Trading Manual

Effective date: 02 February 2015

LMAX Trading Manual

Effective date: 02 February 2015
This Trading Manual (the Manual) provides further information and worked examples on our trading
services.
The Manual forms part of our agreement with you. It is intended to be read alongside our Customer
Agreement and the other documents that form our agreement with you. If there is any inconsistency
between the Manual and our Customer Agreement, the terms of the Customer Agreement will prevail.
Unless separately defined in this document, words and expressions have the meanings given to them in
the Customer Agreement.
Contracts for Differences (CFDs) and Rolling Spot FX contracts (FX contracts) are leveraged
products that carry a high degree of risk. They are not suitable for everyone. You should not trade with
us unless you understand the nature of the transaction you are entering into and the extent of your
potential loss from a trade. You must satisfy yourself that it is suitable for you in the light of your
circumstances, financial resources and investment objectives. If you are in any doubt you should seek
independent advice. You trade entirely at your own risk.

1.

WHAT WE OFFER

We provide direct access to prices1 on instruments (for example, UK100 and GBP/USD) being offered
on the LMAX multilateral trading facility (the MTF). You trade with us as principal and not as agent on
your behalf on the prices we obtain on the MTF.
We process each order you place with us by placing an identical order (referred to as our Back to Back
Order) on the MTF. Upon our Back to Back Order being matched by other traders or filled by a market
maker on the MTF, we shall open or close a trade on the MTF (which is known as a Back to Back
Trade). A trade will then be opened or closed on your account at the same price and in the same size
as our Back to Back Trade. This is in essence how our trading service operates.
The prices on the MTF are constantly changing and we do not guarantee that the price you see when
placing an order will be the price at which your trade is executed.
In exceptional circumstances, including where no trusted price is available on the MTF, we may obtain
prices from third party sources in order to facilitate fair and orderly trading. In such circumstances,
relevant references in this Manual to prices on or obtained from the MTF should be read as referring to
the prices obtained from third-party sources. If we obtain a price from a third party source, we shall enter
into a trade with a third party offering that price (which shall also be known as a Back to Back Trade for
the purposes of this Manual), and once we have done so, your Order will be executed and a trade
opened or closed on your account at the same price and in the same size as our Back to Back Trade.
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The price at mid point between the MTF ask price and MTF bid price will be shown where the MTF ask
price is lower than the MTF bid price (an inverted market). You will still trade at the actual MTF bid or ask
price.
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2.

WAYS TO TRADE WITH US

2.1

Online trading

We offer an online trading service. To access your online account you must first login to the trading
platform using the username and password you specified when you completed your application with us.
If you need a reminder of either of these then please call our Helpdesk during our Helpdesk Hours and a
member of the team will be able to help.
Be sure that you keep your account details secure and always separate your username from your
password. If you have any reason to believe that your account details have been obtained by an
unauthorized third party you should contact us immediately.

It is important to note that we carry out routine maintenance on our Trading Platform each day between
22:00 22:05 UK time. Our service may be unavailable during this time.
2.2

Telephone service

Our telephone service is provided to help you with questions on your account and to process payments
for your Account. We may also place trades during our Helpdesk Hours. Before we accept an
instruction relating to your Account we will confirm your identity using your username and other security
information. We will rely on this information to identify you and you agree that you will not disclose these
details to any person not duly authorised by you.
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Our Helpdesk Hours as applicable from time to time may not coincide with the trading hours for the
instruments that we offer to trade. Our Helpdesk Hours are displayed on the Website.

3.

PLACING ORDERS & TRADES

To open or close a trade, you must first have an order (Order) accepted by us. You may submit an
Order online via the trading platform or over the telephone during our Helpdesk Hours.
We are under no obligation to accept an Order from you. However, we shall normally do so if you have
sufficient resources in your account to support the order you wish us to accept at the time it is submitted.
3.1

Some factors that may impact your Orders and Trades

This section cannot and does not attempt to explain all of the information that is relevant to our trading
service. For this information please refer to all of the documents that form our agreement with you.
3.1.1

Order execution is not certain and will depend on liquidity available

Our Back to Back Order submitted to the MTF will mirror the Order that we have accepted from you. We
cannot guarantee that our Back to Back Order will be matched or filled on the MTF. Our ability to open
or close a trade on your account using MTF prices is entirely dependent on our ability to execute our
Back to Back Order on the MTF or obtain a price from a third party source.. It is only when our Back to
Back Order is matched or filled on the MTF or we are able to obtain a reasonable price from a third party
source that a trade will be opened or closed on your account Factors such as the quantity of your Order
and liquidity available in the instrument you wish to trade will impact whether our Back to Back Order can
be executed. It may therefore not be possible to open or close a trade on your account immediately.
If we are unable to execute all or part of our Back to Back Order as there is insufficient liquidity on the
MTF, we will endeavour to execute one or more Back to Back Orders using a third party price source,
and if that is also not possible, the following will apply:

In the case of Limit, Stop Market, Take Profit and Stop Loss Orders we have accepted from you, the
remaining quantity will stay on the order book until (a) the end of the day for Good for the Day
(GFD) Limit Orders and GFD Stop Market Orders or (b) until cancelled for GTC Limit Orders,
GTC Stop Market Orders, Take Profit and Stop Loss Orders. It is important to note that if the MTF
price moves back below your Take Profit level or above your Stop Loss level then the remaining
quantity will not execute until the price moves back to that price.
In the case of Market Orders we have accepted from you, the part of the Order that did not execute
would be cancelled.

