If you are an individual trader interested in trading FX futures, you can participate in a number of ways. Once your trading decision has been made, you could contact your broker. Your broker would then communicate the order directly to the CME floor through a phone or data transmission line. Once it is received, the order is time-stamped and either hand-signaled to the floor broker or hand-delivered by an order clerk or runner if you are trading on CME® Globex®, CME's electronic trading system, your order would be entered via a CME Globex-capable futures trading application (front-end) by either you or your broker. Once an order is matched, it is immediately confirmed. To ensure fairness, the CME Globex platform processes outright FX futures orders based on price and time priority.

You may be able to access electronic order entry directly yourself. Through certain direct access systems available through some brokerage houses, you could open an online account and have the opportunity to execute trades yourself through your own home or office computer. Electronic trading occurs when an order is placed through a front-end application. Nearly everyone can have access to the CME Globex trading platform. In order to gain access and begin trading, it is necessary for you to:

1. Open an account with a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) or Introducing Broker (IB), with a CME Clearing House guarantee.
2. Have access (either you or your broker) to a CME-certified CME Globex front-end application.

For individual traders and institutions who would like desktop access to CME Globex trading without the cost of a dedicated telecommunications line, CME Globex Trader® portal access may be an effective solution. Several CME-affiliated brokers also offer Web-based CME Globex trading access via their in-house trading applications. For more information about CME Globex trader access, please click here.

If you are a highly active trader, CME Globex access can also be obtained through CME Globex Trader - Direct, which provides the system through a high-speed dedicated line that is managed 24 hours a day, or through one of CME's 17 authorized independent software vendors.

For more information on Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) that provide front-end applications certified by CME for trading on the CME Globex platform, please click here http://www.cme.com/isv.