Risk Warning

The content of this website is provided for information purposes regarding the software system only and is not intended as an offer, recommendation or solicitation to buy sell or hold any investment or security.

General Warning

SmartCharts Ltd’s services include reference to products that are traded on margin. Financial products that are traded on margin are complex, difficult to understand and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. They are not suited to all investors. Before deciding whether to invest in such products you should ensure you obtain, read and understand any applicable offer documents to ensure that you fully understand the risks involved, and consider obtaining professional advice from a regulated financial advisor to determine whether trading or investing in such financial products is suitable for your circumstances, and if you can afford to take the risk of losing the funds that you may invest.
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Risks in margined products

The following risk warning notice is in relation to margined products and explains many of the risks associated with margined products and dealing in them, but it cannot explain all of the risks.
As margined products carry a high level of risk, you should seek to understand their nature and the extent of your exposure to risk. You should also be satisfied that the product is suitable for you in the light of your circumstances and financial position and that you only speculate with funds you can afford to lose.
Although margined products can be utilised for the management of investment risk, they may not be suitable for some investors. In deciding whether to trade in margined products, you should be aware of the following points:

1. Most margined products can only be settled in cash. Investing in margined products carries the same risks as investing in a future or an option. Transactions in margined products may also have a contingent liability and you should be aware of the implications of this as set out below

2. Margined products require you to make a series of payments against the purchase price, instead of paying the whole purchase price immediately. If you trade in margined products, you may rapidly sustain a total loss of the margin you deposit to establish or maintain a position. If the market continues to move against you, you may be called upon to pay substantial additional margin at short notice (which in some cases could be a matter of minutes) to maintain the position. If you fail to do so within the required time, your position may be liquidated at a loss and you will be responsible for the resulting deficit. In certain circumstances, your Margin rates and/or notional trading requirements could be increased without notice, resulting in a requirement to deposit additional margin on your account to maintain that trade

3. Trades in margined products are off-exchange (also known as an over-the-counter, or OTC) transactions which are non-transferable. This means you will enter into trades directly with a broker and those trades can only get closed with the same broker. You will not be able to transfer or sell your open positions to other brokers or margined product providers

4. Brokers will not offer guaranteed stop loss orders. Although orders are generally filled at the level of your order, if there is any gapping or slippage you may receive a fill worse than your stop level. Gapping or slippage can occur when the underlying market is unusually volatile, and the market price moves rapidly past your stop loss price. In those circumstances you will receive the next available price. For example, if you had a long position in the FTSE Index at say 5680 with a good-until-cancelled stop loss order in place at 5660, and over the weekend there was an extremely negative announcement that caused the market price to open at 5655, you would receive a fill at (your sale price of) 5655 and not 5660

5. All profits and losses that are made on margined products are legally enforceable by both parties

Past performance

Past performance should not be considered as a guarantee of future performance as the future performance of underlying markets or investments is uncertain.

Charges related to trading

If you decide to trade, before you begin trading, it is recommended you should obtain details of all commissions and other charges for which you will be liable. If any charges are not expressed in money terms (but, for example, as a percentage of contract value), you should obtain a clear and written explanation, including appropriate examples, to establish what such charges are likely to mean in specific money terms. For example, for some margined products, when commission is charged as a percentage, it will normally be as a percentage of the total contract value, and not simply as a percentage of your initial payment.

Trading systems

Trading systems enable you to place trades and communicate with the broker via electronic means. Whereas electronic communication is normally a reliable means of communication, no electronic communication is guaranteed to be reliable at all times. In the unlikely event of a failure on our platform, you should telephone our 24-Hour Customer Support line and connect with our Client Services Team. Please note however that the lines might be busy at these times.

Other

SmartCharts does not provide clients with tax advice and you are responsible for your own tax affairs.