Mark-to-market margin

This one is not written up yet

The definition above is the short version. A full explanation — how it works, a worked example and the exam traps — is still being written. In the meantime the chapter below covers it in context.

Written up from the same chapter

• ClearingThe daily accounting step that reconciles what every party owes and is owed on its open and closed positions, and turns a day of trades into one net obligation per member.
• Compulsory deliveryA delivery logic under which every position still open at expiry must give or take physical delivery — neither side can elect to settle in cash.
• Delivery default penaltyThe SEBI-prescribed charge on a seller who fails to deliver against an expiring contract — a fixed percentage of the settlement price plus a replacement cost, most of which is paid over to the buyer.
• Due Date RateThe rate at which an expiring commodity contract is finally settled — the Final Settlement Price, normally the simple average of the polled spot prices of the expiry day and the two preceding days.
• Extreme Loss MarginA flat 3.5 per cent margin collected on cash-market positions to cover losses falling outside what the VaR margin is designed to capture.
• Initial marginThe deposit both the buyer and the seller of a futures contract must place before the position is accepted, sized to cover a 99% worst-case one-day loss on that position.