FAQ

 With Alpari, you can trade Forex around the clock, 5 days a week:

• From March to October: from 00:05 (GMT+3) on Monday to 23:54:59 (GMT+3) on Friday.
• From October to March: from 01:05 (GMT+3) on Monday to 00:54:59 (GMT+3) on Saturday.

The Forex market is open 24 hours a day. Although there aren't necessarily any trading sessions, like with stock exchanges, banks in different parts of the world have different trading hours. In the table below, you can see when Forex trading opens and closes at banks around the world. When trading, you should take these times into account, as markets opening and closing can have an impact on the level of trading activity. Times are listed in GMT (Greenwich Mean Time, the time we typically use on our site), EET (Eastern European Time, the time used on our servers and in our trading platforms).

CFD cryptocurrency trading on MT5 accounts is available around the clock with a two-hour break from 10:00 to 12:00 (EET) Saturday and Sunday from 22:00 to 22:10 (EET). CFD crypto trading on MT4 accounts is available 24 hours a day, except for the following time intervals: 10:00-16:00 (EET) on Saturdays and 03:00-04:00, 22:00-22:10 (EET) on Sundays.

Summer Time

Winter Time

You can find the open and closing times, margin requirements, etc. for our different trading instruments in our "Contract Specifications".

If you are having trouble connecting to our trading servers, our technical support team is available to take your calls around the clock.

In Forex, when you keep a position open through the end of the trading day, you will either be paid or charged interest on that position, depending on the underlying interest rates of the two currencies in the pair. In the examples below, we'll show you how to calculate the amount that will be credited or charged, factoring in only the interest rates and the broker's commission, but in reality, the "storage" for holding a position overnight may depend on a variety of factors:

• The current interest rates in the two countries
• The price movement of the currency pair
• The behavior of the forward market
• The swap points of the broker's counterparty

Here's what we mean when we say storage depends on interest rates:

Let's say that the interest rate of the European Central Bank (ECB) is 4.25% and the Fed (US) interest rate is 3.5%. You open a short position (Sell) on EURUSD for 1 lot. Here, you are essentially selling 100,000 EUR, borrowing at a rate of 4.25%. In selling EURUSD, you are buying US Dollars, which earn interest at a rate of 3.5%. When the interest rate of the country whose currency you are buying is more than the interest rate of the country whose currency you are selling, storage will be added to your trading account (this may not always hold true, as brokers often charge a fee or markup for overnight swaps). If the interest rate is higher in the country whose currency you are selling, as is the case in this example (4.25 > 3.5), storage will be deducted from your account.

Now let's say the broker charges an extra 0.25% for the swap. Add this to the 0.75% difference in the interest rates and you get 1.00%. For the position described above, the storage you will be charged will be equivalent to being charged 1.00% interest.

Calculating the swap on a short position: Here we are buying USD and selling EUR. Since the interest rate of the currency we are selling (EUR: 4.25%) is higher than that of the currency we are buying (USD: 3.5%), we will add the Markup in the formula:

SWAP = (Contract × (InterestRateDifferential + Markup) / 100) × Рrice / DaysPerYear

• Contract: 100,000 EUR (1 lot)
• Рrice: EURUSD - 1.3500
• InterestRateDifferential: 0.75% (the difference between the interest rates in Europe and the US)
• Markup: 0.25% (the broker's commission)
• DaysPerYear: 365 (number of days in a year)

Calculation:

1. SWAP = (100,000 × (0.75 + 0.25) / 100) × 1.3500 / 365 = 3.70 USD

When your short position on EURUSD is rolled over to the next day, 3.70 USD will be debited from your trading account for storage.

Calculating the swap on a long position: When we buy EURUSD, we are buying EUR and selling USD. Since the interest rate of the currency we are buying (EUR: 4.25%) is higher than that of the currency we are selling (USD: 3.5%), we will subtract the Markup in the formula:

SWAP = (Contract × (InterestRateDifferential - Markup) / 100) × Рrice / DaysPerYear

1. SWAP = (100,000 × (0.75 - 0.25) / 100) × 1.3500 / 365 = 1.85 USD

When your long position on EURUSD is rolled over to the next day, 1.85 USD will be credited to your trading account.

Please Note: When the difference between the interest rates is smaller than the broker's commission, you will be charged storage for both Buy and Sell orders.

Calculating a swap for a short position with a volume of 0.1 lot in SPX500: SWAP Short = 0.1 ×(-34.7000) = -3.47 USD.

Transfer of open positions to the next day for CFDs on commodities, CFDs on indices and commodities, CFDs on indices: the swap will be indicated in the instrument currency for 1 lot.

