Trading Conditions

iFOREX offers highly competitive conditions for leveraged margin trading on various financial instruments, including Currency pair (Forex), Commodity, Index, Share and ETF based CFDs.

Spreads
The Spread is the cost of trading – it is the difference between the Sell (Bid) price and the Buy (Ask) price. For example, if the USD/JPY is trading at a sell price of 101.202 and a buy price of 101.222, the difference between these two prices is called the spread. In this case the spread is 2 pips.

Margin and Leverage
While the "Margin" acts as collateral to cover any losses that you might incur, it also allows you to hold a position much larger than your actual account value, giving you the possibility to generate large profits relative to the amount invested.

Leverage is a double-edged sword and can dramatically amplify your profits, however it can also just as easily amplify your losses. When you use excessive leverage, losing trades can quickly offset many winning trades. Leveraged trading carries a high degree of risk and may not be suitable for all investors.

As an iFOREX account holder, you’re entitled to our Negative Balance Protection program, which means that you can never lose more than you deposited; nonetheless, a small market movement can result in a substantial loss of funds. Our Trading Platform automatically calculates your margin requirements before executing any order, and checks the level of available funds before any request to withdraw funds is made.

The margin requirements are relevant upon increasing Exposure in the account, either by opening/closing deals or by requesting to withdraw funds while having open positions in the account. The margin requirements reflect the potential risk in positions, based on volatility, liquidity and pricing availability, in any given asset. This is why margins increase during and around trading breaks.

• Currencies

  Currency Pair	Market	Spread (pips)1	Spread (Value)	Normal Margin2	Increased Margin3	Min Deal Size4	Max Exposure5

• Commodities

  Commodity	Market	Spread (pips)1	Spread (Value)	Normal Margin2	Increased Margin3	Min Deal Size4	Max Exposure5

• Indices

  Index	Market	Spread (pips)1	Spread (Value)	Normal Margin2	Increased Margin3	Min Deal Size4	Max Exposure5

• Shares

  Share	Market	Spread (pips)1	Spread (Value)	Normal Margin2	Increased Margin3	Min Deal Size4	Max Exposure5

• ETFs

  ETF	Market	Spread (pips)1	Spread (Value)	Normal Margin2	Increased Margin3	Min Deal Size4	Max Exposure5

During the European and North American winter, the weekly activity begins on Sunday at 22:05 GMT continuously until Friday, 21:00 GMT. During the Day Light Saving times in these regions, the weekly market activity begins on Sunday at 21:05 GMT and ends on Friday at 20:00. Market activity hours may vary due to public holidays or due to unusual liquidity conditions which may arise from exceptional global events. Opening or Closing times may also be altered by iFOREX due to liquidity and risk management considerations.

Although most of the instruments are traded on a 24 hour basis without interruption, some instruments, however, have special trading hours as seen in the table below:

Not sure which Market includes the instrument you're looking for? Click here to view the full list of instrument per Market.

To ensure that you are aware of all market hours and holidays please find below a list of events which could change trading hours.
At iFOREX we do our utmost to keep this information up-to-date on a best efforts basis.
Should you wish to receive more information please feel free to contact our dealing desk.

Not sure which Market includes the instrument you're looking for? Click here to view the full list of instrument per Market.

Order Types

Market Orders
Market Orders (trade requests, i.e. Open Deal, Close Deal) are executed at the price that is in effect on the Company’s Trading Platform (client side) at the exact time of execution, provided that such price is within a predetermined tolerance level from the underlying price updated in the Company’s servers and irrespective if the underlying price is above or below the price updated in the Trading Platform (What You See Is What You Get, or WYSIWYG). In the event that the price updated in the trading platform (client side) exceeds the above tolerance level, for example, due to movements in the underlying assets between the time a client placed its order and the time it is received and executed, high markets volatility and communication latency, the Order will be executed at the price updated in the Company’s servers which shall be different from the price updated in the Trading Platform (Market Price), on a symmetrical basis. In the event of a substantial difference between the price updated in the Trading Platform (client side) and the price updated in the Company’s servers, the Order shall be rejected.

