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NWT Financial Group, LLC is
furnishing this document to you to provide some basic facts
about purchasing securities on margin, and to alert you to
the risks involved with trading securities in a margin
account. Before trading stocks in a margin account, you
should carefully review the margin agreement provided by
your firm. Consult the firm regarding any questions or
concerns you may have with your margin accounts.
When you
purchase securities, you may pay for the securities in full
or you may borrow part of the purchase price from your
brokerage firm. If you choose to borrow funds from your
firm, you will open a margin account with the firm. The
securities purchased are the firm’s collateral for the loan
to you. If the securities in your account decline in value,
so does the value of the collateral supporting your loan,
and, as a result, the firm can take action, such as issue a
margin call and/or sell securities or other assets in any of
your accounts held with the member, in order to maintain the
required equity in the account.
It is important
that you fully understand the risks involved in trading
securities on margin. These risks include the following:
You can lose more funds than
you deposit in the margin account.
A decline in the value of
securities that are purchased on margin may require you to
provide additional funds to the firm that has made the loan
to avoid the forced sale of those securities or other
securities or assets in your account(s).
The firm can force the sale of
securities or other assets in your account(s).
If the equity in your account
falls below the maintenance margin requirements or the
firm’s higher “house” requirements, the firm can sell the
securities or other assets in any of your accounts held at
the firm to cover the margin deficiency. You also will be
responsible for any short fall in the account after such a
sale.
The firm can sell your
securities or other assets without contacting you.
Some investors mistakenly
believe that a firm must contact them for a margin call to
be valid, and that the firm cannot liquidate securities or
other assets in their accounts to meet the call unless the
firm has contacted them first. This is not the case. Most
firms will attempt to notify their customers of margin
calls, but they are not required to do so. However, even if
a firm has contacted a customer and provided a specific date
by which the customer can meet a margin call, the firm can
still take necessary steps to protect its financial
interests, including immediately selling the securities
without notice to the customer.
You are not entitled to choose
which securities or other assets in your account(s) are
liquidated or sold to meet a margin call.
Because the securities are
collateral for the margin loan, the firm has the right to
decide which security to sell in order to protect its
interests.
The firm can increase its
“house” maintenance margin requirements at any time and is
not required to provide you advance written notice.
These changes in firm policy
often take effect immediately and may result in the issuance
of a maintenance margin call. Your failure to satisfy the
call may cause the member to liquidate or sell securities in
your account(s).
You are not entitled to an
extension of time on a margin call.
While an
extension of time to meet margin requirements may be
available to customers under certain conditions, a customer
does not have a right to the extension. |