FINRA Raises Margin Requirements on Leveraged ETFs

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority beginning Dec. 1 will increase the deposit customers must place with their brokers before placing a margin, or borrowed, investment in a leveraged exchange-traded fund. The greater the leverage involved in the ETF, the bigger the deposit.

Investors who use cash to purchase leveraged ETF shares, trades rather than borrowing from the broker, won’t be affected.

ETFs “are very complicated, with a high element of risk. They are very much on FINRA’s radar screen,” said FINRA spokesman Herb Perone.

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