Brokers to suspend opening trades in select instruments over UK referendum

Do not invest more money than you can afford to lose.

Another bundle of forex brokers has published information about their decision to temporarily increase margin requirements around the upcoming UK referendum and the expected increased market volatility, but many of them have also decided on other changes, including temporarily suspending the opening of new trades in certain instruments.

The UK will hold a referendum on 23 June, to decide whether the country should exit the EU (aka Brexit) or remain in the union (aka Bremain). Either scenario is highly likely, considering the on-going voter turnaround, and experts are not certain of the possible outcome of the referendum. Speculations and referendum pollings have already had a sensible impact on the markets, making them more volatile.

Following is more information about the specific alterations of trading conditions that brokers plan to introduce.

LiteForex to suspend opening new trades in select currency pairs

LiteForex has decided to hike margins on all GBP and EUR pairs, but to trigger a close-only mode on several pairs – GBP/NOK, GBP/SEK, GBP/ZAR, EUR/PLN, EUR/HUF, EUR/NOK, EUR/CZK, EUR/SEK, EUR/DKK, EUR/ZAR, GBP/TRY, EUR/TRY.

For the rest of the GBP and EUR pairs, oil, commodities and major indices margins hikes will be as follows:

• fivefold increase for ECN, NDD, and PAMM accounts
• tenfold increase for classic accounts
• twentyfold increase for in cent accounts

These trading terms will be temporary and will last from 20 June until 27 June. In case the markets get too volatile, changes may be applied to other tradable instruments, as well.

The broker warned that credit funds may be withdrawn from trading accounts in during the said period.

Blackwell Global to halt opening forex trades

From 19 June, the broker will hike margins on select forex pairs two to three times, but it will also halt the opening of new trades for all symbols from23 June, 9pm UK time, up to 1 hour after the release of the polling results. During this period, clients will still be able to close existing trades.

CopyFX to accept no new GBP orders

Starting 20 June until 24 June, CopyFX will switch to close-only mode for all GBP instruments on the MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5) trading platforms, which means that no new positions with such instruments would be possible. In addition, no transactions with GBP instruments would be allowed in RAMM investment platform.

On 23 and 24 June, investors trading in GBP instruments will see various margin hikes, depending on the account type they use. As of 27 June, RoboForex will restore trading conditions to their usual. Following are the new temporary leverage requirements:

• The margin for MT4 and MT5 ECN accounts will be 6 times higher than the current level
• The margin for MT4 and MT5 Standard and Cent accounts will be 20 times higher than the current level
• The minimum margin for cTrader accounts will be 2% regardless the current level

IG Group and Capital Index to hike margins for second time just before referendum

IG Group and Capital Index both will increase margins on 17 June, but additional increases will follow on 22 June, in the eve of the UK referendum.

Clients of IG Group will have to ensure a minimum margin of 3% for GBP pairs and 1.5% for the FTSE100 index, while EUR pairs and European indices will have a margin of 1%. Meanwhile, the starting margin rates on major UK shares and all UK sectors will increase to 10%.

Meanwhile, Capital Increase’s margins will change for all GBP and EUR pairs to 3%-4%, depending on the pair.

Alpari increases margin on GBP pairs to 10%

The broker, which operates internationally but it the largest player on the Russian forex market, will change trading conditions on GBP and EUR pairs and the so-called FX special group of currency pairs from 20 June until further notice. The broker noted that it would not put a limit on traded volume, except for pairs from the FX Special group traded via pro.ecn.mt4 and ecn.mt4 accounts. Following are Alpari’s temporary margins:

FX Special group:

• 4% margin for standard.mt4 and pamm.standard.mt4 accounts
• 10% margin for ecn.mt4 and pamm.ecn.mt4 accounts – 1:10

GBP and EUR pairs:

• for pro.ecn.mt4 and ecn.mt5 accounts, including PAMM Accounts – 1:10
• for nano.mt4 accounts – 1:25.

