Futures Margin and Performance Bonds: How It Actually Works

Futures margin is one of the most misunderstood mechanics in trading, largely because the word “margin” means something different here than it does almost anywhere else.

Margin is not a loan

In equities, buying on margin means borrowing money from your broker to buy shares. You pay interest on the loan. The shares are collateral.

In futures, nothing is borrowed. Margin — the exchange calls it a performance bond — is a good-faith deposit held as assurance that you can meet your obligations. No money is lent, so there is no interest to pay on it. The deposit is yours; it is simply held.

This is also why futures margin is not comparable to the leverage ratio on a CFD account. A “1:30 leverage” figure describes borrowed exposure. A futures performance bond describes a risk deposit sized to a contract’s likely daily movement. They are different concepts wearing the same word.

Initial and maintenance

Two numbers, and the gap between them is where margin calls live:

• Initial margin — what you must have to open a position.
• Maintenance margin — the level your account must stay above to keep it. Always lower than initial.

If losses take your balance below maintenance, you receive a margin call: top the account back up to the initial level, not merely back above maintenance. Fail to meet it and the broker may close the position.

Daily settlement: the part with no CFD equivalent

Futures are marked to market every single day. At the close, the exchange sets an official settlement price, and the day’s profit or loss moves in actual cash between accounts. Winners are credited; losers are debited. Every day, not at exit.

There is no such thing as an unrealised loss carried indefinitely on a futures position. That is a genuine structural difference from a spot position that can sit underwater for months while accruing only swap charges.

Who sets the number

Three layers, and each can only tighten:

1. CME Clearing sets the exchange minimum, using a risk model (SPAN) that estimates a contract’s likely one-day move.
2. Your broker may require more than the exchange minimum. Many do.
3. Both can change it, sometimes with very little notice. Margin requirements typically rise during volatile periods — which means the deposit demanded can increase precisely when positions are already under stress.

That third point matters. Margin is not a fixed property of a contract; it is a moving requirement that tends to move against you at the worst moment.

Day-trading margin

Many brokers offer a much lower intraday margin — sometimes a small fraction of the exchange initial requirement — for positions opened and closed within the same session.

This is a broker arrangement, not an exchange rule, and it comes with a hard edge: positions must be flat before the broker’s cut-off, or the full overnight requirement applies immediately, often with automatic liquidation if the account cannot cover it. The lower number is real, and so is the deadline attached to it.

Why we do not publish the numbers

You will notice this page has no margin table. That is deliberate.

Margin requirements change frequently — sometimes several times a month — and they differ by broker. A table of figures on a page like this would be wrong within weeks, and a stale margin number is worse than no number, because someone might size a position on it.

For current requirements, check your broker’s published rates (they are the ones who will actually call you) and CME’s own performance bond pages. We link to the official specification from every contract page.

A worked example of the mechanics

Suppose a contract has an initial margin of $10,000 and maintenance of $9,000, and you deposit $12,000.

The figures are illustrative. The mechanic — that the call restores you to initial, not maintenance — is the part worth remembering.

This page explains margin mechanics generally and is not investment advice. Actual requirements are set by CME Clearing and your broker and change frequently — always confirm current figures before trading.