Margin Requirements

All transactions conducted in SWFX marketplace are based on margin trading, enabling a client to leverage a deposit for a better use of available funds and greater market effect. The multi-currency exposure of the account is limited by the Total Trading line which is calculated in the basic currency, by multiplying the Equity of the account by the leverage determined by Dukascopy. During regular trading hours, the Total Trading line can be up to a 100 times the amount of the equity. The initial leverage of the account can be adjusted to the different level (e.g. 1:50 or 1:20) which is predefined by Dukascopy and the client. The necessary margin to run an exposure is computed each time at trade initiation, and the amount of Free Trading Line is real-time updated on the trading platform.

Minimum margin requirements
The minimum margin required to open a position depends on the assigned leverage, currency pair and current market prices. The table below lists the minimum margins for different currency pairs if the account’s leverage is set to 1:100.

		Leverage 1:100*		Over-the-weekend leverage 1:30**
Currency pair	Min. contract, mil	In base currency	In USD	In base currency	In USD
AUD/JPY	0.1	1000 AUD	924 USD	3333 AUD	3079 USD
AUD/USD	0.1	1000 AUD	924 USD	3333 AUD	3079 USD
CAD/JPY	0.1	1000 CAD	987 USD	3333 CAD	3290 USD
CHF/JPY	0.1	1000 CHF	922 USD	3333 CHF	3073 USD
EUR/CHF	0.1	1000 EUR	1483 USD	3333 EUR	4943 USD
EUR/GBP	0.1	1000 EUR	1483 USD	3333 EUR	4943 USD
EUR/JPY	0.1	1000 EUR	1483 USD	3333 EUR	4943 USD
EUR/USD	0.1	1000 EUR	1483 USD	3333 EUR	4943 USD
GBP/CHF	0.1	1000 GBP	1967 USD	3333 GBP	6555 USD
GBP/JPY	0.1	1000 GBP	1967 USD	3333 GBP	6555 USD
GBP/USD	0.1	1000 GBP	1967 USD	3333 GBP	6555 USD
USD/CAD	0.1	1000 USD	1000 USD	3333 USD	3333 USD
USD/CHF	0.1	1000 USD	1000 USD	3333 USD	3333 USD
USD/JPY	0.1	1000 USD	1000 USD	3333 USD	3333 USD
NZD/USD	0.1	1000 NZD	809 USD	3333 NZD	2695 USD
EUR/AUD	0.1	1000 EUR	1483 USD	3333 EUR	4943 USD

* The minimum margin requirements will differ if the initial leverage is changed
**See section “Over-the-weekend leverage” for additional information

Use of leverageIn order to facilitate the perception of used margin and the extent of an exposure, Dukascopy created a special real-time percentage indicator – the use of leverage. The use of leverage has two objectives: 1) to show how much of Free Trading line is used to run an exposure and 2) to run the margin call and margin cut procedure on the account. The equation for the use of leverage is as follows:

                                            Used Trading Line   
Use of leverage =    ——————————    x 100
                                       Total Trading Line   

*Note that the Total Trading Line equals to equity multiplied by leverage

Example:
Situation with an exposure of USD 1 000 000 on the account
Profit and losses = 0
Leverage authorized to the portfolio = 1:20
Equity = USD 100 000
Total Trading line = Equity * Leverage =USD 100 000 * 20 = USD 2 000 000
Use of leverage = Used Trading Line / Total Trading Line = 1 000 000 / 2 000 000 = 50%

Margin call and margin cut policy

Margin call (use of leverage >100%) means a fixed situation where the margin requirements do not allow a certain client to increase the open exposure of his account.The client may close the existing positions or open new ones in order to reduce the exposure. When the margin call level is reached, the positions are not closed automatically. The system will cancel all placed bid/offer that can increase the exposure.

Margin cut or cut-off level (use of leverage ≥ 200%) – in case the use of leverage reached 200%, Dukascopy has the right but not the obligation to fully or partially reduce the client’s exposure by closing the existing positions and/or by opening new positions in the opposite direction. Usually the system automatically reduces the exposure at a level where the use of leverage is equal to 100%.

Use of leverage	Description
0%	No exposure
<100%	Normal status
≥100%	Margin call: trader is not able to increase the account`s exposure if the use of leverage is more than 100%
≥200%	Margin cut: the system will open hedging positions in the opposite direction for all positions which constitute the account`s exposure. The use of leverage will be decreased to 100%.

Over-the-weekend leverage

The maximum available leverage for over-the-weekend and market closure is set to 1:30. The purpose of this policy is to protect clients from the risks caused by potential price gaps during market closure, which may seriously threaten their invested funds.

Algorithm: The over-the-weekend trading conditions are effective starting 5 hours before each market closure (weekend, holidays etc) until re-opening of the market. For usual Friday night closure over-the-weekend conditions would become effective at 18:00 [GMT]. As a result of leverage contraction, the use of leverage can increase if the account has exposure. Regardless of the over-the-weekend margin conditions, the general execution mechanisms of the margin call and margin cut remain the same. That is, if the amount of equity on one`s account is not sufficient to hold existing positions with a leverage of 1:30, then the margin cut procedure will be applied to the account (see paragraph Margin call and margin cut).

