Foreign exchange spot

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A foreign exchange spot transaction, also known as FX spot, is an agreement between two parties to buy one currency against selling another currency at an agreed price for settlement on the spot date. The exchange rate at which the transaction is done is called the spot exchange rate. As of 2010, the average daily turnover of global FX spot transactions reached nearly US$1.5 trillion, counting 37.4% of all foreign exchange transactions. [1] FX spot transactions increased by 38% to US$2.0 trillion from April 2010 to April 2013. [2]

Contents

Settlement date

The standard settlement timeframe for foreign exchange spot transactions is T+2; i.e., two business days from the trade date. Notable exceptions are USD/CAD, USD/TRY, USD/PHP, USD/RUB, and offshore USD/KZT and offshore USD/PKR currency pairs, which settle at T+1. USD/COP settles T+0. [3] Majority of SME FX payments are made through Spot FX, partially because businesses aren't aware of alternatives. [4]

Execution methods

Common methods of executing a spot foreign exchange transaction include the following: [1]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Triennial Central Bank Survey of Foreign Exchange and Derivatives Market Activity in 2010" (PDF). Bank for International Settlements. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  2. "Triennial Central Bank Survey Global foreign exchange market turnover in 2013" (PDF). Bank for International Settlements. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  3. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-13. Retrieved 2018-07-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Spot FX transactions for Payments or Hedged Transaction?" . Retrieved 14 December 2019.