The minimum deposits are $300 (USD and AUD), €250, ¥25,000, £210 and Fr282.

We offer accounts based on US Dollar, Euro, Japanese Yen, Australian Dollar, Pound Sterling and Swiss Franc.

Yes, all AAAFx accounts can by default trade Micro lots (1k). If you cannot trade Micro lots in your account, please contact our Live Chat to seek assistance.

All citizens of traditionally Islamic countries are eligible for Islamic Accounts.

Clients of other citizenships may apply for an Islamic account by providing a copy of a bank statement that indicates that the client already has an Islamic bank account.

Yes, we offer a 10% bonus on the initial deposit. The bonus is available for trading or withdrawal upon completion of an applicable number of Round Turn Lot requirements. For more detailed information about the bonus terms and conditions, please see here.

We offer up to 200:1 leverage. All new accounts are opened by default with 100:1 leverage, which may be changed by a simple email at support@aaafx.com request after the account has been opened. Requests for lower leverage are also welcome.

Yes, we do allow Hedging.

Yes, we do allow Scalping.

AAAFx spreads are variable, fluctuating with market changes but always among the lowest in the Forex Market. For indicative spreads, please see here.

Due to NFA regulations, we may not offer accounts to individuals who are US citizens. We may only accept foreign corporations, where US citizens are registered under.

No fees are required to either open or hold an AAAFx investment account.

The necessary documents to open an Individual Account are the following:

1. A copy of a valid official Identification document with a photograph (a valid passport, national ID or a driver's license)

2. A copy of a recent ‘Proof of Residence’ document, containing your full name and address (a utility bill, bank statement, etc.)

3. A copy of a recent official 'Proof of Income' document from your country's Revenue Service (e.g. an Income Tax Return)

4. A copy of a recent formal document verifying your Employment Status (e.g. a recent pay slip, an employment contract, an employment confirmation letter or an unemployment document, etc.)

Concerning deposits funds by Credit or Debit card, for accumulated deposits which exceed $1000, the following documents are also necessary:

a. A clear copy of the front and back of the credit or debit card that was used to make the transaction (name, expiration date and the first and last four digits of the credit card number must be visible).

b. A copy of a recent credit or debit card statement (card holder’s name, account and credit card numbers and the logo of the issuing bank should all be visible). Transaction purchases may be covered. Screenshots of online statements are also acceptable.

You may upload all necessary documents on your web account or send them by email at support@aaafx.com.

Please ensure that all documents are submitted in clear and high resolution copies.

If you do not have any of the required documents, please send us an email at support@aaafx.com explaining the reason, and we will respond to you with details.

After you fill in an online application, the account will generally be activated within 1-2 business days, provided that all of the necessary documents are submitted and a deposit is completed via credit/debit card or via Electronic payment methods.

Wire transfers may take more than 2 business days, depending on the bank of origin.

To avoid any delays, please ensure that:

1. You have submitted all the necessary documents as requested in clear readable copies.

2. If your accumulated deposit by credit/debit card exceeds $1000, please also make sure you submit clear copies of your credit/debit card and a relevant credit card statement.

3. If you deposit via Moneybookers (Skrill) or another Electronic payment method, please make sure that the e-mail address at your Moneybookers (Skrill) or the alternative Electronic payment method account is the same as the one at your AAAFx account.

In order to avoid any delays, we prefer documents in Latin characters. However, if you only have documents in non-Latin characters available, please submit them as they are.

Yes, we welcome Corporate Accounts. The necessary documents for an account to be opened as a Corporate Account are the following:

1. The Annual Report of the Company

2. The Company’s Statute

3. A signed statement from the person(s) authorized to perform transactions for the company

4. Affirmation of the existence of the company by the responsible regulatory authority (e.g. the bank used by the company, where the company is located)

5. A formal declaration from the lawful Representative of the company containing an official registry seal (“Apostille”).

6. A Certificate of Incorporation

7. A copy of a valid Passport or Identity Card of the lawful Representative of the company

Please note that the account must be initially registered in AAAFx in the name of the company.

All deposits must be made under the company’s name (e.g. from the company’s bank account, corporate credit card, etc). Corporate accounts may not be funded via individual bank accounts or credit cards, even if the individual is the owner of the company.

