Firms or individuals can execute orders for currency futures contracts by calling brokerage firms. The brokerage firm will communicate the order to the CME.
Most of the futures orders submitted to the CME are executed by Globex, a computerized platform that matches buy and sell orders for each standardized contract. Operates 23 hours a day Monday through Friday.
Currency futures contracts are similar to forward contracts in that they allow a customer to lock in the exchange rate at which a specific currency is purchased or sold for a specific date in the future.