In addition, the broker warned that in case of high volatility or low liquidity it may temporarily set certain trading restrictions, including to trigger close-only mode or to widen stop and limit levels. In the period 22-23 June, GBP pairs and FTSE100 index may be unavailable via alpari.binary accounts (for binary options), while payout amounts may temporary be reduced.

CMC Markets min margin to reach 8%

As of 13 June, margins on certain European indices and all GBP pairs have been hiked. The broker will also increase margin requirements for all other forex pairs from 20 June. The temporary margin requirements for forex pairs are 1% for tier-1 pairs, 2% for tier-2 pairs, and 4% and 8% for tier 3 and tier 4 pairs, respectively.

AxiTrader changes margins across all products

From 20 June until 28 June, the broker will hike margins on select instruments (see list below) to 5%, while for all other instruments the minimum margin requirement will be 1%. Following are the instruments for which margin will be set at 5%: AUD/JPY, XAG/USD, XAU/USD, CAD/JPY, EUR/GBP, EUR/JPY, GBP/AUD, GBP/CAD, GBP/CHF, GBP/JPY, GBP/NZD, GBP/USD, CAC40.fs, DAX30.fs, DJ30.fs, EUSTX50.fs, FT100.fs, NK225.fs, S&P.fs, SPI200.fs.

JustForex increases initial hike rate

The broker initially announced it plans to hike margins on all GBP and EUR pairs by 2.5 times, but it has now doubled that and its clients will be trading from 20 June such instruments with a minimum margin requirement of 5 times the standard levels.

ICM Capital hikes liquidity pool

Starting 19 June, the broker will hike margin to a minimum 0.5% on forex instruments, regardless whether clients use ECN execution or instant mode. The rate will differ depending on the instrument, metals, and index futures. Spreads are also expected to be widened significantly during the period, and stop-out levels may also be increased to 100%.

The broker said these conditions will apply until there are sufficient liquidity in the market.

Speaking of liquidity, in addition to changing trading conditions, ICM Capital announced it has also increased the liquidity pool, aiming to improve pricing and execution of trades.

FXCL sets margin on GBP, EUR pairs to 2%

FXCL’s minimum margin across all account types will be temporarily set to 2%, starting 20 June. Spreads on GBP and EUR instruments, as well as on other instruments in case of low liquidity, may be widened, and margin call/stop out levels for all account types will be set to 100/80. In case of very high volatility and extremely low liquidity, some instruments could be set to close-only mode, and even GBP and EUR pairs may be closed for trading. Such limitations may also apply to binary options, as well.

These conditions will be in effect until 24 June and the usual trading terms will be resumed on 27 June.

ayondo and Vantage FX will rely on two-stage change plans

As of 13 June, Vantage FX has already altered some trading conditions on GBP and EUR pairs, as well as some other tradable instruments. It intends to firther increase minimum margin and maximum trade size on these instruments from 20 June. Following are details about Vantage FX’s temporary trading conditions:

ayondo will introduce temporary trading conditions with the market opening on 19 June, when it will double minimum margin requirements for all European, UK and US single stock products. Then, starting with the market close on 21 June, the broker will increase fivefold argin rated for GBP and EUR currency pirs, as well as for select UK, US, and European indices. During this time, stop losses will be non-guaranteed and spreads may be widened, especially on GBP and EUR pairs and UK and European out-of-hours indices.

ForexPrivate to hike spreads only

The broker said that due to the market volatility expected around the UK referendum, it may increase from 20 June until 25 June spreads on GPB and EUR instruments on FXStandard, FXCent, FXPremium accounts.

The list of brokers that are changing their trading conditions in relation to the UK referendum does not end here. Following are details about the margin requirements of some more forex brokers:

FXOptimax  said it might change margins in the  period 14 June -25 June, while Forex Club it is also considering to alter some terms and conditions, such as margin requirements, maximum trading volume, trading commissions,  depending on the market situation.

Meanwhile, easyMarkets said it is keeping trading conditions unchanged.

Previously, many other brokers have announced margin changes in several days prior and after the UK referendum.