The foreign currency exchange market is the global trade in currencies. It is also called FOREX or FX and is primarily designed to facilitate international trade transactions by allowing international business buyers to convert local currency to the foreign currency of the seller. In addition to companies, actors in the foreign exchange market include central banks, governments, financial institutions, and a growing number of currency speculators, such as hedge funds, small retail speculators, and individual traders.

The Bank of International Settlements (BIS) reports that the daily average transactions in the brisk global foreign exchange market amounts to nearly $4 trillion, according to its Triennial Central Bank Survey of Foreign Exchange and Derivatives Market Activity, published in December 2007.

Beware of Foreign Currency Trading Frauds

While much foreign currency trading is legitimate, various forms of foreign currency trading have been used to defraud individual traders. The U.S.'s Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal agency that regulates commodity futures and options markets, warns consumers to take special care when entering the foreign currency trading market.