Foreign Exchange Rate Integrity®
Sample FX Rate Integrity Worksheet
You send us the basics of each trade. We compare every rate you received against the interbank market rate at the time of the trade and show you exactly what the markup cost you.
- Provided by your company
- Completed by Blades International
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Time stamp | Time zone | Sold currency | Amount sold | Bought currency | Amount bought | Exchange rate | Interbank market rate | Markup cost ($) | Markup (bps) | Fee ($) | Markup + fee ($) | Markup + fee (bps) |
| 2 | 05/28/16 11:06 AM | CST | USD | $10,000.00 | JPY | 1,151,300.00 | 115.13 | 120.42 | $439.30 | 439 | $10.00 | $449.30 | 449 |
| 3 | 05/04/16 12:19 AM | CST | USD | $15,000.00 | GBP | 9,869.72 | 1.5198 | 1.4569 | $620.81 | 414 | $10.00 | $630.81 | 421 |
| 4 | 05/29/16 10:34 AM | CST | USD | $750.00 | EUR | 662.66 | 1.1318 | 1.0960 | $23.72 | 316 | $10.00 | $33.72 | 450 |
| 5 | 05/30/16 12:50 AM | CST | USD | $20,000.00 | CAD | 24,914.00 | 1.2457 | 1.2980 | $805.86 | 403 | $10.00 | $815.86 | 408 |
| 6 | 05/12/16 3:56 AM | CST | USD | $5,000.00 | GBP | 3,320.49 | 1.5058 | 1.4451 | $201.55 | 403 | $10.00 | $211.55 | 423 |
| 7 | |||||||||||||
| 8 | Totals | $50,750.00 | Totals | $2,091.24 | 412 | $50.00 | $2,141.24 | 422 |
Sample trades for illustration. Fees shown are a flat $10 per trade. Totals in bps are weighted by amount sold.
Sample FXRI® client results
Bank markup per trade, before and after FXRI®
- Previous bank markup
- Markup after FXRI®
- Savings
Each sample trade is a forward FX hedge of roughly $3 million.
The red bars show the markup the client was paying before FXRI®. The blue bars show the markup after Blades International negotiated a written, pre-agreed spread with the client's bank.
The green bars show the client's savings on each trade.
Independent FX Transaction Cost Analysis
Request a complimentary FX cost evaluation →
Do you know what your bank is really charging you for foreign exchange?
Most organizations don't. FX markups are built into the rate rather than shown as a fee, so they rarely appear on a statement. As currency markets move every day, those costs can quietly add up across every trade.
Blades International's Foreign Exchange Rate Integrity® (FXRI®) service measures your actual FX costs against independent market benchmarks. Simply share your FX rate data, including the trade date, time stamp, time zone, amounts and currencies sold and bought, and currency pair. We will provide you with complimentary indications of your markups.
Request your complimentary FX cost evaluation → Or contact Juan Pereira, Jack Borland, or Bob Blades at +1 713.977.7400.
Transparency
The Borland Curve
Named for Jack Borland, a former long-time JP Morgan Chase executive and BII's Managing Director of FX, the Borland Curve shows what a fair FX markup looks like for your annual FX volume.
The blue line is the fair-price markup, based on BII's review experience. The red line is what an indifferent client tends to pay. The shaded gap is the cost of indifference, and it's what FXRI® is designed to recover.
Read Jack's article: Who costs your firm more? →Client results
What FXRI® has done for our clients
Each client's markups were measured in an FXRI® review, then a written, pre-agreed spread over the interbank mid-market rate was negotiated with their banks.
Global engineering firm
Two banks. Average markup after a negotiated agreement, tracked month by month.
Middle-market transportation company
Pre-agreed spread over the interbank mid-market rate, replacing an average markup of 318 bps.
- Before FXRI® review
- After negotiated agreement
Client results from FXRI® reviews and the agreements negotiated after them.
See more case studies →Foreign Exchange Rate Integrity®
Frequently Asked Questions
Isn't the markup just the bank being paid? Our bank says we get the market rate.
Yes, and banks are entitled to be paid. They take risk, commit capital and provide service, and every FX price carries a margin over the interbank mid; that is how the desk is paid. The issue is not that a spread exists, or that it varies. It is that the buyer cannot see it, so cannot price the relationship.
If the margin really is thin, measuring it confirms the story. A written pre-agreed spread turns the assurance into something you can check.
We're too small for this to matter.
Smaller programs usually carry the widest spreads, because the price is set by formula or relationship tier and nobody has ever challenged it. Cost per dollar converted tends to fall as volume rises, so the firms that assume they are too small are often paying the most.
Won't this damage our bank relationship?
It has not for our clients. The conversation is about data, not accusation, and Blades International talks to bankers in a very diplomatic way. A bank confident in its pricing has no reason to resist the measurement; several have used it to demonstrate the fair-and-reasonable standard the FX Global Code asks of them.
How are you paid? Do the banks pay you?
The banks pay us nothing, and we accept nothing from them. The initial review is complimentary: if your banks' spreads are fair for your volumes, we will say so, and there is no charge.
Where we negotiate reduced spreads, our fee is a share of the proved savings during the following calendar year. You pay nothing unless Blades International has achieved a cash saving for your company. After the first year, the Foreign Exchange Rate Integrity® Audit makes sure there is no back-sliding by the bank, for a minimal charge based on the number of transactions.
How to get started
Simply share your FX rate data, including the trade date, time stamp, time zone, amounts and currencies sold and bought, and currency pair. We will provide you with complimentary indications of your markups.
Please do NOT send confidential account or payee information.
Request your Complimentary FX Rate Review →