Swap Rates/Overnight Funding
Global Markets Group swap rates/overnight funding charges are amongst the most competitive in the world.
Maximise your overnight funding earnings or reduce your funding costs across our wide range of products.
Overnight Financing Explained
Any leveraged position held open beyond the end of the trading day is subject to a daily overnight financing charge.
Below we explain how this works, which rates apply, and what you can expect to be debited or credited to your account.
What Is Overnight Financing?
Overnight financing is the daily charge applied to leveraged positions that remain open past the market close. It reflects the cost of the capital borrowed to fund the leveraged exposure — essentially an interest payment on the notional value of your position.
It applies only to rolling (undated) contracts. Because futures contracts have the cost of carry built into the spread at the outset, they are exempt.
At GMG, financing charges are calculated as 2.5% above or below the relevant overnight benchmark rate, applied to the total notional value of the position.
Which Benchmark Rates Apply?
Region | Long Position | Short Position |
United Kingdom | 2.5% + SONIA | SONIA − 2.5% |
United States | 2.5% + SOFR | SOFR − 2.5% |
European Union | 2.5% + €STR | €STR − 2.5% |
Other | Contact your GMG client relationship manager | Contact your GMG client relationship manager |
SONIA (Sterling Overnight Index Average) is the benchmark rate published by the Bank of England and is the standard reference rate for GBP-denominated overnight financing.
When Does Overnight Financing Apply?
The daily financing charge is applied every calendar day that you hold an open rolling position — including weekends and public holidays. On a Monday morning, three days’ financing will typically be applied to account for Saturday and Sunday.
How Is Overnight Financing Calculated?
Long Position Example — FTSE 100 CFD
You buy 50 CFDs on the FTSE 100 at 8,200. By the end of the trading session the index has moved to 8,250, and you decide to hold overnight in anticipation of further upside.
The current SONIA rate is 4.75%.
Overnight financing (long) = (Contracts × Current Price) × (2.5% + SONIA) ÷ 365
(50 × 8,250) × (2.5% + 4.75%) ÷ 365
= £412,500 × 7.25% ÷ 365
= £81.94
£81.94 would be debited from your account for that night.
Short Position Example — FTSE 100 CFD
You sell 50 CFDs on the FTSE 100 at 8,200. The index falls to 8,150 by close, but you wish to hold overnight to target a further decline to 8,050.
The current SONIA rate is 4.75%.
Overnight financing (short) = (Contracts × Current Price) × (SONIA − 2.5%) ÷ 365
(50 × 8,150) × (4.75% − 2.5%) ÷ 365
= £407,500 × 2.25% ÷ 365
= £25.14
£25.14 would be credited to your account for that night.
Please note: When benchmark rates are exceptionally low, the net rate on a short position (SONIA − 2.5%) may be negative, in which case a financing charge will be debited rather than credited.
Key Points to Remember
- Overnight financing applies to all rolling leveraged positions (CFDs and Spread Bets) held past the daily close.
- The charge is based on the total notional value of the position, not just the margin deposited.
- UK positions reference SONIA, published daily by the Bank of England.
- Long positions are debited (you pay financing); short positions are typically credited (you receive financing), subject to the rate differential noted above.
- Financing accumulates daily, including weekends — three days’ financing is applied on Monday.
- All financing is calculated on a 365-day basis for UK instruments.
- On a hedged account, the net overnight cost of a matched position is the spread between the long rate and the short rate — not two full charges. You may wish to consider whether closing the matched position is more cost-effective than holding it overnight.
- Alternatively, if you switch to a netted account, offsetting positions in the same instrument will be automatically closed by the system, eliminating overnight funding on the matched legs entirely. You can request to switch between a hedged and a netted account at any time; please contact your Client Relationship Manager or our Customer Support team at info@gmgmarkets.co.uk
Funding Charges on your MT5
You will able to view the latest swap rates/funding charges within your MetaTrader 5 trading terminal by following the process outlined below:
- Right click on any instrument in the ‘Market Watch’ section, then left click on the ‘Specification’ option from the dropdown menu. A new window will open that shows the long and short swap rate for the pair selected.
Swap-Free Trading on MT5 platform
If you do not wish to receive or be charged swaps, then our GlobalMarketsGroup swap-free account is ideal for you. Swap-free trading is available on the MT5 platform with a minimum balance requirement of $10,000, enabling you to trade without incurring any swap fees for positions kept open at the end of each trading day. It applies to forex (major and minor pairs) or precious metal trading symbols. However, please note that all other instruments are subject to swap fees.
Please note that if you already hold a Standard and/or Raw Trading account and you wish to convert it to a Swap-Free account, the existing account must be closed before a Swap-Free account can be opened. If you need to close an account, please ensure all open trade positions have been closed first.
For more details ask your GlobalMarketsGroup account representative or email us at info@gmgmarkets.co.uk to help you with the account opening process.
IMPORTANT: Once you have been approved for a Swap-Free account, you will be notified of the details of the swap-free nature and general conditions of the account. Please be aware that we reserve the right to monitor swap-free accounts to ensure it is being used in good faith and for the purposes intended, and that we will contact you directly if we suspect any irregularities.