NFA Reduces Minimum Security Deposits for Currency Pairs Involving GBP and JPY

The United States National Futures Association (NFA) yesterday announced changes on minimum security deposits for certain Forex transactions.

As detailed in the official announcement, NFA Financial Requirements Section 12 requires Forex dealer members to collect and maintain a minimum security deposit of 2% of the notional value of transactions in ten listed major currencies and 5% of the notional value of other transactions.

In 2016, NFA’s Executive Committee, pursuant to its authority under Section 12, increased the minimum security deposit for currency pairs involving the British pound to 5% and the minimum security deposit for currency pairs involving the Japanese yen to 4%.

The Executive Committee recently reviewed these increases and determined to reduce the minimum security deposit for currency pairs involving the British pound to 3% and for currency pairs involving the Japanese yen to 2%. The decreases are effective immediately.

As Fazzaco reported earlier, NFA has prompted its members engaging in virtual currency activities to fully comply with existing disclosure obligations​ as the highly volatile virtual currencies may bring about potentially significant risks.