Approved Participants

Yes, you can come to my party. Bring a condom. But um, no. We won't go there. Instead, think of approved participants like this: They’re like people who were approved for a very cool, all-access credit card...Black Amex. Red Visa. Post-Apocalyptic Discovery.

In the finance world, these are traders who meet specific criteria and have been given a permit to become approved participants at an exchange, like the Chicago Board of Exchange. They’re people in the business (like brokers or order-sending firms). These "experts" are U.S. or foreign-registered broker dealers who can access facilities (and other market places) if certain criteria (which may differ depending upon the exchange) has been met. They are approved to participate in taking on a whole lot of risk. That's the gist, anyway.