Maintenance Margin

Your Maintenance Margin is the minimum value that must be maintained in your margin account in order to keep a position open. Maintenance Margin is also referred to as Minimum Maintenance or Maintenance Requirement.

For example, the NYSE and NASD require a maintenance margin of 25%. Your broker, however, may require a higher level but cannot require a lower level. Apart from the Maintenance Margin requirement there may also be other federally regulated requirements. For example, a broker may not give credit to an account with a value of less that $2,000.

If the value of the position you are carrying falls below 25% then you will receive a Margin Call from your broker and you will be required to pay a Variation Margin into your account.