Privacy Policy

Information Collected by Vital Markets. The categories of non-public personal information which Vital Markets shall collect include:

1. Information provided by the customer when opening an Account, or to process a transaction, such as name, address, assets, bank information, prior trading experience, etc.;
2. Information used to verify the identity of the customer, including copies of government-issued identification materials such as passports, drivers licenses, and credit reports;
3. Information resulting from transactions between the customer and Vital Markets or an affiliate of Vital Markets, such as withdrawal and deposit forms;
4. Information derived from customer’s navigation and usage of Vital Markets’ website and online platforms, including Account trading statements.
5. Information Disclosed by Vital Markets and To Whom Vital Markets Discloses the Information. Vital Markets does not share non-public personal information about our clients or former customers with anyone, except as permitted by law. For example, Vital Markets may provide information to non-affiliated third parties, as permitted by law, in providing financial services to you. This includes a consumer reporting agency that prepares your credit report. Furthermore, Vital Markets may provide information, as permitted by law, to the government or regulatory agencies and to comply with a legal summons, court order, subpoena or a similar legal process, audit or investigation. We may also disclose your non-public personal information if you authorize such disclosure.
   Confidentiality and Security Procedures.
6. Using your personal information:
   1. As well as checking your identity, the personal information we hold may be used for: considering any of your applications; carrying out risk assessments; performing our obligations under any contract we have with you; administering our relationship with you including resolving queries or issues; establishing and managing your account; reviewing your ongoing needs; providing you with the information, products and services that you request from us; investigating any complaint you may make; providing evidence in any dispute or anticipated dispute between you and us; enhancing our customer service and products; undertaking product development and analysis; and detecting or preventing fraud or other crimes.
   2. Where you have consented to receive updates from us, we may contact you from time to time by post, email, telephone, SMS or other electronic messaging services
7. Only those personnel for whom the information is necessary to complete a given transaction shall possess the authority to access the information. Vital Markets, its personnel, and its affiliates shall strictly adhere to security practices and procedures to ensure the confidentiality of its customers’ information. Vital Markets maintains numerous safeguards that comply with regulations to guard your non-public personal information.
8. Vital Markets will continue to protect the privacy of former customers’ non-public personal information in the same manner as when they were customers. Unlike continuing customers, however, former customers will not receive annual privacy notices.
9. Vital Markets will provide a notice of our privacy policy annually, as long as the customer maintains an Account with Vital Markets. Vital Markets reserves the right to make changes to this policy. This policy may always be reviewed on https://Vitalmarkets.com/

CONSENTS AND FURTHER AGREEMENTS

CONSENT TO ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION OF CONFIRMATIONS & ACCOUNT STATEMENTS.

1. Customer hereby consents to have Customer’s Account information and trade confirmations available on the Internet, in lieu of having such information delivered to Customer via mail or email, as specified in paragraphs labeled “Statements and Confirmations” and “Communications” of the Customer Agreement. Authorization To Transfer Funds.
2. Customer hereby agrees that Vital Markets may, at any time and from time to time, in the sole discretion of Vital Markets, apply and transfer from any of Customer’s Accounts with Vital Markets to any of Customer’s other accounts, whether held at Vital Markets or other approved financial institutions, any of the Contracts, currencies, securities or other property of Customer held either individually or jointly with others to another account.
3. Agreement To Use Collateral. Customer authorizes Vital Markets to sell, pledge, rehypothecate, assign, invest, commingle and otherwise use any Collateral held by Vital Markets, including, but not limited to, using the Contracts as collateral for a loan to Vital Markets, and, further trading with the Collateral, as provided in the Customer Agreement (including, but not limited to Paragraph 6 thereof).
4. Where Customer’s Account consists of more than one Account, this authorization shall apply to all of Customer’s Accounts with Vital Markets.
5. This Agreement to Use Collateral shall remain in effect so long as Customer’s Account with Vital Markets remains open or Customer has any obligations of any kind to Vital Markets, under the Customer Agreement. Social Security / Tax ID Certification.
6. Customer hereby certifies, under penalty of perjury, that (1) the number provided on the Customer Application is Customer’s correct Social Security or Taxpayer Identification Number and (2) the ownership, or beneficiary, of Customer’s Account, is not subject to backup withholding under Section 3406(a)(1)(C) of the Internal Revenue Code.