3.1.2

All Orders are dealt with on the basis of price and time priority

The MTF will take liquidity from the top of the order book for any Market Orders that you place or that
are placed on your behalf in response to a Stop Loss or Stop Market level being reached in order to
get the best price available for the size of the Order at the time it is placed. This can result in the price
you receive being better or worse than the quoted price on the MTF at the time your Market Order is
placed with us, and so your Market Order can be filled at a price which is better or worse than your Stop
Loss or Stop Market level.
For Limit Orders this means that a Limit Order is placed on the MTF order book by the price specified
with the oldest Orders taking a higher priority at each price. This can result in our Back to Back Order
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not being matched or filled immediately, or at all, even though the instrument may have traded at your
specified price as the older and higher priority Orders were executed first.
The MTF will match or fill our Back to Back Orders on the basis of price and time priority.

3.1.3

One Order can result in a number of trades being executed on your account

An Order placed with us can result in a number of trades being opened or closed on your account to fill
all or part of your Order. Each trade can be filled at different prices.
Where your opening Order is matched or filled by multiple trades you will be able to view the volume
weighted average price for your position and individual Opening Prices from your online account. An
example of an Order filled with multiple trades is given in Section 3.2.1. Any Take Profit or Stop Loss
Orders will be set on each trade at the specified level away (e.g. 50 points away) from the worst Opening
Price received.
On closing your trade, we will close out your trades on a First In First Out (FIFO) basis. Two or more of
your opening trades may be closed with a single Order. If this happens an opposing trade will show on
your account for each of your opening trades that is being fully or partially closed, each with the same
price. It may also be the case that your closing Orders could result in multiple trades at different prices
as with opening Orders.
3.1.4

Times that Orders can be set on your account are restricted

Orders can only be placed during the trading hours of an instrument. To find out the trading hours of an
instrument, please view the Instrument Information on the trading platform. Stop Loss Orders and Take
Profit Orders can be cancelled or amended outside of trading hours but cannot be moved past an
average closing price calculated in the period before the respective market closes. Orders other than
Stop Loss Orders and Take Profit Orders cannot be amended or cancelled outside of trading hours.
3.1.5

Untrusted and suspended markets

A market becomes untrusted in the event that the bid and ask prices of an instrument quoted on the
MTF widen beyond a trusted range. Where this is the case, we will disable trading. The MTF may also
from time to time suspend trading of an instrument. These measures are in place with the aim of
maintaining an orderly trading market. So, in circumstances where the market is untrusted or
suspended:

we will not normally accept any new Orders (and reserve the right not to do so)
Limit Orders and Take Profit Orders already on the order book will remain on the order book and
cannot be cancelled or amended
Stop Loss Orders and Stop Market Orders will not trigger and cannot be cancelled or amended
unless we are able to obtain a reasonable price from a third party source at which to open or close
your trade.

A Market Order placed before the price widens beyond a trusted range could be partially filled with the
remaining quantity being cancelled if the price widens whilst the MTF attempts to execute the full
quantity of the Order. A Stop Market Order placed before the price widens beyond a trusted range
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could be partially filled with the remaining quantity remaining on your account until the price level is
reached again or it is cancelled at the end of the trading day, whichever comes first.
3.1.6

Inverted Markets

Where the MTF ask price is lower than the MTF bid price (an Inverted Market), the price at the mid
point between the MTF ask price and MTF bid price will be shown to you on both sides of the order
book. However, you will still trade at the actual MTF bid or ask price, which will be no less advantageous
than the price shown.

Example of an Order in an Inverted Market

You wish to buy 10 contracts in GBP/USD. The contract size for GBP/USD is 10,000 which means the
notional value of your Order is 100,000. You place a Market Order to get the best price in the market
for your quantity.
On the MTF, there is an Inverted Market, with the best bid price being 1.46281 and the best ask price
1.46279.
However, the prices at the top of the order book for GBP/USD are shown to you as follows:

Since you are trading on the MTF prices, your Order is executed in full with 2 trades showing on your
account:
Trade of 7 contracts with an Opening Price of 1.46279
Trade of 3 contracts with an Opening Price of 1.46284
Your account will show a position of 10 contracts in GBP/USD bought at an average Opening Price of
1.46281 in the Positions tab on the Trading Platform.

3.1.7

Sufficient resources to cover the margin required for your Order

You must normally have sufficient resources in your account to cover the Margin Required to support an
Order you wish to place. To find out how we calculate your available resources see Section 4 and to
understand how margin is calculated please refer to Section 5 of this Manual.
3.1.8

Cancellation and Amendment

Subject to Terms 3.1.4 and 3.1.6, you may cancel or amend any part of your Order so long as the
corresponding part of our Back to Back Order that relates to the part of the Order you wish to cancel or
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amend has not been matched or filled on the MTF or using a third party price source. You may not
cancel or amend your Order after that time.
You will be bound by any trade that is opened or closed on your Account following our Back to Back
Order being matched or filled, save for in the case of a Manifest Error.

3.2
Types of Order
3.2.1 Market Orders
A market order executes all or part of your Order at the best price available on the MTF order book at the
time which our Back to Back Order is placed for the quantity you wish to buy or sell (Market Order).
Your execution price may be better or worse than the price quoted on the MTF at the time the Market
Order was placed depending on the liquidity available on the MTF and the size of your Order.
Market Orders are Immediate or Cancel (IOC). IOC means that if there is insufficient size on the order
book to transact your Order in full, the remaining balance will be cancelled once all available liquidity has
been taken.
This Order type can be used to open or close a trade. To place a Market Order to wholly close an open
trade, place an opposing Order for an equal size. It may be the case that there is insufficient liquidity to
close your open trade in full at the time your Order is placed, in which case the remaining unfilled part of
your Order will be cancelled. In this instance you will need to place another Order to close the remaining
part of your trade when more liquidity becomes available.
Take Profit and Stop Loss Orders attached to Market Orders will be set at a level away from the worst
execution price received (e.g. 50 points away from the highest Offer price for a Long Market Order). Your
Take Profit and Stop Loss Orders will not be set at a level relative to the volume weighted average
Opening Price of your Order.
Market Orders are typically used when certainty of execution is a priority over price, although their
success is dependent on available liquidity.
Example of a Market Order
You wish to buy 10 contracts in GBP/USD. The contract size for GBP/USD is 10,000
which means the notional value of your Order is 100,000. You place a Market Order to
get the best price in the market for your quantity. The order book for the GBP/USD
contains the following Orders when you place your Market Order:

Your Order is executed in full with 2 trades showing on your account.