Yes, we welcome Off-shore Business Accounts. For details on the required documents please contact our Back Office Department via email at backoffice@aaafx.com and we will contact you to provide details.

Yes, we welcome Institutional Accounts. The required deposit for an Institutional Account with favorable spread starts from $100,000 USD. If you are interested in such an account, please express your interest to our Sales Department via email at sales@aaafx.com and we will contact you to provide details.

Yes, it is possible to open a PAMM account with us. Please express your interest to our Sales Department via email at sales@aaafx.com and we will contact you to provide details.

We may open up to 10 accounts per individual, irrespective of the base currency used. If you have reasons to apply for additional accounts, please email us your request at support@aaafx.com.

All AAAFx accounts are automatically linked to a ZuluTrade account, free of charge, without any commissions. Shortly after you have received your AAAFx MT4 log in credentials, you should receive your ZuluTrade log in credentials as well, and then you may commence trading via ZuluTrade.

Your AAAFx live account will be automatically linked with ZuluTrade once it is opened.

As AAAFx is directly integrated with ZuluTrade, there is neither any special request you should make nor any commission/charge for the linkage or service.

AAAFx Demo MT4 accounts cannot be linked with ZuluTrade to receive signals from ZuluTrade Signal Providers.

They may only be linked with ZuluTrade Signal Provider accounts in order to generate and send signals to ZuluTrade Followers.

If you wish to test ZuluTrade’s platform, you can open a ZuluTrade Demo Account which uses AAAFx rates.

AAAFx is regulated in Europe, registered under HCMC (Hellenic Capital Market Commission) and is MiFID (Markets in Financial Instruments Directive) compliant (id 2/540/17.2.2010). As such, the level of investors’ protection is of the highest standards, as AAAFx adheres to the strict limits on the inducements which financial advisers can receive in respect of the services provided. See additional details here.

Moreover, AAAFx investors are protected by the Greek Guarantee Fund according to the European Directive 93/22/EEC. In the event of an Investment Firm's bankruptcy or failure to fulfill its obligations from the provision of investment services, the Greek Guarantee Fund will act in order to reimburse the investors and/or any of the contracting parts. The Greek Guarantee Fund is financed by the ATHEX (Athens Exchange) Members and it is supervised by the HCMC. Extra deposits of cash from an ATHEX Member could be realized according to the total value of the Member's transaction. The Greek Guarantee Fund is activated in case that an Investment Firm is bankrupt or not able to fulfill its obligations. The maximum amount of compensation is €30,000 per investor. See additional details here and here.

New Clients: After you have filled in the online account registration, in order to receive your MT4 account number, you need to first deposit funds for the investment account. This can be done online via any of the following options, as seen at Deposit Methods:

1. Wire transfer please note that the name of the wiring account holder must be the same as the name of the AAAFx account holder. Deposits from other individuals cannot be accepted, including first degree relatives.

In the case of Corporate Accounts, the wiring account holder name must be that of the corporation.

2. Credit or Debit card; users may deposit up to $2000 per transaction, $4000 per calendar month via credit or debit card. Deposits exceeding $4000 will be cashed out during the next calendar month.

Please note that the name of the Credit or Debit card holder must be the same as the name of the AAAFx account holder. Please also note that for a deposit or for accumulative account deposits that exceed $1000, the following documents are also necessary:

a. A copy of the front and back of the credit or debit card that was used to conduct the transaction (name, expiration date and first and last four digits of the card number must be visible).

b. A copy of a recent credit/debit card statement (credit card holder’s name, account and credit card numbers, and the logo of the issuing bank should all be visible. Other sensitive information may be hidden). Screenshots of online statements are also acceptable.

You may upload all necessary documents on your web account or send them by email at support@aaafx.com. Please note that these documents may be submitted only once; they are not necessary for subsequent deposits via the same card.

3. Electronic payment methods available are:

Moneybookers (Skrill), EPS, iDeal, GiroPay, DirectPay/Sofort, TeleIngreso , Przelewy24.

Please note that the e-mail address of any electronic portfolio account should be the same as the one at your AAAFX account.

