As far as its function is concerned, the futures exchange is a place for futures traders to buy and sell futures contracts, and as far as its legal nature is concerned, it is a non-profit membership legal person organization.

The futures exchange is a special place for futures trading, which not only refers to the "place" for traders to trade, but also includes

(1) A futures exchange shall formulate its own trading rules and other rules and regulations, which shall be binding on traders after being approved by the State Futures Administration. All transactions must be conducted in accordance with the trading rules.

(2) The standard contract of the futures exchange helps to reduce disputes caused by different understandings of the futures contract itself.

(3) Providing performance and property guarantee for exchange members. All futures contracts signed and traded on the exchange can be guaranteed as long as they meet the relevant regulations of the exchange. In the transaction concluded by the exchange, if one of the buyers and sellers breaches the contract, the exchange will perform the contractual responsibilities instead of the defaulting party. Accordingly, the Exchange will claim the relevant rights from the defaulting party, and prevent the situation from further worsening and expanding through measures such as forced liquidation, use of settlement margin and deposit. Therefore, traders do not have to worry about irreparable losses caused by the other party's breach of contract.

(4) The Exchange shall set up an arbitration institution to adjudicate disputes between members and between members and customers, and the adjudication shall generally be final.

(5) The futures exchange publishes real-time market information, and compiles daily, weekly, monthly and annual reports including trading volume, highest and lowest prices, opening price, closing price, settlement price and other trading information of futures commodities according to the trading situation on the floor, so that traders on and off the floor can understand relevant information, make the trading price open and realize the function of discovering futures trading price conveniently.

Step 2 broker

The futures exchange adopts the membership system, and only exchange members can enter the market to trade, so many companies and individuals who are not exchange members can only entrust exchange members to trade. Some members have gradually become brokerage companies specializing in customer transactions, and there are also a large number of brokerage companies between customers and members. The former brokers themselves are members of the exchange, so they can enter the market directly and execute customers' instructions faster. Then a brokerage company can only enter the futures exchange after being entrusted again or for many times, so if the customer entrusts the latter brokerage company, it will bear greater risks than the previous brokerage company:

First, multiple consignments will inevitably lead to the delay of the customer's ordering time, and the customer's instructions cannot be completed in time;

Second, the increase of trading links reduces the chances of customers placing orders and increases the trading risk;

Third, multiple entrustment creates conditions for private hedging;

Fourth, multiple entrustment may lead to indistinguishable interests of customers. It is precisely because customers entrust brokers who are not members of the exchange to engage in more risky futures trading that the fees charged by such brokers are often lower than those charged by brokers who are members of the exchange to attract customers.

3. Futures investors (customers)

Futures investors are units or individuals that conduct futures trading through futures brokerage companies. But not all individuals and units can engage in futures trading. Personally, to become a qualified futures trading subject, one should first have full capacity for civil conduct. A person without or with limited capacity for civil conduct may not entrust a futures brokerage company to engage in futures trading. This regulation comes from the basic principles of civil law, and at the same time, it is considered that the professional activity of futures trading does not match their age, spirit and intelligence. In addition, individuals who violate the law in futures trading are prohibited from participating in futures trading for a period of time from the end of the default event. In order to prevent the use of administrative power and insider information for profit, the staff of the national futures management department should be prohibited from engaging in futures trading. In order to protect the fairness of trading and the interests of investors, in addition to the above-mentioned personnel being prohibited from participating in futures trading, the trading behavior of the following personnel should be restricted to a certain range: the person in charge of an individual or unit with a certain proportion of shares in a futures brokerage company; The person in charge of the stock holding unit of the futures brokerage company; Directors, supervisors, senior managers, futures traders, financial personnel and other staff of a futures brokerage company. When the trading instructions of the above-mentioned personnel are the same as those of other futures investors, the futures brokerage company shall give priority to the execution of the trading instructions of other futures investors. Fraud is a very complicated problem in futures trading. In futures trading, the subject of fraud is very extensive, running through the whole trading process, and its forms are complex and diverse. In judicial practice, the determination of fraud is more based on the theory and principle of contract fraud, and there is a lack of certain standards applicable to the determination of fraud in futures trading.

Fraud in futures trading can be divided into commission merchant fraud, futures consultant fraud and futures investment fund management agency fraud. From the trading process, it can be divided into fraud before customers enter the futures trading market and fraud after customers enter the futures trading market; From the specific forms of expression, it can be divided into issuing advertisements or propaganda that unilaterally emphasize the possibility of obtaining futures trading and do not fully explain the risks; Guarantee profits to futures investors, or agree to share profits or losses with them to attract customers; There are false or misleading records or statements, concealing important matters, etc. in the market quotation, transaction report, settlement report and other documents provided.

