3D currency symbols

Margin Requirements

Margin requirements vary by currency pair. These current margins were last changed on 3/12/2023.
3D currency symbols

Currency Pair

MMR

Currency Pair

MMR

Currency Pair

MMR

AUD/CAD 3% AUD/CHF 3% AUD/CNH 5%
AUD/JPY 5% AUD/NOK 7% AUD/NZD 3%
AUD/PLN 5% AUD/SGD 5% AUD/USD 3%
CAD/CHF 3% CAD/JPY 5% CAD/NOK 7%
CAD/PLN 5% CHF/HUF 5% CHF/JPY 5%
CHF/NOK 7% CHF/PLN 5% CNH/JPY 5%
EUR/AUD 3% EUR/CAD 2% EUR/CHF 3%
EUR/CNH 5% EUR/CZK 10% EUR/DKK** 2%
EUR/GBP 5% EUR/HKD** 20% EUR/HUF 5%
EUR/JPY 5% EUR/MXN 10% EUR/NOK 7%
EUR/NZD 3% EUR/PLN 5% EUR/RUB* 20%
EUR/SEK 3% EUR/SGD 5% EUR/TRY** 25%
EUR/USD 2% EUR/ZAR 7% GBP/AUD 5%
GBP/CAD 5% GBP/CHF 5% GBP/DKK** 5%
GBP/HKD** 20% GBP/JPY 5% GBP/MXN 10%
GBP/NOK 7% GBP/NZD 5% GBP/PLN 5%
GBP/SEK 5% GBP/SGD 5% GBP/USD 5%
GBP/ZAR 7% HKD/JPY** 20% NOK/DKK** 7%
NOK/JPY 7% NOK/SEK 7% NZD/CAD 3%
NZD/CHF 3% NZD/JPY 5% NZD/USD 3%
SGD/HKD** 20% SGD/JPY 5% TRY/JPY** 25%
USD/CAD 2% USD/CHF 3% USD/CNH 5%
USD/CZK 10% USD/DKK** 2% USD/HKD** 20%
USD/HUF 5% USD/ILS 20% USD/JPY 5%
USD/MXN 10% USD/NOK 7% USD/PLN 5%
USD/RUB* 20% USD/SEK 3% USD/SGD 5%
USD/THB 20% USD/TRY** 25% USD/ZAR 7%
ZAR/JPY 7%

*USD/RUB and EUR/RUB are currently unavailable for trading. View all service updates.

**MMR on MetaTrader could be higher. Tiered margining is in place for larger position sizes on FOREX.com trading platforms, please refer to Market Information in the trading platform for more information.

Margin requirements are subject to change without notice, at the sole discretion of FOREX.com.

Should you have a position that is subject to an additional margin requirement we will contact you to make arrangements to cover it. This increased margin requirement will continue to apply at FOREX.com’s discretion, until the position size decreases and remains materially below the threshold for a sustained period. Partially closing the position will not automatically reduce your margin requirement.

Open positions are always required to be margined. The margin close out (MCO) process differs by trading platform. Learn more about the MCO and liquidation processes for Forex.com and MT4.

To help limit your trading losses and ensure that your losses never exceed your account balance, our systems monitor your margin in near real-time. While our MCO process is designed to limit your trading losses and help ensure that total losses never exceed your total account balance, you do risk incurring losses greater than your account balance, especially during periods of extreme market volatility.

While it is not FOREX.com’s policy to hold clients responsible for modest negative balances, we do reserve the right to hold clients responsible for large debit balances and when special circumstances apply. For this reason, we strongly encourage you to manage your use of leverage carefully. Increasing leverage increases risk.

Margin Requirements FAQs

What are step margin levels?

The larger the trade size, the higher the risk level associated with the trade. Therefore, we may increase our margin requirements for larger size trades or any additional trades in that instrument.

To do this, FOREX.com Web Trader platform increases the size of the margin requirement at specific quantity levels, known as step margin levels.

You can view a market’s step margin levels in its Market Information Sheet within the FOREX.com platform.