Trade of 7 contracts with an Opening Price of 1.46280
Trade of 3 contracts with an Opening Price of 1.46284
Your account will show a position of 10 contracts in GBP/USD bought at an average
Opening Price of 1.46281 in the Positions tab on the Trading Platform.

3.2.2

Limit Orders

This is an Order to execute a trade at a specific price that is equal to or better than the current quote on
the MTF (a Limit Order).
Limit Orders show on the MTF order book. They appear on the order book for the price you specified
and will be matched or filled when your price is reached and sufficient liquidity available.
Limit Orders can only be placed, amended or cancelled during the trading hours of an instrument. To
find out the trading hours of an instrument, please view the Instrument Information on the trading
platform. In addition, where a market is untrusted or suspended, we will not accept any new Limit
Orders and any Limit Orders already on the order book will remain on the order book and cannot be
cancelled or amended.
Limit Orders can be used to open or close a trade and are Good For the Day (GFD) or Good Til
Cancelled (GTC). This means that any portion of the Limit Order which has not been executed during
the trading day in which the Limit Order was placed is automatically cancelled at the end of that trading
day. It may be the case that your Limit Order could be partially executed if there is insufficient liquidity to
cover all of your Order.
Take Profit and Stop Loss Orders attached to Limit Orders will be set at the specified points away from
your Limit Order price. Your Take Profit and Stop Loss Orders will not be set at a level relative to the
volume weighted average opening price of your Order.
Limit Orders are typically used when the price received is a priority over the certainty of execution.

Example of a Limit Order

You wish to buy 10 contracts in GBP/USD at 1.46280. You place a Limit Order to ensure
that you get this price or better for your Order. The order book for the GBP/USD
contains the following
Orders when you place your Limit Order:

Your Order is partially executed with 1 trade showing on your account.

Trade of 7 contracts with an Opening Price of 1.46280
An open trade of 7 contracts of GBP/USD at 1.46280 will show on your Positions tab.
The remaining amount of 3 contracts will be shown in your Positions Tab as a Working
Limit Order. The Order will remain there until the specified price level is reached and the
remaining quantity of your Order can be executed or until the end of the day when it will
be cancelled.

The price at which Limit Orders can be placed is restricted. This is to prevent, amongst other things,
erroneous trades from being placed on the MTF. The MTF will reject any orders that lie outside of a
defined range. The range will consist of an upper and lower price limits and are through necessity
constantly changing due to the volatile nature of financial markets. Details of the restrictions that the
MTF imposes on Limit Orders are set out in the Instrument Information on the trading platform.
3.2.3

Stop Market Orders

This is an Order to execute a trade when a price level (the Stop Market Level) is reached that is equal
to or worse than the current quote on the MTF (a Stop Market Order).
Stop Market Orders will not show on the MTF order book. When your Stop Market Level is reached your
Stop Market Order will trigger and a Market Order will be sent to execute your Trade at the best price
available on the MTF order book at the time which our Back to Back Order is placed for the quantity you
wish to buy or sell. Your execution price may be better or worse than the Stop Market Level you set
depending on the liquidity available on the MTF and the size of your Order.
Stop Market Orders can only be placed, amended or cancelled during the trading hours of an instrument.
To find out the trading hours of an instrument, please view the Instrument Information on the trading
platform. In addition, where a market is untrusted or suspended, we will not accept any new Stop
Market Orders and any Stop Market Orders already on the order book will remain on the order book and
cannot be cancelled or amended.
Stop Market Orders can be used to open or close a trade and are Good For the Day (GFD) or Good Til
Cancelled (GTC). This means that for GFD Stop Market Orders, any portion of the Stop Market
Order which has not been executed during the trading day in which the Order was placed is
automatically cancelled at the end of that trading day. It may be the case that your Stop Market Order
could be partially executed if there is insufficient liquidity to cover all of your Order at the time your Stop
Market Order is triggered. A GTC Stop Market Order would remain a working order until you choose to
cancel it, if it is cancelled because you are on a margin call, or your order is filled and becomes a
position.
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Take Profit and Stop Loss Orders attached to Stop Market Orders will be set at a specified level away
from the worst execution price received (e.g. 50 points away from the highest Offer price for a Long
Market Order). Your Take Profit and Stop Loss Orders will not be set at a level relative to the volume
weighted average opening price of your Order.

Example of a Stop Market Order

You wish to sell 15 contracts in GBP/USD at 1.46265 as you believe that a drop to this
price will signal the beginning of a ongoing downward trend. You place a Stop Market
Order so that a Market Order will be created once that price is reached. The order book for
the GBP/USD contains the following:

The bid price then to drops to 1.46265 and your Stop Market Order is triggered causing a
Market Order to be sent to the order book for 15 contracts. The Order is fully executed with
2 trades showing on your account.
Trade of 10 contracts with an Opening Price of 1.46265
Trade of 5 contracts with an Opening Price of 1.46262
An open trade of 15 contracts of GBP/USD with an average opening price of 1.46264 will
show on your Positions tab.