Futures trading fraud is a kind of civil fraud in nature, but compared with general civil fraud, it has its own characteristics and should be distinguished from general civil fraud in identification. Generally speaking, the status of both parties in civil relations is equal, but in futures trading, the status of both parties is unequal, especially in the relationship between customers and commission agents, futures consultants and futures investment fund management institutions. For customers, futures trading is a strange and complicated field, while the other party is a professional organization with strong economic strength composed of professionals, and the status of both parties is obviously unequal. According to the legal principle of protecting the weak, the law should tend to protect the interests of customers, and at the same time strictly limit the behavior of brokers, consultants and investment fund management institutions. On the issue of fraud, the law should make brokers, consultants and investment fund management institutions bear more obligations of honesty, credibility and diligence, and these institutions should be responsible for any act of fabricating false facts, concealing the truth or even misleading. I. Risk of Brokerage Entrustment

That is, the risks arising from the futures brokerage company's selection of customers and the establishment of entrustment. When choosing a futures brokerage company, the customer shall make a comparative selection of the scale, credit standing and operating conditions of the futures brokerage company, and sign a futures brokerage commission contract with the company after determining the best choice. When preparing to enter the futures market, investors must make careful investigations, make careful decisions, and choose companies with strength and credibility.

Second, liquidity risk.

That is, due to poor market liquidity, it is difficult to conduct fast, timely and convenient transactions in futures trading. This kind of risk is particularly prominent when customers open positions and level positions. For example, when opening a position, it is difficult for traders to enter the market at the ideal time and price, and it is difficult to operate as expected, and the hedger cannot establish the best hedging portfolio; When closing positions, it is difficult to close positions through hedging, especially when futures prices show a continuous unilateral trend, or near delivery, which reduces market liquidity, making traders unable to close positions in time and causing heavy losses. Therefore, in order to avoid liquidity risk, it is important for customers to pay attention to market capacity, study the main composition of long and short sides, and avoid entering the unilateral market dominated by unilateral strength.

Third, the risk of forced liquidation.

Futures trading shall be carried out by futures exchanges and futures brokerage companies on a daily basis. In the settlement stage, because the company has to settle the traders' profits and losses according to the settlement results provided by the exchange every day, when the futures price fluctuates greatly and the margin cannot be replenished within the specified time, the traders may face the risk of being forced to close their positions. In addition to the forced liquidation caused by insufficient margin, when the total position of the securities firm entrusted by the customer exceeds a certain limit, it will also lead to the forced liquidation of the securities firm, which will further affect the forced liquidation of the customer. Therefore, when trading, customers should always pay attention to their financial situation to prevent forced liquidation due to insufficient margin and bring huge losses to themselves.

Four. Delivery risk

Futures contracts are time-limited. When the contract expires, all open contracts must be delivered in kind. Therefore, customers who are not ready for delivery should close their positions in time before the contract expires, so as not to bear the delivery responsibility. This is a special point of the futures market compared with other investment markets. New investors should pay special attention to this link and try not to hold the contract in their hands until it is close to delivery, so as not to be forced to close the position.

Verb (abbreviation of verb) market risk

In futures trading, the biggest risk for customers comes from the fluctuation of market prices. This price fluctuation brings the risk of trading profit and loss to customers. Because of the leverage principle, this kind of risk is magnified, and investors should always pay attention to prevention.

No debt settlement system and risk reserve system. As a unique trading method, futures trading has different characteristics from spot trading. Compared with spot trading, the differences between them are mainly as follows: 1. The transaction objects are different: First, the transaction objects are different. Spot trading, whether it is spot trading or forward contract trading, the subject matter of the transaction is physical, so spot trading is also called physical trading; The object of futures trading is not a concrete object, but a "standardized futures contract" formulated by the exchange. Second, the range of trading objects is different. Spot trading can be used for all goods on the market; However, the range of commodities used for futures trading is narrow, and generally speaking, they are mainly primary products that can be standardized and stored. Specifically, commodities that can be traded in the form of futures should meet four conditions:

① Price risk;

(2) Operators have the need to transfer risks;

(3) The goods are resistant to storage and transportation;

④ The specifications and quality grades of commodities are easy to distinguish.

Commodities with these conditions include wheat, soybeans, grains, cotton, raw sugar, livestock, non-ferrous metals, energy products and forest products.

2. The main bodies of different spot transactions are producers, distributors and consumers; The subjects of futures trading are hedgers, brokers and speculators.

3. The purpose of the transaction is different. In spot transactions, both parties to the transaction aim at buying and selling goods. Except for force majeure and extremely special reasons, physical delivery is generally required; Participants in futures trading aim at hedging, risk aversion or venture capital, and generally do not make physical delivery, but hedge before maturity to obtain the price difference.

4. Spot transactions with different trading methods are generally carried out in a decentralized manner, and there is no specific place. The two parties to the transaction negotiate and agree on the terms of the transaction by interview, and the contents of the transaction contract need not be made public; Futures trading is conducted in an open and fair way through brokers of futures exchanges. The transaction price is determined by public bidding, and the transaction information reached by both parties is public. Any over-the-counter transaction or private transaction (such as private hedging) is invalid and illegal.

5. The trading relationship is different. In spot trading, both parties to the transaction must directly bear the contractual responsibility relationship; However, in futures trading, both parties to futures contract transactions establish contractual relationships with clearing houses respectively, and there is no direct contractual liability relationship between them.

6. Transaction Guarantee Different spot transactions are guaranteed by laws such as People's Republic of China (PRC) Contract Law and People's Republic of China (PRC) Contract Law. If the contract cannot be performed, it shall be settled by law or arbitration. Futures trading is guaranteed by the margin system, and debt-free operation is implemented to ensure that both parties to the contract fulfill their obligations at maturity. The futures exchange provides settlement and delivery services and performance guarantees for both parties to the transaction, and implements a strict settlement and delivery system, with little risk of default.