| USA/Canada: | (800) 454-9572 |  |
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| International: | (310) 859-9572 |
| USA/Canada: | (800) 454-9572 | |
|
| International: | (310) 859-9572 |
This publication is the property of National Futures Association
Trading volume in futures contracts and options on futures on U.S. markets has risen to more than 500 million contracts annually. And the dollar value of futures contracts traded currently exceeds severalfold the dollar value of common stocks traded on all U.S. stock exchanges.
A requisite for this growth has been the financial integrity of futures markets. While trading in futures contracts obviously involves risks related to price changes, market participants have historically had little reason to be concerned about the security of their funds. Customer losses due to the insolvency of a futures brokerage firm have been virtually non-existent. Indeed, such losses have totaled less over 50 years than the Securities Investor Protection Corporation has paid, on the average, to reimburse customers of the securities industry for member firm insolvency losses each year.
For anyone considering participation in the nation's futures markets, the reasons behind this continuing and impressive record of financial soundness are worth knowing about.
As futures prices move upward and downward, the market value of customers' open positions increases and decreases. Resulting gains and losses from futures trading are credited or charged to each customer's account each day following the close of trading. Subject to existing margin requirements, all gains deposited to a customer's account through this procedure become immediately available to the customer.
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