What is an FX buffer?

The 2% Foreign Exchange (FX) buffer is not an additional fee



The buffer acts as a cushion against currency movements ensuring there are sufficient available funds in your account to fill your order



When your order fills, excess funds are automatically added back to your ‘available funds’ value on the platform



Buffer funds are not withdrawn from your settlement account, but only locked in the ‘available funds’ calculation until your order has filled



The buffer only applies to ‘buy’ orders



Impact



For international buy orders, a 2% FX buffer is added to the trade value at the time the order is placed. This ensures you have sufficient funds in your account to cover any foreign exchange fluctuations between the time your order is ‘placed’ and when it is ‘filled’ on the international market.



Any excess buffer will be unlocked on the execution or cancellation of that order.



The FX conversion rate is determined as the order fills on the overseas stock exchange in real-time.



*The FX buffer currently applied to international buy orders is 2% of the trade value and is subject to change.



Example

Jane submits an order to buy US$1,000 of US shares at 10:30 am Sydney time.



At the time she places her order the exchange rate is 1.489 and the US market is closed. The estimated AUD value of the order is $1,489.00 + $0.00 brokerage = AUD $1,489.00.



The trading platform applies a buffer of AUD 30.17 (2%) to the order as protection against exchange rate fluctuations.



By the time the US market opens the exchange rate has moved to 1.481 and the order is submitted and executed immediately. The AUD value of the order at execution is $1,481.00 + $0.00 brokerage = AUD $1,481.00



The buffer is now released from Jane’s "Available to Trade value" on the trading platform.