3.2.4

Take Profit Orders

A Take Profit Order is an Order to close a trade at a price that is better than the current quote on the
MTF. This Order type is primarily used to lock in profits from a trade, though it can be used to limit your
losses if the price moves against you.
Take Profit Orders show on the MTF order book. They appear on the order book for the price you
specified and will be matched or filled at that price. If a Take Profit Order is partially executed because
there is insufficient liquidity at the price you specify, the remaining part of your Order will be active until
your price level is reached again and more liquidity is available.
Outside of trading hours, Take Profit Orders can be cancelled or amended but cannot be moved past an
average closing price calculated in the period before the respective market closes. During trading hours,
where a market is untrusted or suspended, we will not accept any new Take Profit Orders and any
Take Profit Orders already on the order book will remain on the order book and cannot be cancelled or
9

amended. To find out the trading hours of an instrument, please view the Instrument Information on the
trading platform
Take Profit Orders can be set on working Orders and on open trades. Where a Take Profit Order is set
on a working Order it will be a contingent Order that would become active once all or part of your
opening Order has been executed giving rise to a trade being opened on your account. If your Order is
partially filled, the Take Profit Order would be active for the portion of the trade that has been opened. In
this instance, as more of your Order execute your active Take Profit Order will be cancelled on the order
book and replaced with another Take Profit Order with an increased quantity that matches the amount of
your open trade.
Take Profit Orders are Good Til Cancelled (GTC). This means your Take Profit Order will continue to be
active until such time as you remove the attached Order or close the open trade. If you close your trade
at anytime using the Close option provided or by placing an equal and opposite Order that executes
your open trade, your Take Profit Order would be cancelled. If you partially close your open trade, your
Take Profit Order will be cancelled on the MTF order book and replaced with another Take Profit Order
with a smaller quantity that matches the remaining amount of your open trade.
A Take Profit Order will not impact the margin required for your open trade.
Example of a Take Profit Order
You bought 5 contracts of Wall Street at 10,086. Later on in the day the instrument trades
at 10,091 - 10,093. You want to trade out at a profit of $500 (excluding any commissions or
financing adjustments) meaning that you wish to sell at 10,186.
You set a Take Profit Order at 10,186 in the trading hours of the instrument so that if the bid
price rises to that level your open trade will be closed and a profit of $500 would be
realised.
The next trading day the instrument trades through your level and a Limit Order is executed
in full at 10,186.

3.2.5

Stop Loss Order

A Stop Loss Order is an Order to close a trade at a price that is worse than the current quote on the
MTF. This Order type is primarily used to try and limit the potential losses you can incur from an open
trade, though it can be used to lock in profits if an open trade has moved in your favour.
Stop Loss Orders do not show on the MTF order book. They sit outside of it until the price level is
reached, at which point the Stop Loss Order is sent to the order book to execute at the best price
available for the quantity you wish to buy or sell. If a Stop Loss Order is partially executed because
there is insufficient liquidity, the remaining part of your Order will be active until your price level is
reached again and more liquidity is available.
Outside of trading hours, Stop Loss Orders can be cancelled or amended but cannot be moved past an
average closing price calculated in the period before the respective market closes. During trading hours,
where a market is untrusted or suspended, we will not accept any new Stop Loss Orders and any Stop
Loss Orders already on the order book will remain on the order book and cannot be cancelled or
10

amended. To find out the trading hours of an instrument, please view the Instrument Information on the
trading platform
Stop Loss Orders are Good Til Cancelled (GTC). This means that your Stop Loss Order will continue to
be active until such time as the Order is executed, the attached Order is cancelled or you close the open
trade. If you close your trade at anytime using the Close option provided or by placing an equal and
opposite Order, your Stop Loss Order would be cancelled. If you partially close your open trade, your
Stop Loss Order will be adjusted with a smaller quantity that matches the remaining amount of your open
trade.
Stop Loss Orders can be set on working Orders and on open trades. Where a Stop Loss Order is set on
a working Order it will be a contingent Order until all or part of your opening Order has been executed
when it will become active. If your Order is partially filled, the Stop Loss Order would be active for the
portion of your trade that has been opened.
If you attempt to set a Stop Loss Order on an open trade at the current quoted price on the MTF your
order will be rejected.
An active Stop Loss Order will not reduce the margin required for your open trade regardless of where
the Stop Loss price level is set.
Example of a Stop Loss Order
You bought 5 contracts of Wall Street at 10,086. Later on in the day the instrument trades
at 10,091 - 10,093. You would like to place a stop loss at 10,036 which, if achieved, would
limit your losses on the trade to $250 excluding any commissions or financing adjustments.
You set your Stop Loss and the next trading day the instrument trades through your level
and your Stop Loss executes in full at 10,035.
The price received at execution of your Order is 1 point lower than your specified price.
Your loss on the trade is $255 excluding any commissions or financing adjustments. This
is because at the point at which the Order was sent to the MTF and executed 10,035 was
the best price available for your quantity.
We do not guarantee that a Stop Loss Order you place with us will be filled at the price that you specify.
All our Stop Loss Orders are non-guaranteed. In a fast moving market, your Order may gap through,
with the result that your trade is closed at an increased loss as compared with the level of the Order that
you placed. This occurs because there is a gap between one price and the next without any Orders at
the prices in-between. In very fast moving markets, the execution price may be at a substantially worse
price than your Order price. Therefore, an order you place to limit the loss on a trade should not be
treated as a guarantee to limit your loss on that trade to a specific amount.
Example of a Stop Loss Order with gapping
Using the example, you place a Stop Loss Order of 10,036 on your open buy trade of 5
Wall Street contracts which were opened at 10,086. You decide to leave the trade open
overnight and at the close the instrument was 10,094 - 10,097.
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Whilst the market is closed some unexpected news impacts the world markets causing
extreme volatility. Due to the news event Wall Street reopens the next day significantly
lower level and your trade closes at 10,008 which was the best available price at the time
our Back to Back Order was sent to the MTF.
The price received at execution is 28 points lower than your specified price. Your loss on
the trade is $390 excluding any commissions or financing adjustments.