ARBITRATION AGREEMENT.

1. Any dispute, claim or controversy between Customer, on one hand, and Vital Markets and/or its officers, directors, agents or employees, on the other hand, arising out of or relating to the Customer Agreement, Customer’s Account with Vital Markets or any other trading between Customer and Vital Markets shall be resolved by binding arbitration. The forum of the arbitration may be American Arbitration Association (“AAA”), within the United States of America (“USA”), in accordance with the AAA arbitration rules in effect at the time such arbitration is commenced, or another appropriate arbitration forum within the United States.
2. If the forum of arbitration is outside of the USA, any dispute between the Customer and Vital Markets shall be resolved in the international division of AAA, the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (“ICDR”), in accordance with the International Arbitration Rules in effect at the time such arbitration is commenced.
3. The award in such arbitration proceeding shall be final and binding and may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof. The arbitration shall be held unless the forum is not reasonably convenient for the Customer, at which time an alternate forum shall be determined by the arbitrator. Customer and Vital Markets agree to take all steps and execute all documents necessary for the implementation of arbitration proceedings.
4. All statutes of limitations applicable to any dispute apply to any arbitration between Customer and Vital Markets. The provisions of this Arbitration Agreement shall survive termination, amendment or expiration of Customer’s Account relationship or the governing Vital Markets Customer Agreement or any other relationship between Customer and Vital Markets. Either Customer or Vital Markets may require the submission of the dispute to binding arbitration at any reasonable time, notwithstanding that a lawsuit or other proceeding has been commenced.
5. Neither Customer nor Vital Markets shall be entitled to join or consolidate disputes by or against others in any arbitration, or to include in any arbitration any dispute as a representative or member of a class, or to act in any arbitration in the interest of the general public or of a private attorney general.
6. Except as may be required by law, neither a party nor an arbitrator may disclose the existence, content, or result of any arbitration hereunder without the prior written consent of both parties.

TRADING RULES AND PROCEDURES

The following Trading Rules and Regulations will outline procedures and policies regarding trading and setting up an Account with Vital Markets. All Customers are required to read, understand and adhere to these rules and regulations. Vital Markets reserves the right to change any rules or regulations at its sole discretion and at any time.

Trading Hours:

1. The Vital Markets normal trading week begins at 19:00 (7:00 PM EST) on Sunday and ends at 16:00 (4:00 PM EST) on Friday (time are subject to change.)
2. Vital Markets will announce and display on a best efforts basis a holiday schedule on the website when trading will not take place.
3. In the event of a holiday, Vital Markets will on a best efforts basis pre-announce the start-up time when trading will resume in advance and display the information on the website
4. Vital Markets reserves the right at its sole discretion to conduct special technical maintenance times when trading electronically may not be available.

Deposit and Account Information:

