System and method for hedging against foreign exchange risk associated with securities transactions

1. A method for hedging an investor against a currency risk associated with a purchase of a security having a value, said investor purchasing said security in a foreign currency and said investor desiring to receive proceeds from a sale of at least a portion of said security in a home currency, said foreign currency and said home currency having an exchange rate at the time of said purchase and an exchange rate at the time of said sale, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving a request for hedging against said currency risk for a time period;

calculating a cost for hedging against said currency risk based on said foreign currency, said home currency, said exchange rate at the time of said purchase, said value and said time period;

providing the investor with said proceeds from said sale based on said exchange rate at the time of said sale if said exchange rate at the time of said sale is greater than the exchange rate at the time of said purchase; and

providing the investor with said proceeds from said sale based on said exchange rate at the time of said purchase if said exchange rate at the time of said purchase is greater than or equal to the exchange rate at the time of said sale,

wherein at least one of said steps is performed by a computer.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said value of said security appreciates after said purchase, and the step of calculating a cost includes the step of:

calculating said cost for hedging against said currency risk based on said appreciated value of said security.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said investor desires to extend the time period for hedging against said currency risk, and the step of calculating a cost includes the step of:

calculating said cost for hedging against said currency risk based on said extended time period.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said purchase is a limit order purchase comprising a plurality of individual purchases each having a value and wherein said calculating step includes the step of:

calculating a cost for hedging against said currency risk for each of said plurality of individual purchases based on said foreign currency, said home currency, said exchange rate at the time of said each of said plurality of individual purchases, said value of said each of said plurality of individual purchases and said time period.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of:

hedging against the currency risk using an American-style non-tradable foreign exchange option.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of:

hedging against the currency risk using currency certificates of the bear type having standard strike levels and maturity dates and being broken down into currency units.

7. A system for hedging an investor against a currency risk associated with a purchase of a security having a value, said investor purchasing said security in a foreign currency and said investor desiring to receive proceeds from a sale of at least a portion of said security in a home currency, said foreign currency and said home currency having an exchange rate at the time of said purchase and an exchange rate at the time of said sale, said investor desiring to insure against said currency risk for a time period, the system comprising:

a foreign exchange rate data source; and

a pricing engine, said pricing engine receiving said exchange rate at the time of said purchase and the exchange rate at the time of said sale from said foreign exchange rate data source, said pricing engine calculating a cost for hedging against said currency risk based on said foreign currency, said home currency, said exchange rate at the time of said purchase, said value and said time period;

wherein the investor is provided with said proceeds from said sale based on said exchange rate at the time of said sale if said exchange rate at the time of said sale is greater than the exchange rate at the time of said purchase and the investor is provided with said proceeds from said sale based on said exchange rate at the time of said purchase if said exchange rate at the time of said purchase is greater than or equal to the exchange rate at the time of said sale.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein said value of said security appreciates after said purchase, and wherein said pricing engine calculates said cost for hedging against said currency risk based on said appreciated value of said security.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein said investor desires to extend the time period for hedging against said currency risk, and wherein said pricing engine calculates said cost for hedging against said currency risk based on said extended time period.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein said purchase is a limit order purchase comprising a plurality of individual purchases each having a value and wherein said pricing engine calculates a cost for hedging against said currency risk for each of said plurality of individual purchases based on said foreign currency, said home currency, said exchange rate at the time of said each of said plurality of individual purchases, said value of said each of said plurality of individual purchases and said time period.

11. The system of claim 7 , further comprising a trading engine, said trading engine causing said security to be purchased by the investor through a securities exchange, wherein said pricing engine receives said value of said security from said trading engine.

12. The system of claim 11 , further comprising a trading station, said pricing engine receiving from said trading station said time period for hedging against said currency risk.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein said trading engine receives from said trading station a request to purchase said security and a request to sell said security.