Prohibited Trading Practices
Proper trading strategies are welcome at River Valley Capital. Abusive trading is not, and it is treated as a Terms & Conditions violation, which can forfeit fees and close the account. This page lists the practices that are prohibited so you know where the line is before you trade.
- Proper strategies welcome
- Abusive trading prohibited
- Applies on every programme
- Part of the Terms & Conditions
Last updated
Violations vs Breaches
A violation breaks the Terms & Conditions, for example prohibited trading. Violations are treated as serious and can forfeit fees paid or owed, close the account or suspend access.
A breach breaks a challenge rule, such as the daily loss limit. Breaches are either soft (the trade is closed and its result removed) or hard (the account ends). The practices on this page are violations, not ordinary breaches. For the risk rules, see the trading rules.
Practices That Are Prohibited
River Valley Capital gives these as examples of abusive trading. The list is not exhaustive, and the firm may act on conduct that harms its brokers or breaks the spirit of the rules.
- Exploiting pricing or platform errors, or latency.
- Using insider or non-public information.
- Front-running trades placed elsewhere.
- Trading that harms the broker relationship or creates regulatory problems for it.
- Third-party, off-the-shelf or "challenge-passing" strategies.
- Using one strategy to pass the evaluation and a different one once funded.
- Arbitrage against other accounts, at River Valley Capital or at other firms.
- Opening a position within 3 minutes before or after a news event.
- Gambling, "all-in" trades and excessive leverage, such as consistently placing trades before news releases or other binary events.
- Opposing positions across accounts, and group hedging across accounts or firms. Hedging within a single account is fine.
- Expert advisors that copy trades, and copy trading between accounts you do not own.
What You Can Do
To be clear about the other side of the line:
- Your own algorithms and expert advisors, within this policy.
- Copy trading only between accounts you own yourself.
- Holding positions overnight (swap rates apply) and over the weekend (by default on 1-Step and 2-Step; with the Hold Weekends add-on on Instant Funding).
- Hedging within a single account.
There is no consistency rule and no minimum number of trading days. See the full trading rules and the glossary for the terms used here.
Common Questions
What happens if I break one of these rules?
Prohibited trading is a Terms & Conditions violation. It can forfeit fees paid or owed, close the funded account and suspend access, at River Valley Capital's discretion. It is more serious than an ordinary rule breach.
Is news trading banned completely?
No. You just cannot open a position within 3 minutes before or after a news event. Doing so is a soft breach: the position is closed and its profit or loss removed, and you keep trading. Repeated news violations can be treated as a conduct violation.
Can I use expert advisors or copy trading?
Your own algorithms and EAs are allowed within this policy, but EAs that copy trades are not. Copy trading is allowed only between accounts you own yourself; group trading, signal services, passing services and mirroring other traders are prohibited.
Is hedging allowed?
Hedging within a single account is fine. Opposing positions across accounts, and group hedging across accounts or firms, are prohibited.
Know the Rules, Trade with Confidence
Read the full trading rules and pick the programme that fits you.