUR/USD).  Therefore, you need to pay special
attention to a currency’s quoting convention and
what an increase or decrease in a quote may mean
for your trades.
• Transaction Costs May Not Be Clear. Before
deciding to invest in the forex market, check with
several different firms and compare their charges
as well as their services.  There are very limited
rules addressing how a dealer charges an investor
for the forex services the dealer provides or how
much the dealer can charge.  Some dealers charge
a per-trade commission, while others charge a
mark-up by widening the spread between the bid
and ask prices that they quote to investors.  When
a dealer advertises a transaction as “commissionfree,” you should not assume that the transaction
will be executed without cost to you.  Instead,
the dealer’s commission may be built into a wider
bid-ask spread, and it may not be clear how much
of the spread is the dealer’s mark-up.  In addition,
some dealers may charge both a commission and a
mark-up.  They may also charge a different markup for buying a currency than selling it.  Read
your agreement with the dealer carefully and make
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sure you understand how the dealer will charge
you for your trades.
• Transaction Costs Can Turn Profitable Trades
into Losing Transactions.  For certain currencies and currency pairs, transaction costs can be
relatively large.  If you are frequently trading in and
out of a currency, these costs can in some circumstances turn what might have been profitable trades
into losing transactions.
• You Could Lose Your Entire Investment or
More.  You will be required to deposit an amount
of money (usually called a “security deposit” or
“margin”) with a forex dealer in order to purchase
or sell an off-exchange forex contract.  A small
sum may allow you to hold a forex contract worth
many times the value of the initial deposit.  This
use of margin is the basis of “leverage” because an
investor can use the deposit as a “lever” to support
a much larger forex contract.  Because currency
price movements can be small, many forex traders employ leverage as a means of amplifying their
returns.  The smaller the deposit is in relation to
the underlying value of the contract, the greater
the leverage will be.  If the price moves in an unfavorable direction, then high leverage can produce
large losses in relation to your initial deposit.  With
leverage, even a small move against your position
could wipe out your entire investment.  You may
also be liable for additional losses beyond your
initial deposit, depending on your agreement with
the dealer.
• Trading Systems May Not Operate as Intended.  Though it is possible to buy and hold a
currency if you believe in its long-term appreciation, many trading strategies capitalize on small,
rapid moves in the currency markets.  For these
strategies, it is common to use automated trading systems that provide buy and sell signals, or
even automatic execution, across a wide range of
currencies.  The use of any such system requires
specialized knowledge and comes with its own
risks, including a misunderstanding of the system
parameters, incorrect data that can lead to unintended trades, and the ability to trade at speeds
3greater than what can be monitored manually and
checked.
• Fraud.  Beware of get-rich-quick investment
schemes that promise significant returns with
minimal risk through forex trading.  The SEC and
CFTC have brought actions alleging fraud in cases
involving forex investment programs.  Contact the
appropriate federal regulator to check the membership status of particular firms and individuals.
Special Risks of Off-Exchange Forex
Trading
As described above, forex trading in general presents
significant risks to individual investors that require
careful consideration.  Off-exchange forex trading
poses additional risks, including:
• There Is No Central Marketplace.  Unlike the
regulated futures and options exchanges, there is
no central marketplace in the retail off-exchange
forex market.  Instead, individual investors commonly access the forex market through individual
financial institutions – or dealers – known as
“market makers.”  Market makers take the opposite side of any transaction; for example, they may
be buying and selling the same foreign currency at
the same time.  In these cases, market makers are
acting as principals for their own account and, as a
result, may not provide the best price available in
the market.  Because individual investors often do
not have access to pricing information, it can be
difficult for them to determine whether an offered
price is fair.
• There Is No Central Clearing.  When trading futures and options on regulated exchanges, a
clearing organization can act as a central counterparty to all transactions in a way that may afford
you some protection in the event of a default by
your counterparty.  This protection is not available
in the off-exchange forex market, where there is
no central clearing.
Regulation of Off-Exchange Forex
Trading
The Commodity Exchange Act permits persons
regulated by a federal regulatory agency to engage
in off-exchange forex transactions with individual
investors only pursuant to rules of that federal regulatory agency.  Keep in mind that there may be different requirements or treatment for forex transactions
depending on which rules and regulations might apply
in different circumstances (for example, with respect
to bankruptcy protection or leverage limitations).
You should also be aware that, for brokers and dealers,
many of the rules and regulations that apply to securities transactions may not apply to forex transactions.
The SEC is actively interested in business practices in
this area and is currently studying whether additional
rules and regulations would be appropriate.
Related Information
National Futures Association Investor Information on
Forex Trading
CFTC/NASAA Investor Alert on Foreign Exchange
Currency Fraud
Press Release:  SEC Charges Forex Ponzi Operator
Who Fled After Scheme Unraveled
The Office of Investor Education and Advocacy has
provided this information as a service to investors.
It is neither a legal interpretation nor a statement of
SEC policy.  If you have questions concerning the
meaning or application of a particular law or rule,
please consult with an attorney who specializes in
securities law.
Investor Assistance (800) 732-0330 July 2011
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