Limit Orders
Limit Orders (future orders) are executed at the market price updated at the Company’s servers which may be different than the price indicated in the Order (“Slippage”). Slippage may occur in the event where the price indicated in the order is not available in the servers, for example, due to high volatility and gaps in the market prices. In such event, the order will be executed at the first available price, irrespective of the direction of the slippage, either to the client’s favor or not, in a symmetrical and transparent manner (Symmetrical Slippage).

Instruments (e.g. shares and indices) which are not traded on a 24 hours basis, may experience a market gap on a daily basis and are therefore more susceptible to slippage. It is important to note that Slippage does not affect the Negative Balance Protection and therefore the Client will never lose more than the amount invested (including any profit, if gained), even if a slippage occurs.

Delays in Execution
A delay in execution may occur for various reasons, such as technical issues with the Client’s internet, mobile or other communication connection to the iFOREX servers, which may result in “hanging orders”. A disturbance in the connection path can sometimes interrupt the signal and disable the platform causing delays in transmission of data between the trader’s platform and the iFOREX server. 

Hanging Orders
During periods of heavy trade volume or communication latency, hanging orders may occur, which means that a Limit Order has been placed, but it is simply taking a few moments for it to be confirmed/processed. During periods of heavy trading volumes or communication latency, it is possible that a queue of Limit Orders will form. That increase in incoming orders may sometimes create conditions where there is a delay in confirming/processing certain Limit Orders. In some cases, the position may in fact have been executed and the delay is simply in the client’s side display due to heavy internet traffic.

Keep in mind that it is only necessary to enter any order once. Multiple entries for the same order may slow or lock your computer or inadvertently open unwanted positions.

iFOREX's Negative Balance Protection policy guarantees that the client’s losses are limited to the funds invested in the client’s account. According to this policy, the client shall never have to face a debit balance due to trade losses when trading with iFOREX and client’s potential loss shall be limited to the funds deposited in the Client’s account and to the funds gained by the client, if any.

To implement this policy, iFOREX developed an automated monitoring tool, automatically closing in real-time all positions once a client’s account reaches Margin Level Zero (i.e. "Exposure Coverage" = 0). iFOREX will automatically close all positions at the price then offered by iFOREX. In the event that a client’s balance falls below Margin Level Zero due to the difference between Margin Level Zero and the actual Margin Level below Zero which the system closed all positions at the price then offered by iFOREX, iFOREX shall bear the mentioned difference.

Introduction

These Bonus Terms and Conditions are in regards to the Trading Bonus, Cashback Bonus and Trial Account Bonus offered by the Company (hereinafter called the ‘Bonus’), as detailed below, and is considered to be an integral part of the Company’s Terms and Conditions. All interpretation of terms included herein, are as interpreted in Company’s Terms and Conditions, which are available in Company’s website www.iforex.com.

Conditions of Eligibility

The Bonuses are available to Company’s clients who have satisfied the eligibility criteria of the relevant offer and passed all required registration procedures according to the Company’s requirements as amended from time to time at the sole discretion of the Company (the ‘Eligible Clients‘).

The Company offers any Bonus at its absolute discretion, to any Client and/or country/region as it deems appropriate.

The Company reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to decline registration of any user, including Eligible Clients, in the Bonus and/or revoke the offer of any bonus at its absolute discretion.

Residents form restricted jurisdictions, including residents of the U.S.A, are not eligible for the Trading Bonus.

Trading Bonus

Trading Bonus is granted to Eligible Clients as a percentage of the amount of funds deposited in their trading account, as agreed and determined by the Company at Company’s absolute discretion and on a case to case basis.

The Trading Bonus can only be used as extra Margin for the exposure of open positions and is intended for trading purposes only (e.g. the Client will not be able to withdraw the Bonus granted).

The Trading Bonus it’s granted per each Eligible Client.

Example

Eligible Client agreed with the Company to receive 30% bonus on his deposit of $1,000. Eligible Client will receive extra Margin of $300 (i.e. 30% of his deposit) as Trading Bonus.

This bonus will reflect on client’s account as follows:

Trading bonus will not be available for withdrawal at any time whatsoever. Any profit made by utilizing the Trading Bonus may be withdrawn by the Eligible Client subject to the Company’s withdrawal policy and applicable law. The withdrawable profits made out of the Trading Bonus will be visible under the section "Balance” of the client’s account. 