Your MT4 account number will be provided after the initial deposit is processed and cleared, provided all relevant documents have been submitted and verified.

Existing Clients: If you have an existing account, please log into your web account , and then click on “Funds” and then “Deposit”.

1. Wire transfer; please note that the name of the wiring account holder must be the same as the name of the AAAFx account holder. Deposits from other individuals cannot be accepted, including first degree relatives.

In the case of Corporate Accounts, the wiring account holder name must be that of the corporation.

2. Credit or debit card; you may deposit up to $2000 per transaction, $4000 per calendar month via credit or debit card. Deposits exceeding $4000 will be cashed out next calendar month.

Please note that for a deposit or for accumulative account deposits which exceed $1000, the following documents are also necessary:

a. A copy of the front and back of the credit or debit card that was used to make the transaction (name, expiration date, the first and last four digits of the credit card number must be visible).

b. A copy of a recent credit/debit card statement (credit card holder’s name, account and credit card numbers and the logo of the issuing bank should all be visible. Other sensitive information may be hidden). Screenshots of online statements are also acceptable.

You may upload all necessary documents in your web account or send them by email at support@aaafx.com. Please note that these documents must be submitted only once; they are not necessary for subsequent deposits via the same card.

3. Electronic payment methods available are:

Moneybookers (Skrill), EPS, iDeal, GiroPay, DirectPay/Sofort, TeleIngreso , Przelewy24.

Please note that the e-mail address of any electronic portfolio account should be the same as the one at your AAAFX account.

The fastest way to deposit funds is by credit/debit card and Moneybookers (Skrill) or other Electronic payment method, which will normally take 1-2 business days.

To avoid any delays, please make sure that:

1. If your deposit or accumulative deposits by credit/debit card exceed $1000, you submit clear copies of your credit/debit card and a relevant statement.

2. If you deposit via Moneybookers (Skrill) or another Electronic payment method, please make sure that the e-mail address at your Moneybookers (Skrill) or alternative Electronic payment method account is the same as the one at your AAAFX account.

If you are in danger of receiving a Margin Call, please contact us when you make your deposit so that we will process it with priority as soon as it is cleared and made available in our system.

Initially, please log into your web account and set up a Bank account at ‘Bank setup’.

Then, please click on “Funds” and then “Withdraw”.

Please note that withdrawals are sent out via the same channel as deposits; for example, an account funded via wire transfer will receive the requested withdrawal via wire transfer, an account funded via credit card will receive the requested withdrawal in the same credit card account, and so forth.

When the withdrawn amount exceeds the amount deposited by a channel other than wire transfer (for example via credit card or via Moneybookers-Skrill) the remaining withdrawal amount will be sent out by wire transfer. In this case, the withdrawal fee applies only once.

Please also note that when a withdrawal is requested from an account funded by credit card, the following documents are required irrespective of the amount withdrawn:

a. A copy of the front and back of the credit or debit card used to make the transaction (name, expiration date, the first and last four digits of the credit card number must be visible. Other sensitive information may be hidden).

b. A copy of a recent credit/debit card statement (credit card holder’s name, account and credit card numbers and the logo of the issuing bank must be visible. Other sensitive information may be hidden). Screenshots of online statements are also acceptable.

You may upload all necessary documents in your web account or send them by email at support@aaafx.com.

If these documents were submitted during deposit, it is not necessary to send them again.

Withdrawals are usually confirmed in 1 business day. From the moment they are released from your MT4 account until they are made available at your designated Bank account, it is a matter of a few business days subject to factors such as the destination country, the use of intermediary bank etc.

To avoid any delays, please make sure that you submit copies of your credit/debit card and a relevant credit card statement if you have deposited by credit/debit card, irrespective of the amount.

Deposits Please see fees per means of transfer:

Wire transfer: AAAFx does not apply any fees to wire deposits, however they may be subject to modest fees applied by the financial institutions. For more details, consult your bank.

Credit/debit card: A 2.95% processing fee applies.

Moneybookers: A 2.95% + 0.29€ (or equivalent for deposits on USD, GBP, JPY, AUD and CHF) processing fee applies.

EPS and Przelewy24: A 2.9% processing fee applies.

iDeal: A 0.7% processing fee applies.

