IG Securities, the Japanese subsidiary of electronic trading major IG Group, will increase the margin rates for CFDs based on certain stocks, known as meme stocks.

Due to the recent volatility in the meme stock prices, the brokerage has decided to increase the maintenance margin rate for new positions as well as positions held in some individual stock CFD brands.

The list of stocks subject to the maintenance margin rate increase is as follows:

This change is scheduled to take place today, May 15, 2024 at 9:00 pm (Tokyo time).

The maintenance margin rate required to maintain a position will increase, so a larger maintenance margin amount will be required than before.

If you continue to hold positions in these stocks after the change, the latest maintenance margin rate will be applied. For this reason, loss cuts may occur due to insufficient margin. Please always keep track of your position and account status.

There will also be a change in the “applicable margin rate” of the “variation margin system” where the maintenance margin rate increases in stages according to the total number of positions. Please check the “applicable margin rate” on the trading platform.

IG warns that spreads may widen when market prices change suddenly due to natural disasters, when liquidity declines on weekends or early in the week, and when important economic indicators are announced.