For companies involved in import and export activities, a Forward Exchange Cover, or FEC, is an arrangement which enables a company to fix a rate of exchange, for settlement at a future date beyond the spot date.

In essence, a Shariah compliant FEC is an enforceable, unilateral promise from the customer to purchase or sell foreign currency from/to the bank at a future date and exchange rate, as stipulated in the promise. The primary purpose of entering into a FEC, in international trade, is to protect the business from adverse exchange rate fluctuations between the contract date and the payment date.