Due to heightened volatility expected around Italy’s December 4th referendum, financial spread betting and CFDs broker ETX Capital are making a number changes to margin requirements.
Italy’s referendum on constitutional reform has taken on added significance in the wake of the Brexit vote and Donald Trump’s election victory. Matteo Renzi, the Italian prime minister, may resign if he loses the vote, creating political instability which some argue could ultimately lead to Italy leaving the Eurozone. Meanwhile a No vote would significantly hamper efforts to shore up Italy’s creaking banking sector.
European stocks, bonds and the Euro may gap and are expected to endure higher volatility both before and after the referendum as a result.
Due to the increased likelihood of volatility they will be making changes to tier 1 margins which will take effect from 12pm (GMT) Friday, December 2nd.
These will apply to all open positions. Please ensure you have enough funds on your account at all times in order to maintain your open positions.
Finally, to better protect their clients from severe market stress, ETX Capital will require traders to maintain 100% margin in their accounts at all times or they run the risk of positions being closed out at any time. Losses may still exceed deposits but this measure is aimed at reducing the chances of this happening.
Increased volatility means increased opportunity but also increased risk. The changes set out above are designed to help reduce the potential exposure to severe market movements, however all trading involves risk and losses may still exceed deposits.
Please note, this is an expected move from reputable spread betting and CFD brokers and expect your broker to change the margin as well. Full list of spread betting companies can be found here and forex and CFD brokers are here.