Trading Bonus which was granted due to a certain deposit shall be cancelled upon the withdrawal of all or some of the deposit which credited the client with the Trading Bonus, or shall be canceled partially if the client requests to withdraw an amount that will lower his Equity on an amount which will be less than twice his Trading Bonus amount.

Example

Eligible Client agreed with the Company to receive 30% bonus on his deposit of $1,000. Eligible Client has the below Equity and Balance in his Account:

Scenario A

Client has requested to withdraw the full amount of his deposit ($1,000). Trading bonus will be entirely removed. 

This will reflect on the client’s account as follows:

Scenario B

Client has requested to withdraw $800, therefore the client’s Equity shall became smaller than twice the Trading Bonus due to the Client’s withdrawal. Therefore the Trading Bonus will be reduced in the amount required for the Equity to be twice the Trading Bonus.

This will reflect on the client’s account as follows:

All Trading Bonuses shall be cancelled if the account has remained inactive for 7 consecutive weeks.

Cash Back

The CashBack program credits Eligible Clients’ account with cash on a weekly basis according and subject to the volume achieved in that week and up to a certain amount as determined in advance by the Company (“Pending Bonus”). 

The Pending Bonus amount may derive from a certain or a number of deposits, as a percentage of the value of the deposit, or determined at the Company’s sole discretion.

Example

An Eligible Client who deposited $1,000 was entitled to receive up to 40% of the value of his deposit as Cash Back for trading a volume of $20,000,000. Such client will receive $400 as Pending Bonus.

This Pending Bonus will reflect on Client’s Account as follows:

Each week, the Realized CashBack which is calculated according to the client’s weekly volume shall be deducted from the Total CashBack amount (Pending Bonus) and credited to the client’s account according to the ratio between the client’s actual weekly volume (in USD) and the required volume, as indicated in the trading platform. It is clarified that the client is only entitled to the Realized CashBack and the Pending Bonus is realized only after client completes the required volume. The CashBack amount (“Realized CashBack”) is limited to the Pending Bonus allocated to the client. 

The volume is calculated on an ‘in and out’ basis, which means that the opening of a $1 million (or at another currency equivalent) position and the closing of the same position, count as $2 million (or at another currency equivalent) totals towards the client’s volume requirement.

Example

Scenario A

The Eligible Client in the previous example, was offered $100 Realized Cash Back for each $5,000,000 traded. After 1 week, he has achieved the $5,000,000 volume. Therefore $100 as Realized CashBack has been moved from Pending Bonus to Equity.

This will reflect on the client’s account as follows:

Scenario B

After 2 weeks from the deposit, the client has achieved $5,000,000 volume traded and made $300 of profits. Therefore another $100 as Realized CashBack has been moved from Pending Bonus to Equity.

This will reflect on the client’s account as follows:

After being credited to the Equity, the Realized CashBack will be available for trading or can be withdrawn by the Client at any time. Any profit made by investing the Realized CashBack amount may as well be withdrawn from the Eligible Client.

The CashBack promotion is time limited, and the Client receives Realized CashBack within the first 3 months from the day he was granted with the Pending Bonus. The client is Eligible for further CashBack, when he makes further deposits.

Example

The Eligible Client in the previous examples, decided to withdraw his $300 profits and the $200 Realized Cash Back amount received. Therefore he requested a withdrawal of $500 in total. The remaining $200 of Cash Back Bonus will remain as Pending Bonus in his account, therefore the client will still be able to keep on trading with $1,000 and has two and a half months left to convert the Pending Bonus into Realized CashBack.

This will reflect on the Client’s account as follows:

All CashBacks are given in the account's currency. 