1. Deposits can be made via a wire transfer. Funds are not available for trading until they clear at the bank and posted to the Customer’s trading Account.
2. All bank fees such as wire transfer fees into and out of the Account will be debited to the Customer’s trading Account as they occur.
3. In instances where the Customer is closing an Account with instructions to wire the remaining balances, the wire transfer fee will be deducted from the Final Account Balance forwarded to the Customer.
4. All deposits are accepted in U.S. Dollars only unless otherwise agreed. Customers from foreign countries have the option to convert the foreign currency into US Dollars before wiring to Vital Markets clearing bank, or wire foreign currencies to our clearing bank at which point our clearing bank will convert the balances into US Dollars at their current conversion rate for that currency.
5. A minimum deposit of $10 is required to open an Account with Vital Markets.
6. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES will Vital Markets accept payment or deposit into an Account by a person or entity other than the person or entity whose name appears on the Account.
7. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES will Vital Markets make payment to a person or entity other than person or entity whose name appears on the Account.
8. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES will Vital Markets transfer funds from one Account with Vital Markets to another Account at Vital Markets with different Account Authorization information.
9. Telephone Orders. Vital Markets has qualified staff that can execute customer’s trade orders over the telephone. Telephone execution is intended for those circumstances when trading via the Trading Platform is not available due to technical problems on the Customer’s internet or in situations when the Customer has no other connectivity option. This option can only be executed on the provision that the technical problems are not related to a general Vital Markets server problem. The following steps should be used to transact via the telephone:
10. The Vital Markets representative will ask for the Customer’s User Name and Account Number and confirm that each match and confirm the identity of the Customer;
11. Once confirmed, Vital Markets will ask for the Customer’s Order. (i.e. “What is your Order?”)
12. The Customer should provide the desired Order Type, Trade Action, Number of Lots, Trading Product and Price (if not a Market Order).
13. Liquidation level: Vital Markets reserves the right to automatically liquidate the position and the Customer will be responsible for all losses as a result of the liquidation. Vital Markets reserves the right to change the Liquidation Level at its sole discretion.
14. Prices from Vital Markets are independent of prices found elsewhere. Customers acknowledge that the prices reported by Vital Markets for buying and selling are independent and can differ from the prices displayed elsewhere or from other liquidity providers in the interbank changes in liquidity from interbank to Vital Markets, an unbalanced position or exposure at Vital Markets, or differing expectations of price movements. Vital Markets expects that in most cases the prices provided to its Customers will be in line with the general interbank market but does not warrant or imply that this will always be the case.
15. Rollover rates for open positions are determined by Vital Markets and are independent of prices found elsewhere in the Interbank market. Customer acknowledges that when applicable, all existing Open Positions that remain open over the end of the business day for Vital Markets, defined as 5:00 PM EST/EDT, are automatically rolled over to the next available Spot Settlement Date at a net debit or credit to the Customer(s) Account as determined by spot interest rates determined solely by Vital Markets. Rollover debits and credits are also influenced by the number of days that the position has to be rolled. For positions that need to be rolled from a spot settlement date from Friday to Monday, the debit or credit will reflect rollover from Friday to Monday or three business days. For rollovers from Monday to Tuesday, Tuesday to Wednesday, Wednesday to Thursday and Thursday to Friday, the rollover debit or credit is for only one business day. If there is a holiday and Vital Markets is closed, the rollover would take into consideration the holiday. For example, if Tuesday is a holiday, rollovers from Monday will be for two (2) business days (i.e. from Monday to Wednesday). Since rollover debits and credits are determined by the respective short-term spot interest, a large spread can cause a large debt or credit rollover amount. This spread can result but is not limited to, countries tightening of credit conditions in order to dissuade speculators from shorting one trading product versus another. Vital Markets reserves the right to change the credits or debits at its sole discretion if the original amounts are in wrong due to an error or omission.
16. Sweep rates for balances other than USD are determined by Vital Markets and may be independent of prices found elsewhere in the Interbank market. Profits that are calculated in a foreign currency are “swept” into dollars when the open positions are closed and the Profit and Loss realized. There is No Guarantee of Profit from Trading with Vital Markets: Customer acknowledges that neither Vital Markets nor any of its representative’s guarantees to the Customer that they will profit from trading. Customer further acknowledges that they could sustain the loss of their entire Risk Capital deposited in their Account and are financially able to withstand any losses incurred.
17. There is No Guarantee that Vital Markets will be able to execute stop-loss orders, limit orders or OCO Orders at the Customer Entered Price. Customer acknowledges and agrees that there may be market, liquidity or other conditions that will prevent Vital Markets from executing Customers specific Stop Loss Orders, Limit Orders or OCO Orders at the Customer designated price. In some cases, the orders will be executed at prices that are less favourable to the price entered and desired by the Customer. The Customer acknowledges and agrees that they are still responsible for trades executed at levels different from their orders and that Vital Markets is not liable for failure to do so.
18. There is technology risk inherent in trading online or via a software application. Although Vital Markets has invested a lot of resources developing, testing, configuring and integrating the Trading Platform and other relevant software and hardware, the Customer acknowledges and agrees that Vital Markets does not guarantee that the Customer will be able to successfully execute the transaction, monitor their positions, or perform other essential tasks of Vital Markets while using the public Internet and other technology from Vital Markets or from third-party vendors known or not known for which Vital Markets may rely on. Vital Markets cannot control, without limitation, the routing, Internet connectivity, reliability of customer or Vital Markets equipment, network connections or any other technology hardware malfunction caused by Vital Markets hardware, hardware and connectivity that makes up the public Internet, or hardware at the Customers location. Nor does Vital Markets guarantee, although all effort has been made to the contrary, that the Trading Platform and Associated Back Office and Broker Software Interfaces nor any other code or application including but not limited to the interface with Vital Markets liquidity provider(s) or the interface with the escrow Account institution or other technology application that would come under the heading software, are error-free and would not lead to communications problems, computer software or hardware breakdowns, malfunctioning errors, and any and all problems or glitches associated with computer problems or any other technical cause or causes. Customer acknowledges and agrees that Vital Markets provides Trading Platform and Associated Back Office and Broker Software Interfaces “as is,” without any warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or other express or implied warranties.
19. Trades Done Using chat applications. Vital Markets may incorporate the use of an electronic conversational application or other chat-like programs. Such an application will be used by Vital Markets to give Customers another way to communicate order details to the Vital Markets Trading Desk.
20. Source of Funds. The Customer confirms to have sufficient funds and risk capital available for immediate transfer to support a margin-based brokerage account with Vital Markets, for over-the-counter and/or off-exchange trading products. The Customer understands the high degree of risk associated with trading and waives Vital Markets of any and all liability. The Customer understands that these funds act as protection for any of their own customers who may take trading positions that result in loss, negative balance or margin call.
21. KYC (Know Your Customer) Policy. Know your customer policies have become increasingly important worldwide lately, especially among banks and other financial institutions, in order to prevent identity theft, money laundering, financial fraud and terrorist activity. Vital Markets holds a zero-tolerance fraud policy and is taking all measures possible to prevent it. Any fraudulent activity will be documented and all related accounts to it will be immediately closed. All funds in these accounts will be forfeited.

