ISO 4217 in Forex Trading

ISO 4217 is an international standard describing three letter codes to define the names of currencies established by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

The first two letters of the code are the two letters of ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes (which are similar to those used for national top-level domains on the internet) and the third is usually the initial of the currency itself. So Japan's currency code becomes JPY-JP for Japan and Y for yen. This eliminates the problem caused by the names dollar, franc and pound being used in dozens of different countries, all with wildly differing values.

The standard also defines the relationship between the major currency unit and any minor currency unit. Often, the minor currency unit has a value that is 1/100 of the major unit, but 1/10 or 1/1000 are also common. Some currencies do not have any minor currency unit at all. Mauritania does not use a decimal division of units, setting 1 ouguiya (UM) = 5 khoums, and Madagascar has 1 ariary = 5 iraimbilanja.

ISO 4217 includes codes for not only currencies, but also codes for precious metals (gold, silver, palladium and platinum; normally measured in troy ounces) and certain other entities used in international finance, e.g. Special Drawing Rights. There are also special codes allocated for testing purposes (XTS), and to indicate no currency transactions (XXX). These codes all begin with the letter "X". ISO 3166 never assigns country codes beginning with "X", so ISO 4217 can use "X" codes for non-country-specific currencies without risk of clashing with future country codes.

Supranational currencies, such as the East Caribbean dollar, the CFP franc, the CFA franc BEAC and the CFA franc BCEAO are normally also represented by codes beginning with an "X". However, the Euro is represented by the code EUR; although EU is not an ISO 3166-1 country code, it was used anyway, and in order to do so EU was added to the ISO 3166-1 reserved codes list to represent the European Union. The predecessor to the Euro, the European Currency Unit, had the code XEU.

More detail about ISO 4217 can be found on wikipedia.org

The author blog: Online Forex Resource - http://forexbroker.blogspot.com

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Currency Trading Information:

Related Articles

Trade Exit - How To Cut Losses And Let Profits Run
Cut your losses short and let your profits run. This is the essence of your trade exit rules.
What I Learnt Losing £60,000 My First Year as a Full-time Trader
During my first year as a local (independent trader) on the floor of LIFFE, I bought and sold 8804 FTSE futures contracts, about 40 contracts per day on average. The result was a loss of £61,620 or -£267 per trading day.
Adaptation to the Realities of the Market
Do you think adaptation to the realities of the market is the most important thing?Many times in the past I've written about the need to adapt, the need to be able to change your behavior relative to the market because the markets are ever changing. I've stated that mechanical systems may be workable, but for only a short time relative to the life of markets.
Writing A Trading Plan
All professional traders have a trading plan. Trading futures is a zero sum game and those with a plan (and the discipline to apply it) will succeed over those that have no plan.
The Nature of the Trading Business
Consider the following: As a trader you are in a business. Your strongest opponent has plenty of capital.
Reality of Online Forex Trading
Foreign exchange trading is the trading of currencies. Most currencies can be traded.
Forex2u Forex Strategy On Successful Forex Trading
The essence of the FX2u Forex strategy is that it does not have any Forex trading system but could forecast the market trend accurately.Every set of Forex trading system available has its disadvantages.
Choosing A Forex Broker
With currency trading becoming ever more popular, the number of brokers is growing at a rapid rate. What should one look at when deciding which broker to open an account with? These are the important points to consider.
Forex Trading Can Be Like Day-trading
Forex trading, or foreign currency trading, has become a bit of a craze of late, especially since it is something available to anyone who owns a computer. And anyone who is willing to put in some training time can profit from forex trading.
The Yin and the Yang of Markets
I am reading a fantastic book on trading, first published in 1924, by Richard D. Wyckoff, titled "How I Trade and Invest in Stocks & Bonds".
Money Management, Part 2
FEARING LOSSESThere is a huge difference between being risk averse and fearing losses. You must hate to lose.
Chinas New Currency Regime
The base unit for the renminbi is the yuan, which is how the Chinese currency is most commonly referred to. The official ISO abbreviation for the yuan is CNY, but it is also commonly abbreviated in the forex industry as RMB.
FOREX Trading Philosophy
Keen on starting FOREX trading? Why would you not be? Many beginning FOREX traders are captivated by the allure of easy money. FOREX websites offer 'risk-free' trading, 'high returns' and 'low investment' - these claims have a grain of truth in them, but the reality of FOREX is a bit more complex.
Financial Crises, Global Capital Flows and the International Financial Architecture
The recent upheavals in the world financial markets were quelled by the immediate intervention of both international financial institutions such as the IMF and of domestic ones in the developed countries, such as the Federal Reserve in the USA. The danger seems to have passed, though recent tremors in South Korea, Brazil and Taiwan do not augur well.
Intrenet Marketing VS Forex Currency Trading
Have you noticed that when someone's trying to sell you something - such as a system for making money - they always make it look far easier than it is? Let's look at two Internet businesses, almost as diametrically opposed as it's possible to be - Internet Marketing and Forex Currency Trading.You've probably heard the old Internet adage - build a better website and they will come.
Forex Brokers - Helping to Maximize Your Success
A Forex broker is a broker dealing in foreign exchange, just like real estate broker who deals in real estate and properties. Simply, a Forex broker is an advisor who advises you about the forex market.
What is Forex Trading?
Forex, or Foreign Exchange, is the simultaneous exchange of one country's currency for that of another.The way it works is an investor who wishes to purchase or sell one currency for another with the hope of making a profit when the value of the currencies change in favor of the investor.
Forex Profits
The Forex Market-What, When and Why?Forex, FX and the Forex market are some common abbreviations for the Foreign Exchange market. Actually it is the largest financial market in the world, where money is sold and bought freely.
Be a Smarter FOREX Currency Trader: Three Basic Principles
Below I will describe three basic principles that may come in handy for currency traders. They are very easy to implement and potentially take advantage of as you will see.
Trade Entry Techniques
Most traders tend to concentrate on pinpointing the perfect entry for a trade. However, in reality the entry price is just one part of the equation.