Zero Spread Account

Commissions per asset type (applies to profitable deals only):

Currencies:

• Majors: 0.04%
• AUD, CNH, NZD, PLN and TRY crosses: 0.10%
• CZK, ILS, INR and ZAR crosses: 0.25%
• HUF and RUB crosses: 0.50%
• Bitcoin: 1%

Commodities:

• Gold: 0.05%
• Energy: 0.125%
• Metals and Agriculture: 0.25%

Indices:

• US, Europe and Japan: 0.04%
• Asia (non-Japan) and USD index: 0.10%
• Brazil: 0.125%
• Turkey: 0.25%
• VIX: 1%

Shares and ETFs:

• All shares and ETFs: 0.10%

The commission calculation is based on the following formulae, with the above values:

Min (Net Profit, (Deal Size × Commission %))

Example

Zero Spread account holder is interested in opening a deal of 100,000 in USD/JPY.
The USD/JPY is 100.00 to Sell or to Buy. It’s the same!
The client decides to Buy USD/JPY, meaning - to profit if the pair’s rate rises.

After some time, the rate will either rise, fall or remain the same.
What is the Profit/Loss and the commission paid in these scenarios?

1. The rate didn’t change and is still the same
   • Buy Rate = Sell Rate = 100.00
   • Net Profit/Loss = (100,000 × 100.00) - (100,000 × 100.00) = 0 JPY
   • Commission = 0
   • Total Profit/Loss = Net Profit/Loss - Commission = 0 - 0 = 0 JPY (= 0 USD)

 

2. The rate went down
   • Buy Rate = Sell Rate = 99.91
   • Net Profit/Loss = (100,000 × 99.91) - (100,000 × 100.00) = -9,000 JPY
   • Commission = 0
   • Total Profit/Loss = Net Profit/Loss - Commission = -9,000 - 0 = -9,000 JPY (~ -90 USD)

 

3. The rate went up slightly
   • Buy Rate = Sell Rate = 100.04
   • Net Profit/Loss = (100,000 × 100.04) - (100,000 × 100.00) = 4,000 JPY (~ 10 USD)
   • Commission = Min (4,000 , (100,000 × 100.00 × 0.04%)) = Min (4,000 , 4,000) = 4,000 JPY
   • Total Profit/Loss = Net Profit/Loss - Commission = 4,000 - 4,000 = 0 JPY (= 0 USD)

 

4. The rate went up
   • Buy Rate = Sell Rate = 100.10
   • Net Profit/Loss = (100,000 × 100.10) - (100,000 × 100.00) = 10,000 JPY (~ 100 USD)
   • Commission = Min (10,000 , (100,000 × 100.00 × 0.04%)) = Min (10,000 , 4,000) = 4,000 JPY
   • Total Profit/Loss = Net Profit/Loss - Commission = 10,000 - 4,000 = 6,000 JPY (~ 60 USD)

Trial Account

Users may be provided with a trial account which includes a Trading Bonus (as explained above) of US 25$ that can be used to trade the financial instruments offered in the Trial Account (excluding binary options) with a total exposure of up to US $3000.

Trading shall be made according to the Company’s Trading Conditions and the Trading Platform’s End-User-License-Agreement which are available in Company’s website, www.iforex.com.

The Trial Account shall expire and all pending transactions in the Trial Account shall be terminated within 3 days of the day of the first transaction made in the Trial Account (“Trial Period”). Any amount which exceeds US 25$ (“Profit”) may either be used as margin for the user’s trading account with the Company, subject to the user’s successful conclusion of the company’s registration process and a minimum deposit of US 100$, or withdrawn to a bank account under the user’s name. Withdrawals are subject to the Company’s withdrawal procedures and may further be subject to a transfer fee.

Bonus is available only to clients registering with the Company’s platform for the first time and having satisfied the eligibility criteria as described in Section 2 above. One Bonus per household\IP Address.

Any Profit not transferred to the trading account or withdrawn within 14 days of the first transaction opened by the user in the Trial Account shall be cancelled and no longer be available to be used as margin or for withdrawal.

General Terms

Any indication or suspicion, in the Company’s discretion, of any form of illegal, unfair and\or abusive trading methods or conducts (including but not limited to trading activity patterns that indicate an aim to benefit financially from the Trading Bonus without taking market risk and\or by opening, operating or managing more than one account per client) as well as any indication or suspicion of  fraud, manipulation or a breach of the Company’s agreements, policies and conditions with respect to the Bonus Scheme will nullify all bonuses previously credited to the account and to any related account. Under such circumstances, the Company shall have the right, in its sole discretion and without derogating from its rights under its agreements with the client and applicable law, to nullify and cancel all transactions carried and/or profits or losses garnered therein and to block all relevant accounts.