PREVENTION:

Vital Markets aims to ensure the integrity of any sensitive data it obtains, such as your account information and the transactions you make, using a variety of security measures and fraud controls. Securing your electronic transactions requires us to be provided with certain data from you, including your preferred deposit method.

When you deposit funds we will require the following documents:

1. A copy of your valid passport with the signature page
2. Copies of your credit cards used to make the deposit (the Front side with only the 4 last digits visible, backside with the CVV covered).
3. A copy of a recent utility bill in your name and address
4. Signed purchase history of your online transactions

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact our customer support at [email protected]

When do I need to provide these documents? We highly appreciate you taking the time to provide us with all the necessary documents as soon as you can, in order to avoid any delays in processing your transactions. We require the receipt of all the necessary documents prior to making any cash transactions to your benefit.

Some circumstances may require us to request these documents before allowing any other activities in your account, such as deposits or trades.

Please note that if we will not receive the required documents on file, your pending withdrawals will be canceled and credited back to your trading account. We will notify you of such an event via our system.

How can I send you these documents?

Please scan your documents, or take a high-quality digital camera picture, save the images as jpegs, then upload them in your Vital Markets portal.

How do I know my documents are safe with you?

Vital Markets holds the security of documentation at the highest priority and treats all documents it receives with utmost respect and confidentiality. All files we obtain are fully protected using the highest level possible of encryption at every step of the review process.

