Тhe operations on the currency market are one of the main sources of income for banks and financial institutions all around the world. For example, 80% of the total income of the biggest Swiss bank - Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) in 1994 came from conversional operations with currencies and only 20% оf income from credits and securities trade.
Of course monetary assets of different countries have been exchanged since the term "money" appeared and an idea to obtain profit from currency's rates difference is not new . But the transformation of the foreign exchange market to the modern stage with an opportunity to conduct conversional operations of such volumes arose only after an introduction of "floating rates regime" by the member states of International Monetary Fund. Within this regime's framework the rate of one currency to another is defined only by the supply and demand on the market, thus it is not fixed but changes every second.
Presen-day Forex market is a global telecommunication network of banks and different financial organizations. It does not have any fixed trading place and time restrictions - trading session starts on Monday morning in New Zealand and closes on Friday evening in USA. Any person regardless of his/her whereabouts may become a market participant because only appropriate knowledge and access to Internet are needed for trading operations.
