Introduction on Trading Limits

Trading limits enable market participants to proactively manage their risk exposure, and thus constitute a cornerstone for securing the functionality and integrity of commodity wholesale markets. Trading limits are technically and legally provided in the trading system of the exchange and are contractually agreed between the Clearing Member and the Non-Clearing Member.

ECC and its Partner Exchanges have implemented a range of trading limit services for their customers including:

• Quantity Limits
  Order Quantity Limit or Transaction Size Limit (“Fat Finger Limit”)
  Limit that constitutes a maximum amount of commodity units or contracts a trading participant can trade per individual trade
• Total Purchase Quantity Limit
  Limit that constitutes a maximum amount of commodity units or contracts a trading participant can trade within a timeframe defined by the exchange, e.g. one exchange trading day or one trading session.
• Financial Limits (also Cash Limits)
  Limit that constitutes a maximum financial exposure up to which a trading participant can trade within a timeframe defined by the exchange, e.g. between two ECC booking cuts or on one exchange trading day.

ECC trading limits can be further differentiated according to the point in time when the limit is applied:

• Pre-Trading Limit
  Limit taking effect before trade conclusion. Non-conforming orders are rejected by the Partner Exchange; hence do not lead to an increase of the risk position of the client at the Partner Exchange.
• Pre-Clearing Limit
  Limit that takes effect on trade transfer from the Partner Exchange to ECC. Non-conforming trades are rejected by ECC; hence do not lead to an increase of the client’s risk position at ECC

One centralized channel for Trading Limit management

ECC offers its customers a comfortable process for managing trading limits at all ECC Partner Exchanges through ECC as a centralized channel. Any limit setting or modification by Clearing Members or Non-Clearing Members respectively is managed via ECC, which has assumed the role of an intermediary between its connected Partner Exchanges and Clearing Members.

ECC cooperates with its Partner Exchanges to further improve the existing limit management functions by designing and implementing new trading limit functionalities.

ECC offers a self-service Limit Management System embedded in its customer portal, the ECC Member Area. Through this system, users can view, create, update or delete Trading Limits in a completely automated process, and also generate reports on the currently maintained Trading Limits. Members of ECC can request read-write access to this system allowing them to modify trading limits for their associated Trading participants. Additionally a read-only access is offered.

For a comprehensive overview of ECC risk management capabilities, please consult:

• the ECC Risk Management Services manual
• the ECC Rules and Regulations.

For the pricing of this service, please refer to the ECC Price list.