Step margins are not present in MetaTrader 4.

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What are the margin requirements at FOREX.com?

Minimum Margin Requirement (MMR), also called a Security Deposit, is the amount of available cash you need in your account to trade one of the products we offer. The base MMR is set for each product and may increase based on the size of the position you trade. The specific MMR for each product we offer is available on our margin requirements page and is also included on each product’s Market 360 section on the FOREX.com platform. Initial MMR is calculated when you first open a trade and Ongoing MMR is recalculated at least once per day thereafter. MT4 and FOREX.com use the same process to calculate Initial MMR but use different processes for calculating Ongoing MMR which is explained further below. We also provide additional tools to help customers calculate and monitor MMR:

  • Margin Calculator: Platform Tool can be used to manually Calculate MMR at any time.
  • Monitor each position’s margin requirement separately.
  • Margin Indicator: Visually review your account’s total MMR using the Margin Indicator Tool on the trading platform.


Initial MMR (FOREX.com & MT4)

To calculate the Initial MMR when you place a trade, simply multiply the total USD notional value of your trade by the MMR % of the currency pair. To help explain this calculation, please refer to the following examples:

Example 1: When counter currency is the same as your account currency

Customer buys 100,000 EUR/USD at price 1.12500 at 2% (MMR).

  • Position size (100,000) times EUR/USD exchange rate at the time you place the trade (1.12500) times MMR.
  • (100,000 x 1.12500 x 2%) = MMR of $2,250

Example 2: When neither base nor counter currency are your account base currency

Customer Buys 100,000 EUR/JPY at price 1.45200 (EUR/USD exchange rate* is 1.12500) at 2% MMR
*To calculate margin, we need to use the exchange rate of the Base market against your account base currency

  • Position size (100,000) times EUR/USD exchange rate at the time you place the trade (1.12500).
  • (100,000 x 1.12500 x 2%) = MMR of $2,250

Example 3: When base currency is the same your account base currency

Customer Buys 100,000 USD/JPY at price 1.47000 at 2% margin (MMR).

  • Position size (100,000) times MMR
  • (100,000 x 2%) = MMR of $2,000


Ongoing MMR (MT4 Platform)

Currently on MT4, MMR is calculated when you place a trade and remains the same for the life of the trade. Beginning on November 14, 2022, the Ongoing MMR calculation in MT4 will be changed to recalculate your MMR once per day. This process will run every day at 4:00PM EST and is further explained using the examples below:

Example 1: When counter currency is the same as your account currency

Customer originally Bought 100,000 EUR/USD at price 1.12500 at 2% (MMR). Current exchange rate 1.12000.

Current Ongoing MMR Calculation (not applicable after 11/14/2022):

  • MMR remains the same for the life of the trade, no change.

New Ongoing MMR Calculation (starting on 11/14/2022):

  • Position size (100,000) times EUR/USD exchange rate (1.11000) at the time your MMR is recalculated times MMR %.*
  • (100,000 x 1.11000 x 2%) = $2,200
    *Process begins at 4pm.

Example 2: When neither base nor account currency are your account currency

Customer Bought 100,000 EUR/JPY at price 1.45200 (EUR/USD exchange rate* is 1.12500) at 2% MMR. Current EUR/USD exchange rate* is 1.12000.
*To calculate margin, we need to use the exchange rate of the Base market against your account currency

Current Ongoing MMR Calculation (not applicable after 11/14/2022):

  • MMR remains the same for the life of the trade, no change.

New Ongoing MMR Calculation (starting on 11/14/2022):

  • Position size (100,000) times EUR/USD exchange rate at the time your MMR is recalculated (1.11000) times MMR %.*
  • (100,000 x 1.11000 x 2%) = $2,200
    *Process begins at 4pm.

Example 3: When base currency is your account currency

Customer Bought 100,000 USD/JPY at price 1.47000 at 2% margin (MMR).

Ongoing MMR Calculation

  • Since base currency is your account currency, exchange rate equals 1 and therefore MMR remains the same throughout the life of the trade. This will remain unchanged.
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