Company reserves the right, as it in its sole discretion deems fit, to alter, amend, suspend, cancel or terminate any of the above mentioned Bonus, or any aspect of the above mentioned offer, at any time by giving  to the Client proper notice, as per Company’s Terms and Conditions. 

Margin Call
iFOREX does not proceed to a compulsory closing of clients’ positions as long as there is positive equity in the client’s account. This enables clients to use their equity to the full extend in order to support their open positions against price fluctuations.

Margin Information
The window displayed below provides detailed information related to the margin of an account:

• Used Margin shows the amount of equity in an account that is used by the currently open positions. In the case where used margin is equal to equity, this indicates maximum leverage usage in the account.
  Used Margin = Net Exposure/Leverage
• Margin Available shows the amount of equity in an account that is not currently being used and is available for further increase of net exposure. In the case where Margin Available is zero, this indicates maximum leverage usage in the account.
  Margin Available = Equity – Used Margin
• Margin Utilization shows the percentage of equity that is being used in the currently open positions of the account. 100% Margin Utilization indicates maximum leverage usage in the account.
  Margin Utilization % = (Used Margin/Equity) x 100
• Exposure Coverage shows what percentage of the Net Exposure of an account is held in equity as collateral.
  Exposure Coverage = Equity/Net Exposure

For more information about trading, see our Trading Agreement.

When trading leveraged Forex CFDs with iFOREX, your open deals are subject to Overnight Financing at the end of each trading day. This Overnight Financing may be subject to credit or debit, calculated on the basis of the relevant interest rates for the currencies in which the underlying instrument is traded, plus a mark-up. The mark-up for currency pairs is 0.75% and for Bitcoin 10%.

If the calculated Overnight Financing Percentage is positive, it means that an applicable amount will be added (credited) to your account balance. A negative Overnight Financing Percentage means that an applicable amount will be subtracted (debited) from your account balance.

You can find the relevant Overnight Financing percentage, amounts and their related running times on both the Deal and Limit forms, under Tools, within the ‘Market Info’ tab. To calculate the Overnight Financing, which your account will be debited or credited with, simply multiply the Overnight Financing percentage with the size of your deal. Note that Overnight Financing on a Friday is 3 times more than usual as it covers the entire weekend period (Friday to Sunday). The Overnight Financing amount is either debited or credited in the other currency of your CFD. If the CFD's quoted currency differs from the account’s currency, it will be converted to the account’s currency.

Formula

Calculation of Overnight Financing Percentage when you Buy (Long Positions):

Calculation of Overnight Financing Percentage when you Sell (Short Positions):

To calculate the Overnight Financing Amount, simply multiply the percentage by the deal amount:

Overnight Financing Amount = Deal Amount × Overnight Financing Percentage

Examples

Example I

This example involves a situation whereby the Interbank Rate difference is HIGHER than the markup. In such cases, your account will be debited when you go Long and credited when you go Short:

• Instrument = EUR/USD (Euro vs. US Dollar)
• EUR (base currency) 3M interest rate (annualized) = -0.37% = -0.0037
• USD (other currency) 3M interest rate (annualized) = 1.08% = 0.0108
• Interbank Rates difference = 1.45% = 0.0145
• Markup = 0.75% = 0.0075
• Deal Amount value expressed in the other currency = 106,550 USD (100,000 EUR at Current Closing Rate of 1.0655)

Overnight Financing Percentage when you Buy (Long Positions):

Overnight Financing Amount = 106,550 × (-0.0000611) = -6.51 USD, meaning 6.51 USD charge per day

Overnight Financing Percentage when you Sell (Short Positions):

Overnight Financing Amount = 106,550 × 0.00001944 = 2.07 USD credit per day

Example II

This example involves a situation whereby the Interbank Rate difference is LOWER than the markup. In such cases, your account will be debited each night regardless of your position’s direction:

• Instrument = GBP/JPY (British Pound vs. Japanese Yen)
• GBP (base currency) 3M interest rate (annualized) = 0.39% = 0.0039
• JPY (other currency) 3M interest rate (annualized) = -0.09% = -0.0009
• Interbank Rates difference = 0.48% = 0.0048
• Markup = 0.75% = 0.0075
• Deal Amount value expressed in the other currency = 13,620,000 JPY (100,000 GBP at Current Closing Rate of 136.20)