Transfer of open positions on CFDs on cryptocurrencies: the swap is indicated as a percentage per annum.

Calculation formula: SWAP = (Contract × V (lot) × Rris) × Percentage / 100 / DaysVYear, where:

• Contract - 1 lot size.
• V (lot) - volume in lots.
• Рrice is the current market price.
• Percentage - Percentage per annum.
• DaysPerYear is the number of days in a year.

An example of calculating a swap for a short fraction of 0.1 lot for BTCUSD: SWAP Short = (1 × 0.1 × 57000) × -19 / 100/360 = -3.01 USD.

The swap rate for metals can be calculated in the same way as for currency pairs.

You can find our swap points for different trading instruments in our Contract Specifications (Swap Short and Swap Long). Swap rates are subject to change. The swap rates in our "Contract Specifications" are updated daily at 21:00 EET. You can also calculate the swap charges for long and short positions with our "Trader's Calculator".

Please note: when rolling over positions in Forex and spot metals, an overnight charge is applicable, and from Wednesday to Thursday, the credit/debit charge carries at a triple rate. It is because Friday is the value date of the position open on Wednesday. During the transfer of a position overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, the value date should increase not by 1 but by 3 days. Thus, it is postponed to Monday. Therefore, the store is credited/debited threefold from Wednesday to Thursday.

 A triple swap rate will be charged when USDCAD, USDRUB, EURRUB, USDTRY, and EURTRY positions are rolled over from Thursday to Friday.

A triple swap rate will be charged when Cryptocurrency CFD, Commodity CFD, and Indices CFD positions are rolled over from Friday to Monday.

Here is the formula you can use to calculate the amount of commission you will pay trading on PRO.ECN accounts (USD is used in the example):

Commission = (Contract Size × USD-to-base-currency Exchange Rate / 1,000,000) × 16 USD × 2

Let’s see how much you will pay in commission on a hypothetical trade for 1 lot of EURUSD:

• Trading Instrument: EURUSD
• Trade Volume: 1 lot
• Contract Size: 100,000 EUR
• EURUSD Rate When Position Opened: 1.33470

Just plug in the numbers:

Commission = (100,000 × 1.33470 / 1,000,000) × 16 USD × 2 = 4.27 USD

Attention:

• For pro.ecn.mt4 accounts commission is taken only when a position is opened, accounting for both the opening and the closing of the position.
• For ecn.mt5 accounts, commission is taken separately from the trading account balance for the opening and the closing of a position.
• The value of 16 USD is calculated based on the par value of a position equal to $1,000,000. For CFD instruments in cryptocurrencies, a similar commission is 0.01% of the transaction volume in the base currency.
• If your account is denominated in EUR or RUR, your commission will be converted into USD at the current exchange rate in MetaTrader.
• The transaction fee for the SPX500 instrument is 16 USD, based on the nominal value of the position, which is equal to 100,000 USD.

• Commissions for cryptocurrency CFDs on ECN.MT5 accounts are charged according to the table below:

A "Trailing Stop" applies a special algorithm to a Stop Loss order. When a Trailing Stop is placed, the level of the Stop Loss will change along with price movement. If you open a Buy position, and the price of the instrument increases by a certain number of points, with a Trailing Stop, the level of the Stop Loss will increase as well. If you open a Sell position and the price of the instrument falls, a Trailing Stop order will cause the level of the stop order to decrease as well. Generally speaking, a Trailing Stop causes the level of the Stop Loss to trail the price level.

Here's an example of how this works:

• Let's say you place a Trailing Stop for X pips on an open position. No changes will be made to your order until the profit on your open position exceeds X pips.
• Once your position exceeds X pips in profit, a Stop Loss order will be placed X pips from the current price (the breakeven point in this case).
• Each time the price exceeds a level of X pips (of profit) from the current Stop Loss Order, an order will be sent out by the server to change the level of the current Stop Loss to be within X pips (the level of your Trailing Stop order) of the current price.

Please note that a "Trailing Stop" order is managed by the client's trading platform, whereas Stop Loss and Take Profit orders are controlled by the server. Accordingly, a Trailing Stop order will only remain active when MetaTrader is running and connected to the internet. Once you close MetaTrader, your Trailing Stop order will be deactivated, but your Stop Loss order will remain active, assuming it was placed earlier than the Trailing Stop.

The processing time depends on the processing rules at the sender's bank as well as on the total number of banks involved in the transfer. In most cases, processing should take anywhere from 2 to 7 business days. Occasionally, when a wire transfer is made from a smaller bank which uses a number of other banks to make wire transfers, it may take as much as 10 business days for the funds to be posted to your account.