We thank you for your cooperation in helping us make Vital Markets a safer place to trade.

ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING.

Vital Markets does not tolerate money laundering and supports the fight against money launderers. Vital Markets follows the guidelines set by the UK’s Joint Money Laundering Steering Group. The UK is a full member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the intergovernmental body whose purpose is to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. Vital Markets now has policies in place to deter people from laundering money. These policies include:

1. Ensuring clients have valid proof of identification
2. Maintaining records of identification information
3. Determining that clients are not known or suspected terrorists by checking their names against lists of known or suspected terrorists
4. Informing clients that the information they provide may be used to verify their identity
5. Closely following clients’ money transactions
6. Not accepting cash, money orders, third-party transactions, exchange houses transfers or Western Union transfers.

Money laundering occurs when funds from an illegal/criminal activity are moved through the financial system in such a way as to make it appear that the funds have come from legitimate sources.

Money Laundering usually follows three stages:

1. Firstly, cash or cash equivalents are placed into the financial system
2. Secondly, money is transferred or moved to other accounts (e.g. futures accounts) through a series of financial transactions designed to obscure the origin of the money (e.g. executing trades with little or no financial risk or transferring account balances to other accounts)
3. Finally, the funds are re-introduced into the economy so that the funds appear to have come from legitimate sources (e.g. closing a futures account and transferring the funds to a bank account).

Trading accounts are one vehicle that can be used to launder illicit funds or to hide the true owner of the funds. In particular, a trading account can be used to execute financial transactions that help obscure the origins of the funds.

Vital Markets directs funds withdrawals back to the original source of remittance, as a preventative measure. International Anti-Money Laundering requires financial services institutions to be aware of potential money laundering abuses that could occur in a customer account and implement a compliance program to deter, detect and report potentially suspicious activity.

These guidelines have been implemented to protect Vital Markets and its clients.

For questions/comments regarding these guidelines, please contact us at [email protected]

Legal Restrictions. without limiting the undermentioned provisions, you understand that laws regarding financial contracts vary throughout the world, and it is your responsibility to make sure you properly comply with any law, regulation or guideline in your country of residence regarding the use of the Site. To avoid any doubt, the ability to access our Site does not necessarily mean that our Services and/or your activities through the Site are legal under the laws, regulations or directives relevant to your country of residence

The Customer will be charged a $10 inactivity fee or equivalent in the alternative currency if they have not traded within the last 6 Months

The customer also hereby confirms that these funds are free of any liens or debts, are clean and non-criminal in origin and do not originate from the United States of America or any country on the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) List. As such, Customer agrees to comply with any request to provide additional documentation that is requested by Vital Markets and its representatives.

Pricing errors & off-market quotes

There is the possibility that pricing errors, non-market-based price quotes, off-market quotes, omissions or misquotes (referred hereafter as “Material Errors”) may occur in the pricing that we provide for trading.

A Material Error may include the date, time, incorrect price, or any error and/or lack of clarity of any information regarding a trade.

For any trades based on Material Errors, we reserve the right to do any of the below things (or a combination of them), without your consent:

• amend the terms and conditions of the trade to reflect what we consider to have been a reasonable and fair price at the time when the trade was entered into, had there been no Material Error occurring (i.e. the market price),
• apply an equity adjustment to your Account, if the value of the adjustment reflects what we consider to have been the reasonable and fair price at the when time the trade was entered into, had there been no Material Error occurring (i.e. the market price). We will provide you with a record of the adjustment as soon as possible post adjustment,
• Close-Out your trade by buying or selling an offsetting trade at prevailing market rates,
• require you to repay us any money we have paid you regarding the trade,
• void the trade from the outset, or
• not take any action to amend or void the trade.

We will exercise our rights under the above Pricing errors & off-market quotes clauses ((i) to (vi)), fairly and in good faith, and as soon as possible after we become aware of the occurrence of the Material Error. Where possible, we will advise you before we take any action under the above clauses.  If, however, this is not possible, we will advise you as soon as possible afterward.

