ODL Markets

FX Margin Trading and Leverage

FX Margin, Trade sizes and FX leverage at a glance

FX Header

Trade FX in a Lot Size that's right for you

Trade (or Lot) sizes start at 0.1 (a 10,000 unit trade or 10,000 base currency size) up to lot sizes of 1 (a 100,000 unit trade or 100,000 base currency size) per one lot.

Here are some examples of what this means:
U.S. Dollar/Japanese Yen (100,000 U.S. Dollars)
Euro/U.S. Dollar (100,000 Euros)
Euro/Great Britain Pound (100,000 Euros)
Euro/Japanese Yen (100,000 Euros)

Trading FX on Margin 100:1

Put simply, margin serves as collateral to cover any losses that you might incur. Since nothing is actually being purchased or sold for delivery, the only requirement, and indeed the only real purpose for having funds in your FX account, is for sufficient margin.

Essentially when you trade on margin you are using a free short-term credit allowance from ODL Markets. This short-term credit allowance is used to purchase an amount of currency that greatly exceeds your account value.

Let's take the following FX example:
You have an account with $10,000 with ODL Markets. You trade ticket sizes of 1,000,000 GBP/USD. This equates to a margin ratio of 1% ($10,000 is 1% of $1,000,000). How can you trade 100 times the amount of money you have at your disposal? The answer is that ODLS temporarily gives you the necessary credit to make the transaction you are interested in making. Without margin, you would only be able to buy or sell tickets of $10,000 at a time. On standard accounts ODL applies a minimum 1% margin.

This margin facility allows you to potentially make large profits from a relatively small initial investment but it must be pointed out that any losses are equally multiplied.

Customers who hold FX positions may become liable to pay margin as detailed in our terms and conditions. All FX positions have an initial margin and you are required to keep this over and above any unrealised losses. Margin calls can be made at any time and it is therefore important for you to familiarise yourself with our terms and conditions especially the section relating to margin calls. Be aware that it is your responsibility, not ODLS’, to monitor your positions and make any margin payments as they become due.

Monitoring Risk Exposure

Our FX trading platforms have been designed to effectively monitor and allow you to control risk exposure in real time. Based on each client’s margin requirement, the FX trading platform system calculates both the funds needed to retain current open FX positions and the trading resources available for entering into new positions or for adding to existing open FX positions.

If the equity in your account drops below the margin required to maintain your open positions, we may close all open positions. Once usable margin reaches zero, a margin call will ensue, and all open positions may be closed by us. This limits your risk to usable margin.

Spread Betting, CFDs and Forex are leveraged products and carry a high degree of risk to your capital and it is possible to lose more than your initial investment and account balance. You should only speculate with money that you can afford to lose. These investments may not be suitable for all investors, therefore, please ensure that you fully understand the risks involved and seek independent advice if necessary prior to entering into such transactions.

UK tax laws may be subject to change and can differ if you pay tax in any jurisdiction outside the UK. It is therefore advisable to seek independent tax advice.

ODL Securities Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority – Registration number 171487 Member of the London Stock Exchange and NYSE Euronext.

© 2010 ODL Securities Limited.
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