Overnight Financing Percentage when you Buy (Long Positions):

Overnight Financing Amount = 13,620,000 × (-0.0000075) = -102.15 JPY, meaning 102.15 JPY charge per day (≅1 USD)

Overnight Financing Percentage when you Sell (Short Positions):

Overnight Financing Amount = 13,620,000 × (-0.000034167) = -465.35 JPY, meaning 465.35 JPY charge per day (≅4.5 USD)

Example III

This example involves a situation whereby the Interbank Rate difference is LOWER than the negative markup. In such cases, your account will be debited when you go Short and credited when you go Long:

• Instrument = USD/JPY (US Dollar vs. Japanese Yen)
• USD (base currency) 3M interest rate (annualized) = 0.39% = 0.0039
• JPY (other currency) 3M interest rate (annualized) = -0.09% = -0.0009
• Interbank Rates difference = -1.17% = -0.0117
• Markup = 0.75% = 0.0075
• Deal Amount value expressed in the other currency = 10,341,000 JPY (100,000 USD at Current Closing Rate of 103.41)

Overnight Financing Percentage when you Buy (Long Positions):

Overnight Financing Amount = 10,341,000 ×0.00001167=120.65 JPY credit per day (≅1.1 USD)

Overnight Financing Percentage when you Sell (Short Positions):

Overnight Financing Amount = 10,341,000 ×(-0.0000533)=-551.52 JPY,meaning 551.52 JPY charge per day (≅5.3 USD)

Every CFD that is based on future contract (i.e. commodities and indices) has a rollover date.

Upon reaching the relevant instrument’s rollover date, all open future contract CFD positions will be rolled-over to the next contract, so that the positions remain open with the new future contract.

Upon effectuating such rollover, the Position’s open P/L (Profit / Loss) will express the price difference between the expired and new contract prices, as well as include a mark-up spread. All the associated Limit Orders levels shall be automatically adjusted according to the new future contract price.

For example, if the last price of the WTI Oil February contract is $50.125 and the market price of the following contract (March) at that time is $50.805, then the price level of all the outstanding limit orders will be updated upwards by $0.68.

The rollover dates of contracts depend on the instrument you are trading, and those set out below shall be the sole rollover dates applicable to iFOREX's CFD:

In the event of a distribution of cash dividends in relation to a share CFD, a dividend adjustment will be made to the Client’s Balance with respect the underlying share’s positions held by the Client at the end of business day which precedes the ex-dividend date. The dividend adjustment shall be calculated based on the size of the dividend, the size of the Client’s position and whether it is a buy or a sell transaction, whereby in long positions the adjustment shall be credited to the Client’s Balance and in short positions the adjustment shall be debited from the Client’s Balance. Dividends shall be credited or debited from the Client’s Balance outside the underlying share’s trading hours and before the opening of the share’s next trading day, and are contingent upon the Client holding its respective position at the time of the dividend adjustment. During this period, in order to keep the fair value of the Client’s Equity until the opening of the next trading day, the Company shall adjust the Client’s position in accordance with the dividend amount debited or credited from the Client’s Balance.

Example:
Coca-Cola issues a dividend of 0.35 USD per share.
The Ex-Dividend date is November 29th and the settlement date in iFOREX is November 28th at 22:05 GMT.
The closing price before the settlement is 41.65.
A client that holds a Long positon of 5000 shares will be credited with 0.35 x 5000 = 1750 USD if his deal is open at the settlement date.
Similar amount will be charged from the balance of a client that holds a Short position.
The share price will be adjusted during the afterhours from 41.65 to 41.30 which equals to the last share price minus the dividend amount.

Corporate Actions are certain events which effect a public company's shares value. Upon the occurrence of a Corporate Action in a specific share, iFOREX shall liquidate any open position(s) and remove any limit order(s) in the CFD which quotes the specific share. 
Corporate Actions in iFOREX include Splits, Rights Offering, Delisting and any other event which materially affects or may materially affect the shares’ price (including material company announcements, takeovers, mergers, insolvency etc.).

Please find below a list of the upcoming Corporate Actions: