Blackwell Global hikes margin requirements by 2x, 3x for Presidential Election

It was just announced today that UK-FCA regulated FX brokerage Blackwell Global in light of the 58th quadrennial United States presidential election being held on Tuesday, 8 November, 2016, Blackwell Global will increase the margins on selected instruments from Sunday, 6 November 2016, 9:00pm (GMT).

The firm’s Cyprus regulated office had announced the same margin adjustments last week.

As traders know, during the time of the U.S. election results, markets may be choppy and volatile for a period Tuesday evening November 8th during the live election results.

Effective on Sunday, 6 November onwards:

Forex (Majors)
Affected Instruments Margin Increase
AUDUSD 2 times
EURUSD 2 times
GBPUSD 2 times
NZDUSD 2 times
USDCAD 2 times
USDCHF 2 times
USDJPY 2 times
Forex (Crosses & Exotics)
Affected Instruments Margin Increase Affected Instruments Margin Increase
EURCAD 3 times NZDCHF 3 times
EURCHF 3 times NZDJPY 3 times
EURGBP 3 times NZDUSD 3 times
EURJPY 3 times SGDJPY 3 times
EURNOK 3 times USDCAD 3 times
EURNZD 3 times USDCHF 3 times
EURSEK 3 times USDCNH 3 times
EURSGD 3 times USDDKK 3 times
EURTRY 3 times USDHKD 3 times
EURUSD 3 times USDHUF 3 times
GBPAUD 3 times USDJPY 3 times
GBPCAD 3 times USDMXN 3 times
GBPCHF 3 times USDNOK 3 times
GBPJPY 3 times USDPLN 3 times
GBPNZD 3 times USDSEK 3 times
GBPUSD 3 times USDSGD 3 times
NOKJPY 3 times USDTRY 3 times
NOKSEK 3 times USDZAR 3 times
NZDCAD 3 times
Precious Metals
Affected Instruments Margin Increase
XAGUSD 2 times
XAUUSD 2 times
Cash CFDs
Affected Instruments Margin Increase
AUS200 2 times
DE30 2 times
ES35 2 times
STOXX50 2 times
F40 2 times
HK50 2 times
JP225 2 times
UK100 3 times
US30 3 times
US100 3 times
US500 3 times
USOil 3 times
UKOil 3 times

Please note that Blackwell Global server time is set to GMT +2.

Please bear in mind the additional risk that such events can carry and adjust your trading style as necessary.

Blackwell Global stated:

If you have open positions during the affected period, margin requirements to keep those positions open could rise. We strongly recommend that you monitor open positions carefully and maintain a sufficient account surplus throughout this period.

Stop Loss Orders are not guaranteed to be filled at your order level as they are converted to Market Orders once triggered.

And due to lack of liquidity and dislocation, Pending Orders may not be filled in accordance with your demands, as spread widening may occur.

Blackwell Global stated it will closely monitor market volatility and liquidity and will reassess the margin requirements during and after the Election and make the necessary adjustments thereafter.

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