{"id":86007,"date":"2026-05-07T22:40:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T12:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/?p=86007"},"modified":"2026-05-07T22:40:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T12:40:34","slug":"important-information-higher-margin-requirement-periods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/important-information-higher-margin-requirement-periods\/","title":{"rendered":"Important Information HMR Periods"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1>Higher Margin Requirement (HMR)<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>At IC, we continuously review our trading conditions to ensure they remain transparent, responsible, and aligned with changing market conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As part of this commitment, we are introducing Higher Margin Requirement (HMR) periods across selected products. These periods are designed to help manage increased market volatility and risk during specific trading conditions and major economic events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This update forms part of our broader leverage framework, providing clients with greater visibility into how leverage and margin requirements may temporarily change during periods of elevated market activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1>What are HMR Periods?<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>HMR periods are predefined time windows during which:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Leverage is temporarily reduced<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Margin requirements are increased<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Updated leverage tiers apply to new positions opened during the HMR period<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These measures are intended to reflect the increased volatility and reduced liquidity that may occur around major market events, market close periods, and weekend openings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>HMR conditions apply only to positions opened during the HMR period. Existing positions will generally retain the leverage at which they were opened, unless otherwise specified under the Company\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When the HMR period ends, your margin is automatically recalculated based on the prevailing mark-to-market value at that time, which may result in higher or lower margin compared to when the positions were originally opened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1>When do HMR Periods Apply?<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h4>End of Day<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>HMR conditions apply:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Daily, starting 30 minutes before market close<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Until 15 minutes after the market opens<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4>Weekend<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>HMR conditions apply:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Every Friday, starting 1 hour before market close<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Until Monday, 30 minutes after market open<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4>Major Economic News Releases<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>HMR conditions apply:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>From 15 minutes before<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Until 1 minute after high-impact economic announcements<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The major events currently covered include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Central Bank Rate Decisions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>CPI<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Core CPI<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Crude Oil Inventories<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Please note that these events are indicative and not exhaustive. The Company reserves the right to apply HMR conditions at its discretion in response to market volatility or changing market conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Forex CFDs \u2013 HMR Leverage Tiers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>During HMR periods, the following leverage tiers apply to Forex CFDs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td>Instrument<\/td><td>0\u201325 Lots<\/td><td>25\u201350 Lots<\/td><td>50\u2013100 Lots<\/td><td>100+ Lots<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Forex<\/td><td>1:500<\/td><td>1:200<\/td><td>1:200<\/td><td>1:200<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3>Metals CFDs \u2013 HMR Leverage Tiers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4>Gold (XAU)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td>Position Size<\/td><td>HMR Leverage<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>0\u201325 Lots<\/td><td>1:500<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>25\u201350 Lots<\/td><td>1:200<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>50\u2013100 Lots<\/td><td>1:100<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>100+ Lots<\/td><td>1:50<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4>Silver (XAG)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td>Position Size<\/td><td>HMR Leverage<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>0\u201325 Lots<\/td><td>1:200<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>25\u201350 Lots<\/td><td>1:100<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>50\u2013100 Lots<\/td><td>1:50<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>100+ Lots<\/td><td>1:20<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Margin requirements during HMR periods are calculated progressively based on the applicable leverage tier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a result, larger positions may require significantly higher margin during HMR periods compared to normal market conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Why are HMR Periods Important?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Periods surrounding major market events may experience:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Increased volatility<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rapid price movements<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Wider spreads<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reduced market liquidity<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Clients are encouraged to monitor their available margin carefully and ensure sufficient funds are maintained in their accounts during HMR periods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have any questions, please reach out to our support team. We\u2019re always here to assist you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Kind Regards,<br \/>IC<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Higher Margin Requirement (HMR) At IC, we continuously review our trading [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":86008,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[197],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86007"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86007"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86030,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86007\/revisions\/86030"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}