Pricing Change Notice

A pricing change notice is the notification a broker gives before altering the commercial terms of an existing account — spreads, commissions, swap rates, financing markups, margin requirements or the charges in the fee schedule. The client agreement states how much notice is owed and how it is delivered, and the two vary more than they look: some regimes require a defined period in writing for changes that disadvantage the client, while others permit an immediate change announced by email or by a post on the website. The exceptions are where it matters. Agreements typically reserve the right to change margin requirements and swap rates without notice in abnormal market conditions, which is exactly when such a change bites hardest. The practical protections are to read the notice clause before opening rather than after, to keep the email address on the account current and monitored, and to re-check the fee schedule periodically instead of assuming the terms you signed up to are the terms you are trading on.