ASIC Wants Its CFD Leash Until 2037. The Losses Explain Why.
Australia's regulator plans to keep leverage caps and negative balance protection for ten more years. Retail clients still lost A$458 million in a year.
News commentary and opinion. Not financial advice.
What happened
On 12 October 2026 ASIC opened a consultation on its product intervention order for contracts for difference (CFDs). It wants to keep the order for ten more years. Subject to Ministerial approval, the order would stay in force until 2037. The current order started on 29 March 2021 and is due to expire on 23 May 2027.
The order rests on four protections: leverage limits, standardised margin close-out, negative balance protection and a ban on certain inducements. ASIC also wants to change it. CFDs settled through a transfer of digital assets would count as CFDs. Initial margin would apply to each CFD on its own, with no discount for netting opposing positions. The rules on discounts and "educational" tools would be spelled out. ASIC is also asking about CFDs over options that can lose a retail client more than the premium. Should they stay on sale at all?
The numbers ASIC published are blunt. Within six months of the order, aggregate net losses on retail accounts fell 91%. They dropped from A$372 million to A$33 million a quarter. Margin close-outs fell 87%. Even so, retail clients lost more than A$458 million over the latest 12-month period, A$73 million of it in fees. Submissions close at 5pm AEDT on 9 November 2026.
Primary source: ASIC media release 26-239MR · ASIC consultation CS 64
The roast
The 91% is the good news. Cap the leverage, stop the margin-call carousel, and losses drop by nine tenths. The other number is the one brokers would rather you skipped. Even on a leash, Australian retail clients handed over A$458 million in a year. A$73 million of it was fees. That part is not the market beating them. It is the bill for showing up.
Our read of the amendments: they look like a list of loopholes somebody was already using. Settle the "CFD" in crypto and call it something else. Net a long against a short so the margin shrinks. Call a deposit bonus a "discount" or an "educational tool". When a regulator has to name each trick in writing, the trick was working.
Then there is the question ASIC still has not answered. Should a retail client be able to buy a CFD over an option that can lose more than the premium? If that question needs a consultation paper, we think the answer is already on the table.
Why it matters to traders
- With an ASIC-licensed broker, your leverage caps and negative balance protection are likely to stay. A "1:500 for you" pitch usually means an offshore entity of the same group, without those protections. Check which company actually holds your money. Our leverage and margin guide shows what the caps change in practice.
- Read the fee line, not the win-rate banner. A$73 million in fees is money clients paid whether they won or lost. Our broker reviews set advertised spreads against the spreads we actually paid.
- Bonuses, "discounts" and free "education" tied to a deposit are the inducements this order restricts. A broker that offers them to Australian clients through a side door is telling you how it treats rules. Our scam broker red flags cover the rest of the signs.
- Want a say? ASIC takes submissions on consultation CS 64 until 5pm AEDT on 9 November 2026.
ASIC-regulated brokers we actually tested
- IC MarketsTrust Score 9.2/10
- StartraderTrust Score 9.1/10
- VantageTrust Score 9.1/10
- PepperstoneTrust Score 9.0/10
- Fusion MarketsTrust Score 8.8/10
- OANDATrust Score 8.7/10
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Disclaimer: This is news commentary and reflects the opinion of ForexRoasted. It is not financial or investment advice. Trading CFDs and Forex involves substantial risk and is not for every investor.