GiroPay and DirectPay: A 2.20% processing fee applies.

TeleIngreso: A 5.9% processing fee applies.

Withdrawals – A $25 flat fee applies for all withdrawals (€25, ¥2,500, $25 AUD, £16 and Fr25 for Euro, Yen, Australian Dollar, Pound Sterling and Swiss Franc accounts respectively).

If you wish to change your registered email address, please send us an email at support@aaafx.com from your currently registered email address, stating the following:

• AAAFx account number(s) that the email change needs to apply to

• Current email address

• New email address

If you do not have access to the currently registered email address, you need to send the request from the new email address, making sure to include a copy of the ID used upon registration.

You may change the following personal details by logging into your web account:

• Primary Phone

• Mobile Phone

• Gender

• Marital Status

You may also change your bank details by logging into your web account.

For changing any other personal details, please send us an email at support@aaafx.com from your currently registered email address stating the following:

• AAAFx account number(s) that the new personal details need to apply

• Old personal details

• New personal details

• Relevant supporting documentation (e.g. new utility bill to update address, new passport to update ID number, etc).

MT4 and Web account passwords:

Log into your web account, and navigate to “Change Password” tab.

You can change both your MT4 master and Investor password, as well as your web account password. In both cases you will need to verify the old password as well.

Your Demo account password cannot be reset.

ZuluTrade Password:

Your ZuluTrade account password can be reset from the ZuluTrade platform.

You may change the Base Currency of your AAAFx account, provided that no trades have been executed in the account.

If so, please send an email at support@aaafx.com from your currently registered email address stating the following:

• AAAFx account number for which you wish to change the Base Currency

• Old Base Currency

• New Base Currency

Of course – simply send an email request at support@aaafx.com after the account has been opened, indicating the required leverage. Please note that 200:1 is the maximum leverage that AAAfx offers. Requests for lower leverage are also welcome.

AAAFx Demo Accounts have a rolling expiration policy – they expire in case no trades or successful logins have taken place within a 14 day period.

AAAFx takes customer feedback very seriously. If you would like to make any remarks or suggestions regarding our services, please send us an email at support@aaafx.com and we will gladly look into it and contact you shortly.

In case you cannot log into your MT4 Live account please take the following steps:

• Ensure your credentials (MT4 Username and MT4 master password) are correct. Please remember, your password is case sensitive

• Ensure you are logging in to the correct Server (Tripleafx-FX-Live)

If you are still unable to connect to your account, please contact our Live Chat. In case you have forgotten your Web account password you can always request a new password to be sent to you by clicking on the Forgot Password link..

In case you cannot log into your MT4 Demo Account please take the following steps:

• Ensure your credentials (MT4 Username and MT4 master password) are correct. Please remember, your password is case sensitive

• Ensure you are logging in to the correct Server (Tripleafx-FX-Live)

• Demo Accounts automatically expire after 15 days of inactivity (no trade being opened or no successful login being recorded within 15 days).

So if you receive the error message, "Incorrect username or password" and your Demo Account credentials are correct, then your Demo Account has expired. In this case, you need to register for a new AAAFx Demo Account. To do this, simply go to your MT4, click on File and Open an account.

In case you cannot log into your ZuluTrade account please make sure you are providing the correct ZuluTrade username and password, as provided by ZuluTrade. Please note that your ZuluTrade username is AAA plus your account number (e.g. AAA12345). Also note that your ZuluTrade password is different from your AAAFx MT4 password or Web account password. It is also case sensitive.

If you are still unable to connect to your account, please contact our Live Chat to seek assistance.

In case you cannot log into your Web account please make sure you are providing your credentials correctly. Please note that your username is your e-mail address and your Web account password is different from your MT4 password.

In case you have forgotten your Web account password you can always request a new password to be sent to you by clicking on the Forgot Password link.

If you are still unable to connect to your account, please contact our Live Chat to seek assistance.

We will send you a password reminder to your e-mail address if you request it via Live Chat.

Unfortunately we do not keep records of Demo Account credentials. Please kindly open a new AAAFx Demo MT4 account.