3.3

Contract Note

We shall send a contract note to you confirming the details of the trades open and closed on your
account. You will receive one contract note containing all of your trades executed on a Business Day
and it will usually be sent to you by email on the following Business Day. If you believe that any of the
details of your contract note are inaccurate you should contact us immediately.
Other than on your specific request, contract notes will be sent to the email address we hold for you,
which will be the email address specified in your application form, unless you have notified us of an
alternative email address, in which case it is that email address we shall use. We reserve the right to
make a reasonable charge for contract notes requested to be sent to you in paper form.
We strongly recommended that you print your contract notes and retain them as part of your records.
Please note that the absence of a contract note does not affect the validity of any trade.
3.4

Corporate Actions on your open trades

One or more of your trades may be affected by a corporate action type event (Corporate Action) the
occurrence of which may have a dramatic effect on your trade(s) and/or on your account generally. A
Corporate Action can include but is not limited to:

any rights, scrip, bonus, capitalisation or other issue or offer of shares, warrants or options
any acquisition or cancellation of own shares by the issuer
any reduction, subdivision, consolidation or reclassification of share capital
any distribution of cash or shares, including any payment of dividend
a take-over or merger offer
any amalgamation or reconstruction affecting the shares concerned

We will undertake any actions that we consider reasonable and necessary to give effect to the Corporate
Action as it relates to your CFD trade(s) with us. The actions we may take upon the occurrence of a
Corporate Action are as follows:

your account may be credited or debited with an amount due

your open trades and/or working Orders including any Take Profit or Stop Loss Orders may be
adjusted, closed or cancelled to reflect the terms of the Corporate Action
one or more new trades may be opened on your account
we may increase our margin factor in relation to your affected trade(s)
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restrict your account so that you are not able to close one or more of your affected trades until after
Corporate Action has passed

We recommend that before you open a trade with us you carry out your own research into whether the
trade that you intend to open is liable to be the subject of a corporate action type event and if so the
likely effect of that action on the trade that you wish to open.
Below is an example that shows what would happen if a dividend was applied to an Index Instrument.
For a dividend adjustment to be applied to your account you must hold an open trade at the close of the
trading session on the Business Day before the ex-dividend date.

Dividend example for US SPX500

Your account is Long 10 Contracts in the US SPX500 CFD on Tuesday.
US SPX500 CFD dividend adjustments can be on any day before market open. The
dividend adjustment for underlying on Tuesday is 0.75 dividend points. The contract
size for our US SPX500 contract is $25 per whole point.
As you hold a long position in the CFD, you will receive an amount equal to the cash
dividend on that instrument. Your account will therefore be credited on $187.50 before
market opening, which is calculated as:
Dividend adjustment for your open trade = (Dividend adjustment x Contract size) x
Quantity = 0.75 x 25 x 10 = $187.50
This is then converted back to the base currency of the account to calculate your
Available to Trade Balance in accordance with section 5.1.
If you held a short open trade, your account would be debited an amount equal to the
cash dividend in the instrument. This would mean that $187.50 would have been
debited from your account in the above example.
Please note that where a dividend applies to a CFD, the price of that instrument can fall
by the amount of the dividend with the net effect on your open trade being equal once
the dividend adjustment has been made.

4.

AVAILABLE TO TRADE BALANCE

Your Available to Trade Balance is the sum of:

your cash balance;

plus profits on your open trades;
minus losses on your open trades; and
minus the aggregate of margin required for your working Orders and open trades (Total Margin
Required).
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The value of your Available to Trade Balance will be calculated approximately every 5 seconds and is
calculated in the Base Currency of your Account. Unless otherwise agreed with you, the Base Currency
of your account will be pounds sterling ().
Example of how your Available to Trade Balance is calculated
You deposit 3000 into your Account and you place two Orders.
You place a sell Market Order for 5 contracts in UK 100 which executes at 5253.5 with
the current closing price showing as 5263.5. You also place a buy Limit Order in
GBP/USD for 5 contracts at 1.4653 which is waiting on the order book for execution.
To calculate your Available to Trade Balance, our systems will consider your Cash
balance, open P&L in your UK 100 trade and the margin required for UK 100 trade and
GBP/USD working Order. Please note that the Margin Required for the GBP/USD
working Order will be calculated and displayed in the base currency of your Account at
the prevailing exchange rate.
Your Available to Trade Balance is calculated as:
Available to Trade Balance = Cash Balance + Estimated open profits Estimated open
losses Total Margin Required
Cash Balance = 3,000
Open Profit = 0
Open Losses = 50
Total Margin Required* = 1026.68
Available to Trade Balance = 3,000 + 0 - 50 - 1026.68 = 1923.32
* Where Total Margin Required is the sum of:
Margin for UK 100 open trade = (5 * 1 * 5263.5) * 0.02 and
Margin for GBP/USD working Order converted to base currency at the prevailing
exchange rate of 0.6829 = ( ( 5 * 10,000 * 1.4653) * 0.01) * 0.6829
For more information on how Margin Required is calculated see Section 5.

