Did your broker change your leverage, spreads or margin rules without much notice? How did they tell you?

A broker's terms aren't fixed. Leverage limits, margin and close-out levels, spreads, commissions, swap rates and even which instruments are offered can change, sometimes because a regulator requires it and sometimes for the broker's own reasons. What you can expect in terms of notice depends on the client agreement you signed and on the rules of the regulator behind the entity you contract with. Leverage limits for retail traders shows how the rules differ between the EU, UK, Australia, Japan and the US, and the real cost of a forex trade explains why a change in spread or swap matters for how long you can hold a position.

We would like members to describe what actually happened to them, and what they would check before opening an account.

• What changed: leverage, margin requirements, spreads, commissions, swaps, an instrument, or something else?
• How were you told: an email, a notice in the platform, a page update you only found later, or not at all?
• How much notice did you get, and did the change apply to trades that were already open?
• Where in your client agreement was the change clause, and did you read it before signing?
• Did the change make you close positions, ask support questions, or move your account? What did support say?

Please describe what happened and where in the documents you found the answer, rather than posting verdicts on a broker, and leave out account numbers and other personal details. Different entities of the same brand can have different terms, so mention the entity type or region where you can.

FTC's broker profiles list the regulators and legal entities each broker names, with the sources shown on each profile. Posts that promise returns or sell signals will be removed.