Requests for withdrawals using an electronic payment system should be processed within one business day of the time the request was submitted.

For your security, when you make your first withdrawal to a new Webmoney (or Skrill) electronic purse from your Alpari account, our Payments Department will verify your identify by contacting you at your registered email address or calling your registered phone number.

In order for managers to be able to attract investors to their PAMM account or PAMM portfolio, they must confirm the registration details in one of the ways indicated below. Manager verification is carried out once for each myAlpari account.

Managers can verify their identity in one of three ways:

1. Verification via myAlpari

   To do this you must:

   • Upload the ID documents you used when registering with myAlpari (domestic passport / national ID card / international passport) in the section titled "PAMM manager verification".
   • Upload a full-face selfie along with your ID document open to the front page (the page with your photograph). The photo should be high resolution so that the account manager's face and the contents of the document are clearly visible (the photo must be recognisable and the personal details in the document must be legible).
     
   • Consent to having your personal data verified in the section titled "PAMM manager verification".

   A response regarding your application will be sent within several hours to the email address listed upon registration in myAlpari once all of the conditions are met. The company may request additional documentation based on the findings of the verification process, if necessary.

2. Verification via Skype

   To confirm your identity using Skype, you need to:

   • Upload a document which confirms your identity to myAlpari.
   • Send a scan or photo of the completed application to [email protected] and a request to confirm your identity via Skype.

   When submitting a request you will need to indicate your Skype contact details, your myAlpari number, and the time at which you will be contactable.

   Attention! Skype verification is only possible if you have a web camera. Company employees will contact you only at the time agreed upon, and only via the Skype name, Alpari_verify.

   A company employee will contact you via Skype using the details that you indicated. During the call, the data provided in the application and the data from the document which confirms your identity will be verified. A picture of you holding the ID document open on the data page will also be taken.

   If contact cannot be made at the agreed-upon time for whatever reason, you will need to create another request.

3. Send the documents via post.

   If you are unable to complete the verification process via Skype or in myAlpari, you will need to send the original application with a notarised signature to the company by post, in addition to photocopies of the documents indicated in myAlpari.

For individuals:

Managers must complete and sign an application form, providing a copy of the passport or ID attached to the application and upload it to myAlpari.

By post

You must send the application form with a notarised signature and a copy of your ID documents.

The identity verification form is only available in English.

If the official language of your country is a language other than English, you will need to send us notarised translations of your documents in English, in addition to copies of the originals.

For legal entities

To activate a proposal, legal entities must provide the following documents:

• The application form should contain a notarised signature from an authorised signatory.
• The passport of the person acting on the company’s behalf (either a director or an authorized representative).
• A certificate of incorporation legalized with an apostille.
• An incumbency certificate issued less than a year ago at the time the application was submitted (with an apostille), or a similar document issued by the company’s registered agent or registration authority which contains the following information: the company’s registration details, information about the company’s directors, the company’s address, and the company’s current legal status (“good standing”). This document should be provided by the client once a year.
• If a representative has been authorized to act on behalf of the company: a power of attorney legalized with an apostille.
• The memorandum and articles of association.
• For companies more than a year old: a certificate of good standing legalized with an apostille (this must be provided only if there is no indication of the company’s current legal status in the incumbency certificate).

If the country in which your company is registered does not issue one or more of the documents listed above, give us a call, and we will help sort things out.

You can download the application form to verify the details provided during registration below:

Identity verification form.

If the official language of your country is a language other than English, you will need to send us a notarised translation of the application form as well.

Please note: Alpari will not accept documents if they are illegible or filled out incorrectly. Please also be aware that we will not return documents which are sent to us.

Documents should be sent to Alpari Limited: PO BOX 1510, Suite 305, Griffith Corporate Centre, Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

A PAMM Account manager can control the funds of other investors, earning a percent of any profit on the account, depending upon the success of their trading.

To create your own PAMM Account:

• Log in to myAlpari.
• From the main menu, click "Open Account" and select "Forex, Spot Metals, CFDs", and then choose the tab "Managing Investor Funds".
• Select the type of PAMM Account you wish to open and the currency denomination.
• When you open a PAMM Account, you should choose whether you would like it to be public or private.

The account is activated when you make your first deposit to the account. For this, you should:

• Click "My PAMM Accounts", from the "My Accounts" section on the main menu and click the button "Deposit Funds" indicating how much you wish to fund your account with.
• Chose the transitory account.
• Click "Invest Funds".

Attention:

If you chose to create a public account, then a "Publish" button will appear in the window with your account details. You will not be able to make any trades on the account until you have completed this procedure and made your account public.