4.1

Trading in Instruments that are not in your Base Currency

Where you open a trade in an Instrument that is not in your Base Currency, for example where your
base currency is GBP () but you open a trade in Wall Street 30 which is in USD ($), we shall display the
following in your Base Currency using our prevailing exchange rate:

the Margin Required for your open trades and any working orders
open profit and losses
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any realised profit and loss in currencies other than your base currency
any charges including but not limited to commission and financing adjustments

Please note that any realised profits or losses resulting from non-base currency Instruments will remain
in that currency until they are converted back into your base currency the next Business Day. This
means that you will be at risk of currency movements for that period. For the purposes of calculating
your Available to Trade Balance 98% of profits and 102% of losses in non-base currency Instruments will
be available to mitigate the currency risk from exchange rate movements.
We will also convert back to your Base Currency any charges in respect of that trade on the next
Business Day after such charges are incurred using our prevailing exchange rate for that purpose.
4.2

Negative Available to Trade Balance

You must not allow your Available to Trade Balance to move into deficit as this means that you do not
have sufficient resources on your account to support your working Orders and open trades. It will
become negative if the sum of your cash balance plus profits on your open trades falls below the sum of
the losses on your open trades plus the total margin required for your open trades and on any working
orders.
It is your responsibility to monitor your Available to Trade Balance at all times in order to prevent it from
becoming negative. If this happens you will need to add further funds to the account or alternatively
reduce your working Orders or open trades. Whilst your Available to Trade Balance is negative, you will
be unable to add further Limit or Market orders that increase the Total Margin Required on your account.
You will still be able to set Take Profit Orders and Stop Loss Orders in this situation. Any Limit orders
already working on your account will have margin held against them already and could be filled.

5.

MARGIN REQUIRED

5.1

Margin Required & Margin Factors

In order for us to accept an opening Order from you, your Available to Trade Balance will normally be
required to contain sufficient resources to cover the margin required for the Orders that you wish to place
(Margin Required). Total margin required is the aggregate of margin required for your working Orders
and open trades (Total Margin Required).
The Margin Required to place an Order to open a trade is calculated by multiplying the number of
contracts requested by the contract size by the opening price shown (for a Market Order) or the specified
price (for a Limit Order) by the Margin Factor for the relevant Instrument. The Margin Factor is
expressed as a percentage.
Example of how Margin Required is calculated when an Order is placed
You have a cash balance of 1,500 in your account and you want to place a Market
Order to sell 10 contracts in UK 100 as you expect the instrument to fall. The Margin
Factor for UK 100 is 2% of the notional closing value. The Contract Size is 1. At the
time of placing your Order you have no other Orders working on the account or open
trades.
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At the point the Order is placed the quoted price is 5253.5 5255.5. Initial checks
confirm that there are sufficient funds in the account. Your Order is placed and filled at
5253.5.
At the point the trade is opened, the Margin Required is calculated as:
Margin Required = (Quantity x Contract size x Opening price) x Margin factor = (10 x 1 x
5253.5) x 0.02 = 1,050.70
Whilst a trade is open, the Margin Required will be calculated by multiplying the number of contracts
requested by the contract size by the prevailing bid price shown (Long trades) or offer price shown
(Short trades) to close that trade by the Margin Factor for the Instrument. The Margin Required is
therefore not a fixed figure and will move in step with the prevailing bid and offer prices to close the
trade.
Example of how Margin Required is calculated on open trades
You have a sell Market Order for 10 contracts in UK 100 with a Opening Price of
5253.5. The current closing price is showing as 5263.5.
Margin Required = (Quantity x Contract size x Closing price) x Margin factor = (10 * 1 *
5263.5) * 0.02 = 1052.70
If you hold a working Order or open trade in an Instrument that is priced in a currency other than your
Base Currency, we will estimate the value of the Margin Required for that Instrument in your Base
Currency using the prevailing exchange rate.

Example of how Margin Required is calculated on open trades in non-base

currency Instruments
A buy Limit Order in GBP/USD for 5 contracts at 1.4653 is executed on your Account.
The current closing price is showing as 1.4658. The prevailing exchange rate at the time
is 0.6829.
Margin Required in Currency of the Instrument = (Quantity x Contract size x Closing
price) x Margin factor = ( 5 * 10,000 * 1.4658) * 0.01 = $732.90
Margin Required in Base Currency = Margin Required in Currency of the Instrument x
Prevailing exchange rate = $732.90 x 0.6829 = 500.50
Where you have multiple Orders and/or open trades in the same instrument, your Margin Required will
be the greater of (a) the aggregate Margin Required on any Long working Orders and open trades and
(b) the aggregate Margin Required on any Short working Orders and open trades.

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Example of how margin required is calculated on multiple Long and Short Orders
in the same Instrument
You have a Buy limit order for 10 contracts in UK 100 at a price of 5250. The contract
size for UK 100 is 1 and the Margin Factor is 2%. Therefore, the margin required is
calculated as:
(Quantity x Contract size x opening price) x Margin Factor = (10 * 1 * 5250) * 0.02
= 1050.00
You then place a Sell limit order for 10 contracts in UK 100 at a price of 5500. Therefore,
the Margin Required is calculated as:
(Quantity x Contract size x opening price) x Margin Rate = (10 * 1 * 5500) * 0.02
= 1100.00
In the above example the Total Margin Required for both Orders would be 1100.00, as
this is the greater of the two margins.
The Margin Factor and Contract Size are set out in the Instrument Information on the Trading Platform.

