Client Investment Protection

Dukascopy Europe IBS AS is a European Union licensed Investment Brokerage Company, which is regulated by the Bank of Latvia.

According to Investor Protection Law of the Republic of Latvia and Investor Compensation Schemes Directive (Directive 97/9/EC), clients are entitled to a compensation of 90% (but not exceeding EUR 20 000) for:

  1. irreversibly lost financial instruments;
  2. losses caused by a non-executed investment service.

In order to receive the compensation, the client shall submit an application to the Bank of Latvia. The application shall be submitted in accordance with the application submission procedure specified by the Bank of Latvia − within a one-year period from the date when the client has become aware of the default by Dukascopy Europe on obligations, but no later than five years from the date of default on obligations. The Bank of Latvia shall make a decision on the validity of the compensation payment or on the refusal to pay compensation within a 30-day period from the date of application submission.

NB.

• Investment protection rules shall not apply to cases where clients have suffered losses due to changes in the price of financial instruments or if financial instruments have become illiquid.

• Article 7 of the Investor Protection Law of the Republic of Latvia provides for cases where no compensation is paid.

Further information is available on the Bank of Latvia website.

Custody of client assets

Assets of Dukascopy Europe IBS AS clients are kept in a custodial account of Dukascopy Europe IBS AS in Dukascopy Europe IBS AS, Geneva, Switzerland. In the event of a Dukascopy Europe being declared bankrupt, deposits of up to 100 000 Swiss francs are regarded as preferential deposits and will be paid out immediately to Dukascopy Europe IBS AS.

No additional payments for negative balance

Dukascopy Europe IBS AS offers you an exemption from additional payments obligation in case of a negative balance on your trading account. In accordance with the decision taken on August 10, 2017 the clients will no longer be liable to cover the negative balance on their accounts by paying additional funds. As a result, you will not lose more than the funds invested in the trading account. Please be informed that the exemption stated above also applies to the already existing clients.

Careful management of counterparty / credit risks by Dukascopy Europe IBS AS

Dukascopy Europe IBS AS deposits money resources of customers distinct from its own money resources.

Dukascopy Europe IBS AS uses customer money resources exclusively to ensure the customer’s transactions in financial instruments pursuant to a written contract signed by the customer and Dukascopy Europe IBS AS.

The money resources belonging to a customer of Dukascopy Europe IBS AS cannot be used to meet a creditor claims on Dukascopy Europe IBS AS. This requirement would also apply in case of insolvency of Dukascopy Europe IBS AS.

Exclusive capital protection

Should your funds be managed by a money manager or by any other third party, Dukascopy Europe IBS AS gives you the unique opportunity to limit the possible losses on your account through its "Stop-Loss" functionality. Should your account reach the Stop-Loss level set by you, the trading would be instantly deactivated and all open positions would be closed so as to protect your remaining capital against further losses.

Additionally, Dukascopy Europe IBS AS gives you the possibility to instantly interrupt the trading performed on your account by your attorney and to close all open positions by simply accessing a button on your online report.

Please be informed that in order to have your account traded by any third party, including any close person of you, you must grant and sign a power of attorney in favour of the latter.

Slippage control

Dukascopy Europe IBS AS strives to offer you the best possible risk management tools to trade safely on volatile markets.

By using the Slippage Control Functionality you may preselect the maximum negative slippage that can affect the execution price of your orders. You may even totally exclude any negative slippage. However, keep in mind that reducing tolerance to slippage increases the probability of an order reject.

Feel free to contact us for more information about the Slippage Control Functionality and consult our Wiki.

Keep your login, password and PIN code confidential

Third parties such as Money Managers or Service Providers should never request your personal access codes but shall require special access rights directly from Dukascopy Europe IBS AS. By communicating your access codes to third parties, you would not only breach Dukascopy Europe’s terms and conditions but you would seriously expose your own funds to the risk of misuse / misappropriation. Furthermore, unknown persons to Dukascopy Europe cannot obtain any assistance from our Trading Support Desk that may harm your funds, e.g. in case a position on your account needs to be closed urgently while Internet access to the SWFX trading system is not available.

Forex scams

For the safety of your money, investment opportunities shall be assessed with a tendency toward scepticism. Dukascopy Europe IBS AS recommends cautiousness, especially regarding the following:

  • Investment opportunities 'too good to be true': Stay away from Forex trading opportunities that claim to make you rich overnight. Do not use your hard-earned savings or your retirement fund, or resort to mortgaging your house, to invest in these types of schemes. Chances are that you may never get your money back.
  • Guaranteed profits or claims of unusually high performance: Anybody claiming to give you a regular 30% or 40% return per month is promising something that cannot be delivered. These claims of massive profits are likely to be false and are basically tactics to lure in your money.
  • Downplaying of the risks involved with currency trading: Always be wary of statements claiming that a company or individual will recover your loses or that your investment will remain safe. Forex trading involves a high amount of risk, and you may end up losing all or part of your investment.
  • Difficulty obtaining background information: Don't deal with anyone who won't readily give you their background information.
  • Remittance of monies to a third party: An investor willing to use Dukascopy Europe’s services to trade his monies himself or by way of a money manager or third party must deposit his monies in an account opened in the investor's name.

Dormant Accounts

Your account becomes "Dormant" if Dukascopy Europe IBS AS is no longer able to contact you. This may happen, in particular, if you change your domicile / contact details without informing us or if you pass away without appointing any attorney on your account who can be contacted. In case of dormancy, it might be difficult or impossible for Dukascopy Europe IBS AS to reestablish contact with you / your heirs. In order to avoid dormancy, Dukascopy Europe IBS AS recommends that you:

  • inform us immediately if you change your address, or if you use a different name, e.g. following marriage;
  • inform us if you go away for an extended period of time and arrange for correspondence;
  • inform a trusted person about your bank details. Dukascopy Europe IBS AS can only give information to such a person if you have first authorised him or her in writing to act on your behalf by filling out a special form;
  • list your assets and the name of the respective bank(s) where they are deposited in your will.