Risk disclosure
Trading foreign exchange on margin carries a high level of risk, and may not be suitable for all investors. It is highly recommended to maintain the use of leverage at normal levels. The client must always keep in mind that margin trading increases loss as well as profit, and equity can easily and quickly vanish in situations where the market prices exhibit strong volatility, potentially creating an adverse environment for the highly leveraged participant. The client shall be solely responsible for maintaining margin requirements of the existing positions as well as monitoring and ensuring sufficiency of the prepaid FX Trading Line amount displayed on his account.

个人认为“周末杠杆”的规定比较独到。

一旦价格跳空而出现的帐户负值，负值部分的亏损将有经纪商承担。“周末杠杆”的规定能够有效防止类似情况发生，从而降低汇商的风险。

以下是一些比较重要的规则，本人做了一些翻译：

引用:

Use of leverage
In order to facilitate the perception of used margin and the extent of an exposure, Dukascopy created a special real-time percentage indicator – the use of leverage. The use of leverage has two objectives: 1) to show how much of Free Trading line is used to run an exposure and 2) to run the margin call and margin cut procedure on the account. The equation for the use of leverage is as follows:

                                                      Used Trading Line   
Use of leverage =    ——————————    x 100
                                       Total Trading Line   

*Note that the Total Trading Line equals to equity multiplied by leverage

Example:
Situation with an exposure of USD 1 000 000 on the account
Profit and losses = 0
Leverage authorized to the portfolio = 1:20
Equity = USD 100 000
Total Trading line = Equity * Leverage =USD 100 000 * 20 = USD 2 000 000
Use of leverage = Used Trading Line / Total Trading Line = 1 000 000 / 2 000 000 = 50%

Use of leverage	Description
0%	No exposure
<100%	Normal status
≥100%	Margin call: trader is not able to increase the account`s exposure if the use of leverage is more than 100%
≥200%	Margin cut: the system will open hedging positions in the opposite direction for all positions which constitute the account`s exposure. The use of leverage will be decreased to 100%.

杠杆的使用

为了便于大家更好的理解可用保证金和仓位的范围，Dukascopy创建了一个特殊的实时百分比指示 - 杠杆使用率。杠杆使用率有2个作用： 1）查看帐户的已用保证金 2 ）Margin call 及 Margin cut 规则的使用

具体内容如下：


                                               已用保证金   
已用杠杆 =     ———————   x 100
                                 总保证金   

*注意：总保证金等于净值乘以杠杆

例如：
某帐户持有1 000 000 美元的开仓头寸
浮动盈亏= 0
杠杆授权组合= 1:20
净值=100 000 美元
总共可交易金额=净值*杠杆=美元100 000* 20 =美元2 000 000
已用杠杆=已用保证金/总保证金= 1 000 000 / 2 000 000 = 50 ％

Margin call 及 Margin cut 规则

Margin call （已用 杠杆> 100 ％ ） ，这种情况下，客户账户可用保证金不允许他继续增加头寸. 此时客户可以关闭或减小现有头寸。 在 margin call 的状态下 ，头寸不会被自动关闭。系统将取消所有未执行的订单，防止进一步占用保证金。

Margin cut （已用 杠杆≥ 200 ％ ） – 该情况下使用杠杆达到了2 00％ ， Dukascopy 有权利而非义务，关闭客户的全部或部分现有头寸 和/或 开立反向头寸。通常系统会自动降低仓位于一定的水平，直到已用杠杆等于100 ％ 为止。

杠杆利用	介绍
0%	没有头寸
<100%	通常状态
≥100%	Margin call: 在帐户杠杆使用达到100%以上时，客户没有办法增加头寸。
≥200%	Margin cut : 系统会自动为帐户所有头寸 开设反向头寸。已用杠杆将强制降为100%

引用:

Over-the-weekend leverage

The maximum available leverage for over-the-weekend and market closure is set to 1:30. The purpose of this policy is to protect clients from the risks caused by potential price gaps during market closure, which may seriously threaten their invested funds.

Algorithm: The over-the-weekend trading conditions are effective starting 5 hours before each market closure (weekend, holidays etc) until re-opening of the market. For usual Friday night closure over-the-weekend conditions would become effective at 18:00 [GMT]. As a result of leverage contraction, the use of leverage can increase if the account has exposure. Regardless of the over-the-weekend margin conditions, the general execution mechanisms of the margin call and margin cut remain the same. That is, if the amount of equity on one`s account is not sufficient to hold existing positions with a leverage of 1:30, then the margin cut procedure will be applied to the account (see paragraph Margin call and margin cut).

周末杠杆

在周末市场关闭时，最高杠杆被强制设为1:30 。这项政策是为了防止在市场关闭时，发生的价格跳空对客户的资金造成的严重威胁，保障客户的利益。

规 则：周末杠杆（1:30） 在收市之前的5个小时开启（周末，节假日等） ，直到市场重新开放。周末杠杆一般在周五晚18:00 点格林威治时间[GMT] 生效。如果客户持有未关闭的头寸，当周末杠杆开启时，会增加已用杠杆的比率。无论周末杠杆是否开启，Margin call 及 Margin cut 的规则不会改变。也就是说，在周末杠杆（1:30）的情况下，帐户净值不足以支持现有头寸，那么Margin cut 依然会强行执行 （规则见表格） 。

周末杠杆~有意思