5.2

Margin Covered Percentage

The percentage of Total Margin Required to support your open trades and any working Orders that is
being covered by the cash and open trades in your account is referred to as the Margin Covered
Percentage.
Your Margin Covered Percentage is calculated as the aggregate of your cash balance plus profits on
your open trades, less the aggregate of the losses on your open trades expressed as a percentage of
the Total Margin Required on your open trades and any working Orders.
Example of Margin Covered Percentage
Expanding on the example covered in Section 5.1:
At the point where your UK 100 trade is opened at a quote of 5253.5 5255.5 your
Margin Covered Percentage would be:
Margin Covered Percentage = (Cash balance + Profit or Loss in Base Currency) / Margin
Required in Base Currency = (1500 - 10) / 1,050.70 = 141.81%
At this point you have an Available to Trade Balance of 439.30
You should maintain a Margin Covered Percentage of at least 100% at all times. In the event that you
are not covering 100% of Margin Required you will need to fund your account or reduce your working
Orders or Open trades.
We may but are under no obligation to notify you if your Account is approaching or has reached the
Margin Close Out Level. You will not be able to unsubscribe to these communications if they are sent to
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you. The fact that we may have notified you previously is not an indication that we will do so in the future.
You should not rely on notifications from us to monitor your Account. This is your sole responsibility.
5.3

Margin Close Out Level

If your Margin Covered Percentage is at or below the Margin Close Out Level, this is an Event of Default
under our Customer Agreement and we will be entitled to cancel any of your working Orders and/or
close all or any of your open trades without notice to you. The process that we normally put into effect
upon your Margin Close Out Level being triggered is set out below. However, we are not obliged to
follow that procedure and may if we so choose take whatever steps are reserved to us under the
Customer Agreement.
If your Margin Close Out Level is triggered, we shall in the first instance cancel all of your working Orders
in an attempt to reduce your Total Margin Required on your account. Where this action does not result in
Margin Covered Percentage moving above the Margin Close Out Level, we shall then start the process
of closing all your open trades in instruments that are available for trading at that time. If the closure of
those positions does not remove the deficit on your Available to Trade Balance in full, we shall then
proceed to start the process of closing any remaining open trades on your Account when trading
resumes in those instruments. We may undertake these actions without notice to you.
Unless we advise you in writing differently, the Margin Close Out Level for your account is 70%.
You will be charged commission on any trades that are closed on your account as a result of your
Margin Close Out Level being triggered.
Example to illustrate Margin Close Out Level breach
You have a balance on the account of 1500 and an open short trade of 10 contracts in
UK 100 at an opening price of 5253.5 (at a margin requirement of 2%). You sold the
instrument anticipating that the market would fall. You have no other open trades or
working Orders.
The UK 100 instrument see significant gains on the back of unexpected positive
economic figures during the trading session. The price of the instrument rises to 5329.0
5330.0. When the Buy price shown reaches 5330.0 your Margin Covered Percentage
has reached and fallen below 70%.
A Market Order to close your trade at the best price available for your quantity is created
on the MTF. Your open trade in UK 100 is closed at an average closing price of 5330.0.
A loss of 765.00 is realised on your account. Your Available to Trade Balance shows as
730.00 which includes the loss realised on the UK 100 trade and the commission
charged for the opening and closing trades.

6.

COMMISSIONS & CHARGES

This section outlines the commissions and other charges that may apply to our service.

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6.1

Commission

We will charge a commission for each opening and closing trade on your account. Our commission is a
flat fee per contract executed. The basis of our commission calculations are set out below.
We may from time to time share a proportion of the commission we charge you with third parties,
including, without limitation, persons or firms we appoint to effect introductions of potential clients to us.
Our commission charges are subject to change and we shall notify you of any such changes by making
changes to the Instrument Information that is posted on the trading platform.

Instruments

Commissions

Standard

$ AUD fixed per contract

fixed per contract
fixed per contract
$ fixed per contract
JPY fixed per contract

$0.20 AUD fixed per contract

0.25 fixed per contract
0.30 fixed per contract
$0.40 fixed per contract
40 JPY fixed per contract

% of the notional traded in

the second-named currency

0.0025% of the notional

traded in the second-named
currency

Indices
AUD contracts
contracts
contracts
$ contracts
JPY contracts

Rolling Spot FX & Spot

Commodities
All crosses

6.2

Financing charge

6.2.1

Financing charge on non-expiry CFDs in Indices

If you have a trade open overnight in a non-expiry CFD (i.e. a CFD that does not have a fixed future
expiry date) we shall charge you a financing charge on a long position and we shall normally pay you a
financing charge on a short position. The financing charge will be applied to your account each and
every day that you have an open trade (including on weekends and on public holidays in England).
The financing charge is calculated as follows:
F = V I / b where:
F = Financing charge
V = notional value of your trade (quantity x contract size x end of day closing mid price)
I = applicable Financing Rate
b = day basis for currency (quoted as the first currency in the pair -365 for GBP, HKD, AUD and NZD,
360 for all other currencies)
The Financing Rates that are applied are outlined in the table below. The Financing Rates are, however,
subject to change and changes in the Financing Rates will be notified to you.
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Instrument

Reference rate

Long Financing

Short Financing

UK instruments
Euro instrument
US instruments

1 month Libor
1 month EUR Libor
1 month US Libor

+ 1.5%
+ 1.5%
+ 1.5%

- 1.5%
- 1.5%
- 1.5%

There may be instances when a financing charge is charged on short positions, rather than paid to you.
This may occur if a reference rate used to calculate the financing charge is at an exceptionally low rate.
As explained above, the notional value of your trade for the purposes of calculating the financing charge
is calculated using the end of day closing mid price. The closing mid price will be calculated at the end
of the day from the average trusted bid and ask prices on the MTF in the last few minutes of the trading
session.
Example of Financing on a CFD
You are long 10 contracts in UK 100 CFD overnight where the closing price of the
instrument is 5265.0 - 5267.0. The closing mid price is 5266.0. The LIBOR rate that day
is 0.725%. Your financing charge would be:
Financing = Notional value of your trade x financing rate / day basis for currency =
52660 x (0.725% + 1.5%) / 365 = 3.21
That means that you would be charged 3.21 for holding 10 long contracts overnight. If
you were to hold a short position in the same instrument overnight your financing would
be calculated as:
Financing = Notional value x financing rate / day basis for currency = 52660 x (0.725% 1.5%) / 365 = 1.12
Even though you are holding a short position you will be charged 1.12 overnight as
LIBOR is at a very low rate.

