ASIC NEW RULES ON CFD TRADING
We refer to our previous communication related to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (“ASIC”) release of the ASIC’s Product Intervention Order Instrument 2020/986, that will change the way we can offer products and services to retail clients trading with easyMarkets Pty Ltd (“easyMarkets”, “we”, “our” or “us”), and which will impose new maximum leverage levels and protections on retail CFD.
These changes will impact the CFD trading of Retail Clients from 28 March 2021*. easyPro Clients will be exempted. Click here to check if you are eligible for a Professional Account.
Please ensure you have sufficient funds in your trading account to continue to hold any open positions.
How will ASIC’s Product Intervention Order Instrument affect your positions/orders and trading with easyMarkets?
a. Leverage and Margin Requirements:
The following table sets out the minimum initial margin requirements:
| Instrument’s category – Underlying for the CFD | New maximum leverage as of 28 March 2021 |
|---|---|
| Major Currency (AUD, GBP, CAD, EUR, JPY, CHF, USD) | 1:30 |
| Minor Currency | 1:20 |
| Gold | 1:20 |
| Major stock market index : CAC 40, DAX, Dow Jones Industrial Average, EURO STOXX 50 Index, FTSE 100, NASDAQ-100 Index, NASDAQ Composite Index, Nikkei Stock Average, S&P 500, S&P/ASX 200 | 1:20 |
| Minor stock market index | 1:10 |
| Commodity - other than gold | 1:10 |
| Cryptoasset (Cryptocurrency) | 1:2 |
| All other CFDs where the underlying is not listed above | 1:5 |
easyMarkets reserves the right to impose initial margins at a higher amount than the minimum if considered necessary based on prevailing market conditions.
b. Existing Positions/Order:
The existing positions on the MT4 platform will be affected, therefore a higher margin is going to be required. Clients will need to fund their accounts in order to keep their positions open on the MT4 platform.
The existing open positions on easyMarkets Web and App (proprietary platforms) will not be subject to the new leverage requirements listed above. Changes will be applicable only to new positions opened after 28th March 2021.
c. Bonuses and Promotions:
Retail Client will not be eligible for bonuses and promotions. Any bonuses which may have been offered to clients in the past will no longer be provided after 28 March 2021. Accordingly, you must ensure you have sufficient funds in your trading account to continue to hold any open positions.
d. Margin close-out protection:
If at any time the ‘net equity’ of any of your CFD trading account is less than the ‘aggregate close out protection amount’ i.e. 50% of the aggregate minimum initial margin easyMarkets requires you to hold in your account to maintain all of your open CFD positions, then easyMarkets must close out one or more of your open CFD positions until the net equity of your trading account is equal to or greater than 50% of the total margin required for the remaining open positions.
Net equity is the sum of the client’s funds and the unrealised profits (if any) less the unrealised losses (if any) for all open CFD positions in the client’s trading account.
Relevant amendments have been made to the current easyMarkets Legal Documents below. Please refer to the below paragraphs:
- Client Agreement Paragraph 26: Asic Product Intervention Order.
- Product Disclosure Statement Paragraph 10: Asic Product Intervention Order.
* Important Note:
For easyMarkets Web/App clients, changes will be effective after maintenance time, 09:00 GMT.
For easyMarkets MT4 - At Sunday’s opening, 21:00 GMT for cryptos & 22:00 GMT for FX.
