As you may know the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has introduced new measures on Contracts for Differences (CFDs) that will affect all retail clients from 29 July 2018.

These measures include:

• a 50% margin close out rule on an account level basis;
• lower leverage limits:

How does this affect your trading?

Example of an account with 500 EUR/USD:

These new required margins will only affect Retail Clients.

There are no restrictions for Professional Clients

You can apply to be classified as a Professional Client as long as you fulfil TWO of the below criteria set by the FCA*:

• You have worked in the financial sector for at least 1 year
• You have an investment portfolio that exceeds 500,000 € (Cash Savings/Financial Instruments)
• You have executed an average of 10 trades of significant size in the last 12 months

The impact on Existing Retail Client Positions

Any positions you have open before 29th July 2018 in the below instruments will not be affected by the new leverage limits*:

Instruments whose open positions will not be affected:

The impact on Existing Retail Client Positions

Any positions you have opened before 29th July 2018 in the below instruments will not be affected by the new leverage limits*: (*However, the close out level will increase to 50%).

Instruments whose open positions will not be affected:

Any positions you open after 29th July 2018 in the above instruments will be affected by the new leverage limits.

For all other instruments, the leverage limits will affect all positions that remain open on 29th July 2018.

We advise you to make sure your account is adequately funded if you wish to continue trading as a retail client.

How to become a Professional Client

If you would like to take advantage of becoming a Professional Trader, please contact your representative or download their Professional Client application.

To learn more about what it means to become a Professional Client please click here.