Dealing Desk

A "dealing desk" is the term used for whichever office is used for grouping the traders of a particular asset class together, whether it be forex, futures, bonds, stocks, swaps, etc. Generally, traders who are working in the same arena are seated near each other to lend assistance, swap ideas, swear, etc.

Thus, all of the corporate bond traders would be in one area...NASDAQ and OTC market makers in another area, etc. Each dealing desk may comprise anywhere from one to dozens of traders. Given that forex is a 24/7 global market, a firm with a forex trading platform will often have the forex desk as its most active and sometimes largest dealing desk.

Apparently, legal cannabis dispensaries are adopting a similar platform, with different areas designated for different grades and types of cannabis and derivative products, thus giving yet another meaning to the term, “dealing desk.”