
Explore how foreign exchange turns currencies into commodities traded in a 24-hour global market. Learn the USD and EUR/USD pair and how time zones keep quotes always available.
Identify the key participants in the foreign exchange market, including commercial banks, brokers, corporates, and central banks, and explain interbank and commercial segments, cover operations, and nostro–vostro settlements through Swift.
Explore major currencies and ISO codes, including USD, EUR, JPY, and GBP, and learn how three-letter ISO codes identify currencies.
Understand how currencies are priced as ratios in forex, with direct and indirect quotations, where the base currency is priced in units of the quoting currency, e.g., USD/INR 75.50.
Explore forex two-way quotes with bid and ask prices, where market makers buy low, sell high, and earn the spread, using USD/INR as an example of base and quoting currencies.
Explain what a pip, big figure, and small figure mean in forex pricing. A pip is 0.0001; 100 pips form a big figure, and USD/JPY is quoted to two decimals.
Learn how abbreviations on the offer side of a two-way forex quote are formed and how to derive the full offer price from the bid using small figures.
Determine the base currency by whichever currency comes first in the pair, with euro, pound, aussie, and kiwi exceptions; review common pairs and nicknames such as cable and swissy.
Cross rates require USD as an intermediary when it's not in the pair, deriving prices by multiplying or dividing USD-based rates. Examples include EUR/CHF and CHF/INR.
Learn to calculate cash, tom, spot, and forward value dates by determining deal dates, settlement dates, and mutual business dates, including the second working day across centers.
Banks track exchange position, the currency held, and fund position, reflecting settlement and value date. A cover operation squares both positions by selling dollars in the interbank market.
Explain spot buy and sell transactions with cover operations through importer and exporter scenarios, showing interbank market dealings and the merchant margin.
Apply forex arithmetic rules to USD/INR by adjusting interbank bid and offer with margins, producing merchant quotes for importers and exporters.
Compute the EUR/INR cross rate through a USD cover operation in the interbank market. Apply a two paisa margin to derive merchant rates for exporters and importers.
Explain forward contracts and forward differential, including par, premium and discount, swap points, and the influence of interest rates, demand and supply, speculation, and controls.
Swap points are denoted as whole numbers and converted to decimals by dividing by ten to the power of the spot rate’s decimals; higher values signal premium, lower signal discount.
Compute forward rates from spot rates and swap points by adding points when the base currency is in premium and deducting when in discount, illustrated with USD/INR examples.
Calculate cross forward rates by chaining spot cross rates and forward points, using EUR/USD and USD/INR examples to derive EUR/INR forward.
Learn to compute the cash rate for cash settlement by cross-manner adjustments: deduct swap points when the base is premium, add forward points when it is discount.
Understand how forex swaps in the interbank market cover forward and cash deals, with near and far legs shaping forward points under premium and discount.
Explore how forex swaps enable forward settlements by calculating forward rates with swap points, cover operations, and margin adjustments for exporters and importers.
Explains cash settlement for forex swaps using rule three and rule four, calculating USD/INR rates with swap points, margins, and cover operations via a buy-sell swap.
Explore how FEDAI and FIMMDA govern forex market conduct, including dealing separation, know-your-counterparty due diligence, conversation recording, dealing hours, and timely confirmations for integrity.
Learn forex market terminology—bid, offer, value date, level, final price, and close—through a sample EUR/USD spot deal dialogue between an asker and a quoter.
Explore useful resources and reference websites to deepen your understanding of trade finance, international trade, and the global trade ecosystem, with recommended courses to enroll in and expand your knowledge.
________________________________________________________
A compact guide - updated with 8 Assignments with solutions to evaluate your understanding
More than 60 Practice Test and Quiz and examples
________________________________________________________
Understanding forex can be tricky! But once you understand the foreign exchange arithmetic, it becomes so interesting!
This course attempts to explain how banks deal in forex in simple language, keeping it crisp and to the point.
After completing this course you will know how forex rates are decided, how banks deal with their foreign exchange customers, and how they handle their forex exposures using cover operations. Understanding these concepts is vital to secure a certificate in any forex dealing and treasury examination.
You will learn -
Overview of the Foreign Exchange Market
What is foreign exchange?
Participants and Segments of the Forex market
Currencies and Quotations
Major Currencies and ISO Codes
How Currencies are Quoted - Direct and Indirect Quotations
Two way Quotations - Bid and Ask Quotes
What is Pip, Big Figure, Small Figure?
How abbreviations work in the Offer side of a Two Way Quote?
Hierarchy of Currencies - Which will be the Base Currency?
Cross Rates
Calculation of Cash, Tom, Spot, Forward Dates
Where one currency is USD
In cross rates
Spot Merchant Deals and Corresponding Cover Operations
Understanding Exchange Position and Fund Position of a Bank
Understanding Spot Buy and Sell Transactions and Corresponding Cover Operations
Calculation of Spot Rate - USD one of the Currencies
Calculation of Cross Spot Rate
Forward and Cash Merchant Deals
Forward Contracts and Factors affecting Forward Differential
How are Swap Points Denoted?
Calculation of Forward Rates
Calculation of Cross Forward Rates
Calculation of Cash Rates
Cover Operations of Forward and Cash deals - Forex Swap
What is a Forex Swap?
Forex Swap for Forward Settlements
Forex Swap for Cash Settlements
Regulation of Treasury Operations and Market Practices
Code of Conduct
Market Terminologies and Sample Deal Conversation
Assignments and Practice Test
This course is meant for -
Aspiring forex dealers of banks
Students of Forex and Treasury certificate examinations
Anyone interested in learning about forex rates