What Is Capital? – A Basic Guide to Forex Trading
What is Forex Trading?
Forex trading is the buying and selling of currencies on the foreign exchange market. It is an incredibly liquid and large market, with an average daily volume of over $6 trillion. Investors can access Forex trading through banks, brokers, and various online platforms. Traders can also speculate on price movements within the Forex market, leading to large potential profits and losses based on individual risk appetite and the currency pair being traded.
Advantages of Forex Trading
There are numerous benefits of trading Forex. Firstly, traders have the flexibility to trade from anywhere in the world. The Forex market is open 24 hours a day, five days a week, and there is no central exchange or clearing house. Furthermore, Forex has low barriers to entry, meaning any person with a computer, an Internet connection, and some funds can open a trading account and participate in the market. Lastly, traders can access leverage through their Forex broker, allowing them to open larger positions than their account balance would normally enable.
Risks of Forex Trading
Just as with any type of financial trading, there is always a degree of risk associated with Forex trading. To begin with, the Forex market is incredibly volatile and can move quickly in either direction. As a result, traders must ensure that they keep a tight stop-loss when opening positions, as they can be sent into large losses if the market moves against them. In addition, traders must be aware of the potential of margin calls, meaning that their positions can be liquidated if the market moves too far against them. Therefore, traders should always trade with funds that they can afford to lose.
What is the Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR)?
The Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR) is a stress-test regime enforced by the Federal Reserve in order to evaluate the capital adequacy of large US banks. The regime is an intensive assessment of the capital structure of banks to establish whether they have enough capital to deal with potential losses from adverse economic conditions. To successfully pass the CCAR, banks must have the adequate ratios, capital elements and risk-weighting approaches in place to meet the criteria.
What are Capital Elements and Risk-Weighting Approaches?
Capital elements are requirements that must be met in order to pass the CCAR stress-test. These requirements are set out in Part 324 of the Federal Reserve System Regulations. They define the amount of a bank’s Tier 1 and Tier 2 capital, commonly referred to as its ‘capital buffer’, that must be held in case of large-scale losses in order for the bank to remain solvent and able to make payments to its customers. Risk-weighting approaches, also known as capital requirements, are used to determine the magnitude of capital the bank must hold in order to meet the capital element criteria. Risk-weighting approaches use advanced modeling to determine capital levels and can be conducted using the standardized or advanced approaches.
What is the Purpose of the CCAR?
The purpose of the CCAR is to ensure that large US banks meet the capital adequacy requirements set down by the Federal Reserve System, thereby providing assurance to customers and the wider banking system that large banks are sound and financially healthy. The Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review links the regulatory capital requirements of banks to their actual, risk-weighted exposure. This facilitates an accurate determination of capital levels to enable banks to adequately absorb losses from certain scenarios. The CCAR thus safeguards the capital adequacy of large US banks in the challenging economic environment.