Similarities between foreign exchange futures and foreign exchange forwards;

1. Same transaction object: foreign exchange.

2. The principle of trading is the same: to prevent or transfer risks through trading, and finally achieve the purpose of preserving value or making profits from investment.

3. Consistency of the market trend of the transaction: it has a certain correlation with the spot market price, and the foreign exchange forward and foreign exchange futures prices also have the characteristics of consistency before, otherwise arbitrage opportunities will occur until the arbitrage opportunities disappear.

The difference between foreign exchange futures and foreign exchange forwards;

1. Different market participants

① forex futures trading has a wide range of participants. Including banks, other financial institutions, companies, governments and individuals, can participate in futures trading through brokers who are members of the futures exchange and enterprises with good relations or good credit with banks as long as they pay the deposit according to regulations. In forex futures trading, all clearing houses are traded, so participants engaged in forex futures trading do not have to consider the credit status of their counterparties, who are clearing houses, and do not have to worry about the risk of default.

(2) Forward foreign exchange trading lacks the intermediary institutions such as clearing houses in futures trading. Therefore, although there is no qualification restriction for participants to engage in forward foreign exchange transactions, in fact, most of them are professional brokers or large manufacturers with good relations with banks, and it is extremely difficult for individual investors and small and medium-sized enterprises that have not obtained credit lines from banks to participate.

2. Different trading methods

(1) In the forward foreign exchange market, there is no direct contact between the two parties, and the specific implementation of buying and selling is represented by brokers. Neither party knows who the real counterparty is. They all deal with the clearing house of the exchange, which is the intermediary of the transaction. Because the credit risk is small, it is not necessary to consider whether the other party's credit is reliable when conducting forex futures trading.

② Forward foreign exchange transactions can be divided into inter-bank transactions and bank-to-customer transactions, both of which are conducted through telecommunication networks such as telephone, telegraph and telex. Sometimes, although there are brokers involved, buyers and sellers usually contact directly to make transactions. Therefore, every transaction must consider the other party's credit, and it is inevitable to bear certain credit risks.

3. Different trading places

(1) forex futures trading is a kind of on-site trading, that is, it is conducted in the exchange, and the trading is conducted in the form of open bidding at a specified time, with fierce competition. On-site trading is limited to exchange members. If non-members want to go to forex futures trading, they must buy and sell on their behalf.

② Forward foreign exchange transactions are over-the-counter transactions, with no fixed trading place and no trading time limit. It can be carried out independently between banks, between banks and brokers, and between banks and customers by modern communication means such as telephone and telex. If you want to entrust a broker to trade, there is no limit.

4. Different trading tools

① Foreign exchange futures contracts are traded in the forward foreign exchange market. Foreign exchange futures contracts are standardized contracts with clear and specific provisions on currency, trading time, trading amount and settlement date. Except for the price. The transaction amount is expressed in contract quantity. The minimum transaction amount is one contract, and the maximum can be several contracts. The amount of each contract has different provisions in different currencies. FX 168 financial network-foreign exchange information and quotation website.

② Forward foreign exchange contracts are traded in the forward foreign exchange market. There are no fixed specifications for foreign exchange forward contracts, and the details of the contracts are negotiated by both parties.

5. Different delivery methods

(1) Only a few foreign exchange futures contracts are actually delivered on the maturity date, and most futures contracts are settled by hedging before the maturity date. In addition, the foreign exchange futures contract stipulates that the expiration date of the contract is Wednesday of the third week of the delivery month, and the delivery months of different varieties are completely different. The delivery months are generally March, June, September and 65438+February of each year.

② Most forward foreign exchange transactions are actually delivered and cashed on the delivery date. There is no fixed delivery date for forward foreign exchange transactions, and customers can choose freely according to their needs.

6. The system of deposit and commission is different.

(1) In forex futures trading, in order to ensure that after each contract comes into effect, both parties to the transaction can pay the losses caused by adverse changes in futures prices in time, the futures exchange requires buyers and sellers to settle the deposits received every day within the validity period of the futures contract and adjust the deposits. When buying and selling foreign exchange futures contracts, commissions must be paid. There is no uniform standard for the amount of commission, which is generally agreed by both parties.

② Forward foreign exchange transactions generally do not charge margin. If the customer is a company that has business dealings with the bank, the usual practice is that the credit line enjoyed by the company in the bank should be reduced accordingly with the amount of the forward contract. Only in some cases, such as the bank is not familiar with the customer's credit situation, and the company has no credit line or the credit line is about to be fixed, the bank will require the customer to deposit about 5% to 10% of the forward contract amount as performance guarantee. If the forward foreign exchange transaction occurs between banks, there is generally no commission, and the commission will only be paid if the transaction is conducted through a foreign exchange broker.

7. The transaction settlement system is different.

(1) forex futures trading has stipulated the amount and time limit, so it does not carry out spot delivery, but carries out daily mark-to-market and cash settlement. The balance must be liquidated by the clearing house every day, the profit can be taken out, and the loss can be made up according to the lower limit of the deposit.

(2) The gains and losses of forward foreign exchange trading contracts are only settled in cash on the agreed delivery date. After the transaction results are reversed, the actual movement of funds is limited to the difference.

8. Different ways of supervision

The forward foreign exchange market is largely self-managed, and every transaction in this market is only limited by the general contract law and tax law.

(2) forex futures trading is strictly controlled by the government.

9. Different liquidity

① Because foreign exchange futures contracts are transferable, a large number of speculators and arbitrageurs participate in the forward foreign exchange market, which leads to its good liquidity and rapid development.

② The biggest participant in the forward foreign exchange market is the hedger, which has poor liquidity, small scale and is not easy to expand, and it is often a one-way transaction, so it is easy to have a market without a market.

10. The trading function and purpose are different.

① The function of futures trading can not only avoid risks, but also find prices and speculate. Futures trading is conducted by many buyers and sellers through open, fair and just centralized bidding, and it is easy to form real and authoritative prices to guide the production and business activities of enterprises.

② Forward transactions are mainly used to avoid foreign exchange risks. Because forex futures trading and forward foreign exchange transactions have different functions and purposes. There are two purposes to engage in forex futures trading: one is to avoid foreign exchange risks, such as hedgers; Furthermore, speculation in foreign exchange for profiteering, such as speculators; The purpose of engaging in forward foreign exchange transactions is mainly to avoid foreign exchange risks.

1 1. The reference content is different.

In forex futures trading, buyers and sellers only quote one price, that is, the buyer only quotes the buying price and the seller only quotes the selling price.

In forward foreign exchange transactions, buyers and sellers should quote two prices at the same time, that is, buyers and sellers should quote the buying price and selling price at the same time.

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