We are not liable to you for any loss, cost, claim, demand or expense that you incur or suffer (including loss of profits or indirect or consequential losses), arising from or connected with a Material Error, including where the Material Error arises from an information service that we rely on.

BEHAVIOUR POLICY

We are dedicated to providing a fair and consistent service to everyone. We believe that everyone who contacts us has the right to be heard and understood, and also respected.

We believe that our staff has the same rights, and we must provide a safe working environment for our staff. We must also ensure the efficient and effective operation of our business so that we can provide a good service to everyone who is using our business.

We may decide to restrict access to our service where we consider someone’s actions or behaviour are likely to have a negative effect on our staff or our work.

This policy sets out the kinds of actions and behaviour that may have a negative effect, and what we will do in these circumstances. This policy applies to everyone who interacts or communicates with us, including clients, potential clients, affiliates, and users of our means of communication – email, chat, and telephone.

We recognise that some people may have difficulties in expressing themselves or communicating clearly, especially when anxious or upset. We also understand that some people may find it difficult to identify what impact their behaviour might have on other people.

Our rights

All our staff has the right not to be subjected to aggressive, offensive, or abusive actions, language or behaviour, regardless of the circumstances. This means any actions or behaviour that could cause staff to feel intimidated, threatened or offended. These include, but are not limited to – threats, physical violence, personal verbal abuse, derogatory remarks, and rudeness, whether made to the member of staff directly or elsewhere. Deliberately provocative or inflammatory statements and unsubstantiated allegations can also amount to abusive actions or behaviour.

Violence can be defined in various ways – it also includes behaviour or language, whether oral or written, that may cause staff to feel afraid, threatened or abused.

If someone makes unreasonable demands on us or our staff or is unreasonably persistent, that may have an impact on our ability to review the person’s complaint, or the complaints of other people who are using the services. Some examples include the following: requesting responses within an unreasonable timescale; insisting on speaking to or corresponding with a particular member of staff, frequent phone calls, emails, or online chats; repeatedly changing the substance of the complaint or raising unrelated concerns.

Examples of unreasonable persistence include: continual refusal to accept that a decision has been made in relation to a complaint; insisting that we answer questions when we have done so or explained why we will not; persistent refusal to accept explanations relating to what we can or can’t do; sending emails to multiple members of staff; or repeatedly trying to revisit a case through our internal processes, once those processes have come to an end.

Our approach

When we consider that a person’s actions or behaviour are likely to have a negative effect, we will tell them why and we will give them the opportunity to modify their actions or behaviour. If the actions or behaviour continue, we will take steps to prevent or minimise the negative effects. Wherever possible, we will continue with our review of the person’s complaint. We will try to ensure that any action we take is the minimum required to protect our staff and to ensure that they can work effectively.

Our staff may either place a caller on hold or end the telephone call if the caller is aggressive, offensive or abusive, or is making unreasonable demands. The same approach will be used for online chats. Staff are accountable for their actions and are required to log all instances of when calls have been terminated, noting the reason(s) for ending the call. All telephone calls and online chats are recorded for service and training purposes.

It may be necessary to apply restrictions to someone’s contact with us. A decision to do this may be taken by any of our managers. Some of the options that we may consider are:

• Read and file future emails and chat correspondence but acknowledge or respond to it only if the person is raising new information or making a new complaint,
• Requesting a person to transfer any funds they own from their account, and subsequently close their account with us. Once the closure of the account has occurred, to restrict or block future contact from a person.

We will record any incidents which lead us to take action under this policy, and what action we have taken to address the issue.

Report the matter to the Police or appropriate governing body, or take legal action. In such cases, we may not give the person prior warning of taking that action.

Anyone who is unhappy with a decision we have made under this policy may submit a complaint to our email. We will consider it in line with our client policies in place at the given time.