When the value of a currency that you have bought rises, then profit is created; you can secure the profit of this transaction by selling the currency back and thus closing the position. Let’s see that with an example where we buy U.S. dollars and sell Swiss francs.

1. The rate you are quoted is 1.2755 / 1.2760. Because you are buying U.S. dollars you will be working on the "ask" price of 1.2760, or the rate at which traders are prepared to sell.

2. Let’s assume you buy 1 standard lot (100,000 units) at 1.2760.

3. A few hours later, the price moves to 1.2780 and you decide to close your trade.

4. The new quote for USD/CHF is 1.2780 / 1.2785. Since you're closing your trade and you initially bought to enter the trade, you now sell in order to close the trade so you must take the "bid" price of 1.2780, or the rate at which traders are prepared to buy.

5. The difference between 1.2760 and 1.2780 is .0020 or 20 pips.

6. Using the pip calculation formula, we now have (.0001/1.2780) x 100,000 = $6.87 per pip x 20 pips = $137.40

Keep in mind that when you enter or exit a trade you are subject to the spread of the bid/offer quote.

When you buy a currency, you will use the offer or ask price and when you sell, you will use the bid price.

Market opens on Sunday 22:00 UTC and closes on Friday 22:00 UTC.

When Eastern time is in daylight saving, market opens on Sunday 21:00 UTC and closes on Friday 21:00 UTC.

AAAFx automatically rolls forward all open positions at 21:00 UTC. Trading is typically suspended for up to 1 minute during the roll process. The amount paid or earned depends on the direction of the open position and the interest rate differential between the two currencies involved. For example, assuming UK interest rates are significantly higher than Japan's, a trader long GBP/JPY (i.e. holding Pounds Sterling), is paid interest upon rollover. Conversely, if a trader is short GBP/JPY (i.e. holding Yen) interest will be debited upon the rollover.

AAAFx’s daily rollover rates and detailed reporting of rollover activity is available in the Swap column of your Account History at the MT4 platform. For indicative rollover fees, please check our website.

AAAFx offers you both the MT4 Platform for your manual trading plus free access to the ZuluTrade web-based Autotrading Platform for receiving trades from Signal Providers as well as manual trading.

In addition, you may also access your AAAFx MT4 account by downloading the relevant application here for iPhone and here for Android devices. You can also access your ZuluTrade account from iPhone, iPad and Android devices by downloading the relevant ZuluTrade applications here.

If you do not have access to the MT4 Platform, you may always trade from any computer with an internet connection by logging in to your ZuluTrade account, which is completely web-based.

Simply login to your ZuluTrade account from any web browser and manage your Trades from the “Positions” tab or place new trades and orders from the “Trade” tab. Please note that CFDs and Indices cannot be handled via ZuluTrade with the exception of XAU/USD and XAG/USD.

Alternative to a computer, you may also access your AAAFx MT4 account by downloading the relevant application from here for iPhone devices and here for Android devices.

You can also access your ZuluTrade account from iPhone, iPad and Android devices by downloading the relevant ZuluTrade applications from here.

You can also manage your trades over the Phone by calling our Central Support Line at (+30) 213-0176-380 or via our Live Chat. Please note you will be asked to provide personal information such as ID/passport number and/or your resident address for identification purposes, so please have such information ready at hand.

New trades cannot be placed over the Phone or Live Chat.

The level at which a Stop-Out will be triggered in your account is the 70% of the margin requirement; e.g. if the margin requirement is 1,000$ and the equity of the account reaches 700$ then all of the open positions will be closed automatically.

Please note that AAAFx will issue a Margin Call when your equity reaches the 100% of the margin requirement and notify you by e-mail in order for you to take imminent action to prevent a Stop-Out.

Sufficient Margin

In general, in order to avoid a Stop Out you should make sure you always have sufficient margin to maintain your current positions open and withstand their potential drawdown. As long as your equity is more than 70% of the margin used for your currently open positions, a Stop-Out will not occur in your account. Please note that you may monitor your Margin Level from your MT4 at any time; the higher the percentage of your Margin Level, the less likely you are to have a Stop Out.

Please note that AAAFx will issue a Margin Call when your equity reaches 100% of the margin requirement and notify you by e-mail in order for you to take imminent action to prevent a Stop-Out. Moreover, at 100% Margin Level the information line at the Terminal of your MT4 account will be highlighted from gray to red.

