Passage Three

Foreign exchange is by definition foreign to the holder; otherwise, it would be domestic exchange or in modem practice, local currency and legal tender. Foreign exchange typically is not legal tender and is therefore not acceptable in exchange for goods and services to whom it is being offered; hence, the desire to exchange it into something closer to home in terms of acceptability. Foreign exchange markets are nearly always markets that convert issues of foreign money for local units. The New York foreign exchange market, for example, is essentially a market for exchange foreign currencies against the US dollar. It is possible in New York to exchange French francs for Swedish kronor, but the normal practice would be to sell French francs for U.S. as a first step and then to sell US dollars and buy Swedish kronor as a second step in order to complete the transaction. Markets in other countries would be similar in structure and mechanical operation.

The New York foreign exchange market is a market for exchanging foreign currencies against any convertible currencies.