Foreign exchange (FOREX)

Any type of financial instrument that is used to make payments between countries is considered foreign exchange. The list of instruments includes electronic transactions, paper currency, checks, and signed, written orders called bills of exchange.

Large-scale currency trading, with minimums of $1 million, is also considered foreign exchange and can be handled as spot price transactions, forward contract transactions, or swap contracts.

Spot transactions close at the market price within two days, and the others are set to close at an agreed-upon price and an agreed-upon date in the future.