Closing Open Positions

A quick way to increase your Margin Level and reduce your chances of a Stop-Out is to close out some positions, so that the margin that was used to open them will be released back into your Equity.

Fund Increase

Another way of increasing your Margin Level and thus reducing your chance of a Stop-Out is depositing more funds. However, as this may take up to 1-2 business days by credit card or Moneybookers and potentially longer via wire transfer, it is advised that you do it well in time.

Avoid Overleveraging

Another factor that may put your account at the risk of a Stop-Out is overleveraging. Using more leverage can potentially magnify your gains, but it can also magnify losses which will quickly deplete your usable margin. The more leverage you use, the faster your losses may accumulate.

When you use excessive leverage, the fact that your account has more trading potential may easily lead you to overexpose it and thus cause you losses. To clearly see how this may happen, consider the following example:

Trader A has an account with $500 equity and uses a leverage of 200:1,while Trader B has an account with $500 and 100:1 leverage.

Trader A can trade up to 100,000 currency units and decides to trade 60% of his capital, so he opens 6 trades of 0.1 standard lots each (total of $60,000), and thus uses $300 of the margin ($50 x 0.6 lots) retaining $200 more as free margin. Every pip moving in this trade size is equal to $1, so if all open trades reach a low of 290 pips (loss of approximately 48 pips each trade), his Equity will be $210. When that happens, his margin level will be 70% (210/300), and hence a Stop Out will occur and close all open trades in his account.

Trader B on the other hand can trade up to 50,000 currency units and decides to trade 60% of his capital. As in this case a 0.1 standard lot requires $100 margin, half of the capital is adequate for 3 trades of 0.1 standard lot each (total of $30,000). Again, every pip moving in this trade size is equal to $1, so if all open trades reach a low of 48 pips, the total low will be 144, hence his Equity will be 356. When that happens, his margin level will be 118% (356/300) so he will not be in danger of a Stop Out.

In conclusion leverage is a tool that can enlarge your profits or losses by the same magnitude; the greater the amount of leverage on capital you apply, the higher the risk that you assume.

Please note that the MT4 graphs show only Bid prices and not the Ask prices (the difference between them is the spread). Also MT4 graphs show institutional rates, thus about 1 pip less than regular accounts.

Please also bear in mind that when you open a Sell trade, it opens at the Bid (Buy) price and closes at the Ask (Sell) price, while when you open a Buy trade it opens at the Ask (Sell) price and closes at the Bid (Buy) price.

However, you can always see the exact rates your account is trading at from the Market Watch window of your MT4.

Apart from Forex, AAAFx offers trading in:

• Gold (XAU/USD)

• Silver (XAG/USD)

• Copper (XCP/USD)

• Palladium (XPD/USD)

• Platinum (XPT/USD)

• Oil (US Oil, UK Oil)

• Natural Gas (NGAS/USD)

• Bund (German Government’s Federal Bond)

• Indices (ESP35, GER30, US30, ITA40, JPN225, NAS100, SWE30, SPX500, AUS200, FRA40, UK100).

The minimum lot size for Metals and CFDs is 1 standard lot.

1 standard lot of gold (XAU/USD) is equal to 1 ounce (oz) of gold and 1 standard lot of silver (XAG/USD) is equal to 50 ounces (oz) of silver.

Please find all information about CFDs in the chart below:

The margin required for gold (XAU/USD) is 1.5% of the current price and the pip value is $0.01. The margin required for silver (XAG/USD) is 1% of the current price and the pip value is $0.5.

Both Forex instruments and CFDs (Indices and Commodities) can be traded from at your MT4 platform. From your ZuluTrade account you may trade only Forex and Metals (XAU/USD and XAG/USD) as for the time being CFDs are not supported by ZuluTrade.

Oil has a monthly expiration date, as per the table below. Open positions will be closed at bid/offer at 22:15 GMT. The only consequence of this is that clients will realize any floating P/L at the time the position is closed. Rollovers are not applicable on oil contracts. Also, all pending stop and limit orders that are associated with the expiring contract will be cancelled.