6.2.2 Financing charge on Rolling Spot FX

The financing charge for a Rolling Spot FX reflects the relative interest rates of the two currencies
comprising your open trade plus a premium dependent on market conditions and including a LMAX
charge. When a position is held overnight night, LMAX Exchange will apply a financing entry to your
account. This may be a debit or credit entry depending on the contributing factors outlined above,
namely relative interest rates and LMAX premium.
Spot FX trades settle on a T+2 basis, with the exception of USD/CAD, USD/TRY, EUR/RUB and
USD/RUB which settle on a T+1 basis. If a Rolling Spot FX position is held through the market roll over
(17:00 NY for all FX pairs except NZD pairs which roll at 07:00 Auckland), your account will be credited
or debited with a financing charge. You will be credited or debited your 3-day (weekend) roll based on
your open positions at the market close on Wednesday for all T+2 pairs and based on your open
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positions at the market close on Thursday for all T+1 pairs. In the event of a Bank Holiday in one of the
currencies, your position will be rolled an additional day to reflect the bank holiday(s). The financing debit
or credit on your account will always be in the second named currency.
Swap charges are quoted in swap points. A negative swap point if you are net long the FX pair will result
in your account being credited, and you will receive funding. A positive swap point charge when long will
result in your account being debited and you will pay funding.
If your position is net short, then a negative swap point charge will result in your account being debited
and you will pay funding and a positive swap point will result in your account being credited, and you will
receive funding.
How to calculate financing charge
To calculate the overnight financing event, the following equation can be used:
F = V x R x D where:
F = Financing Credit/Debit.
V = Notional value of your open position in the front currency (quantity x contract size).
R = Swap Point.
D = Number of days the position is rolled.
Example of financing on an FX contract
You are short 10 contracts of EUR/USD overnight. The position is rolled for 1 day.
The cost of holding the position overnight is:
V = 10 x 10,000 = 100,000
R = 0.000003
D = 1 day
Financing event: Credit = 100,000 * 0.000003 * 1 = $0.30
This means that a credit of $0.30 will be applied to your account at market close.

6.2.2

Expiry CFDs in Commodities

No separate financing charge is applied on CFDs based off futures prices which have a fixed expiry
date.

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6.3

Fee and Commission Sharing Arrangements

We may pay to third parties (for example Introducers, Appointed Representatives (as defined by FCA
Rules), etc.) a portion of any dealing commission, spread, financing charge, and/or any other charge you
may pay. Typically this will be a percentage of the amount we receive from you. Further details of fee
and commission sharing arrangements will be provided on request.

7.

FUND TRANSFERS

7.1

Depositing funds to your account

You will be able to deposit funds using your debit card, credit card or bank account that is held in your
sole name. You will also be able to deposit funds from a bank account that you hold jointly with a third
party on provision of documentation that shows the source of the funds.
We may ask for documentation to verify the source of where funds are being transferred to and from.
Where we do this, we will hold fund transfer requests until appropriate documentation has been provided
and deemed acceptable.
7.2

Withdrawing funds from your account

You will only be able to withdraw any unencumbered funds from your account. The amount that will be
available to withdraw is the lower of your Available to Trade Balance, your Account balance in your Base
Currency or your Currency Breakdown (which is your Account balance including any realised profits or
losses that have not been converted to your Base Currency).
Funds can only be sent back to the account that the funds originated from using the same method of
transfer.

8.

TRADING CONDUCT AND MARKET ABUSE

Since you will be effectively participating directly in the market by trading with us, you agree that you will
not:

submit and have not submitted an Order to open or close a trade that contravenes any primary or
secondary legislation or other law against insider dealing, market manipulation or market conduct.
For the purposes of this provision, you agree that we may proceed on the basis that when you
submit an Order or when you open or close a trade with us on a share price, you may be treated as
dealing in securities within the meaning of Part V of the Criminal Justice Act 1993;
submit an Order to us relating to a particular share price if to open the requested trade would result
in you, or others with whom you are acting in concert together, having an exposure to that share
price that is equal to or exceeds the amount of a declarable interest in the relevant company. For
this purpose the level of a declarable interest will be the prevailing level at the material time, set by
law or by the stock exchange(s) on which the underlying share is listed;
submit an Order to open and that you have not opened a trade with us:
> in connection with a placing, issue, distribution or other analogous event;
> in connection with an offer, take-over, merger or other analogous event; or
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9.

>

in which you are involved or otherwise interested;

trade with us to deliberately transfer money from one account to another by attempting to match
Orders or trades with another customer through collusion;
submit any Order that is artificial or fictitious or place an Order that is designed to give the market a
false or misleading impression as to the supply or demand, value or price of an Instrument; or
act or engage in any conduct which is likely to damage the fairness, integrity, proper functioning or
orderliness of the MTF.

CONTACT DETAILS

If you have any questions on our service or relating to your account, you can:
Email us at [email protected]
Call us on +44 203 192 2555
Our Client Services team is available for 24-hour support, Sunday 22.00 Friday 22.00.
Please note telephone calls will be recorded and/or monitored.
Write to us at:
LMAX
Yellow Building
1A Nicholas Road
London
W11 4AN

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Website:

www.LMAX.com

Email address:

[email protected]

Telephone:

+44 203 192 2555

LMAX Limited operates a multilateral trading facility. LMAX Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct
Authority (firm registration number 509778) and is a company registered in England and Wales (number 6505809). Our
registered address is Yellow Building, 1A Nicholas Road, London, W11 4AN.

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