The automatic closure rule requires providers to liquidate positions as soon as available margin falls below 50% of the minimum required. This measure aims to prevent the accumulation of losses that could dangerously approach the negative balance protection threshold.

Negative balance protection is an absolute guarantee for the retail investor. Regardless of the magnitude of market movements, the client can never lose more than the capital deposited in their trading account. This measure eliminates the risk of indebtedness that could have occurred during episodes of high volatility, such as the sharp depreciation of the Swiss franc in January 2015.

An AMF study published in 2014 demonstrated that 89% of clients investing in CFDs were incurring losses, with an average loss of 10,887 euros per client. This study fully justified the restrictions imposed by the MiFIR regulation to protect non-professional investors.

Under the MiFIR regulation, leverage limits are differentiated according to the volatility of the underlying assets. For major currency pairs such as EUR/USD, the maximum authorized leverage limit is 30:1. This means an investor cannot take a position exceeding thirty times their initial deposit. This measure aims to protect non-professional investors against the high risks associated with speculative products.

The mandatory standardized warning must appear on all commercial communications and must mention the percentage of losing accounts calculated over the last twelve rolling months and updated quarterly. This percentage generally ranges between 74% and 89% depending on the provider.

Client protection measures on speculative products can be categorized according to their main objective. Leverage limits aim to reduce risk exposure. Negative balance protection aims to prevent losses exceeding capital. The prohibition of commercial incentives aims to ensure rational investment decisions. Finally, the standardized warning aims to clearly inform about risks.

Binary options have been banned from marketing to non-professional investors since July 2, 2019. This permanent measure adopted by the AMF follows the temporary bans renewed by ESMA since July 2018. The very nature of these instruments, which resemble bets rather than investments, combined with loss rates close to 100%, led regulators to conclude that no regulatory framework could sufficiently protect savers.