The foreign exchange market (Forex, FX, or currency market) is a form of exchange for the global decentralized trading of international currencies. Financial centers around the world function as anchors of trading between a wide range of different types of buyers and sellers around the clock, with the exception of weekends. The foreign exchange market determines the relative values of different currencies

The foreign exchange market is the most liquid financial market in the world. The average daily turnover in the global foreign exchange and related markets is continuously growing. According to the 2010 Triennial Central Bank Survey, coordinated by the Bank for International Settlements, average daily turnover was US$3.98 trillion in April 2010 (vs. $1.7 trillion in 1998). Of this $3.98 trillion, $1.5 trillion was spot transactions and $2.5 trillion was traded in outright forwards, swaps and other derivatives.

There is no unified or centrally cleared market for the majority of trades, and there is very little cross-border regulation. Due to the over-the-counter (OTC) nature of currency markets, there are rather a number of interconnected marketplaces, where different currencies instruments are traded. This implies that there is not a single exchange rate but rather a number of different rates (prices), depending on what bank or market maker is trading, and where it is located.

Unlike a stock market, the foreign exchange market is divided into levels of access. At the top is the interbank market, which is made up of the largest commercial banks and securities dealers. The top-tier interbank market accounts for 53% of all transactions. From there, transactions take place from smaller banks, followed by large multi-national corporations, large hedge funds, and even some of the retail market makers. However, the share of other market participants like brokers, multinational corporations, registered dealers, as well as private investors is rapidly increasing.

A Lot is the standard unit size of a transaction. Typically, for Forex currencies, one standard lot is equal to 100,000 units of the base currency, 10,000 units if it's a mini lot, or 1,000 units if it's a micro lot.

The difference between the Bid and Ask prices is referred to as the Spread. AAAFx offers amongst the lowest spreads in the Forex Market

A Pip (or Tick) is the smallest price increment a currency can make. It is the fourth digit in all currency pairs with the exception of the Japanese Yen (JPY) where it is the second digit (For example, 1 pip = 0.0001 for EUR/USD, or 0.01 for USD/JPY.)

To express the value in the terms currency, multiply 1 pip with the lot size.

EUR/USD pip = 0.0001 X 100,000 = $10.00 (for standard lots)

EUR/USD pip = 0.0001 X 10,000 = $1.00 (for mini lots)

EUR/USD pip = 0.0001 X 1,000 = $0.1 (for micro lots)

GBP/JPY pip = 0.01 X 100,000 = 1000 ¥ (for standard lots)

To convert to the base currency divide by the exchange rate:

Say EUR/USD exchange rate = 1.4750, then $10.00 / 1.4750 = 6.78€

To convert to an account’s currency (e.g. USD) divide by the exchange rate $/¥:

If $/¥ = 82.12 then 1000 ¥ / 82.12 = 12.17$

The seven most liquid pairs are traded against the US dollar with the first four pairs being the majors, followed by three commodity pairs. Other currency pairs are better known as the currency crosses, the most popular crosses being those that include the Euro: EUR/JPY, EUR/GBP and EUR/CHF.

The major currency pairs are:

EUR/USD
USD/JPY
USD/CHF
GBP/USD

The commodity currency pairs are:

AUD/USD
NZD/USD
USD/CAD

Forex Leverage or Leverage simply means the % amount of money you are allowed to borrow from the broker when you open a position. Leverage determines the percentage of a trade’s nominal value that is required as margin. In simple terms, you can think Leverage as a loan that fronts you to buy currencies.

Typically, in order for the Leverage to be released, Brokers will request a certain amount of the account’s actual funds to be allocated per each position (lot) traded. So, margin is the minimum amount which is escrowed in order to open a position. Margin depends on the account’s leverage; for example, if the leverage is 1:100 then you are able to trade a position a hundred times larger than the escrow amount. In simple terms, you can think of Margin as a good faith deposit required to release the loan (leverage).

For example, having a leverage of 100:1 (or 1% of the position required) allows you to trade a position worth $100,000 with an equity of just $5,000. This would be possible as the broker would set aside $1,000 as down payment, or "margin", and let you "borrow" the rest. Of course, any losses or gains will be deducted from or added to the remaining cash balance of your account.