In brief

  • A single letter changes. The Financial Supervisory Authority has rewritten letter c) of Article 3 of the regulation that says how much an ordinary client has to put up from his own pocket when he bets on the movement of a price through contracts for difference.
  • Oil, gas, wheat or silver now fall expressly within the 10% threshold. Until 15 September 2026, the Romanian text spoke only of commodity indices, not of commodities, and a commodity taken as such fell into the residual category, where the client has to cover 20% of the position.
  • Commodity indices travel the other way. They leave letter c) and remain, on the wording of the law, in that same residual category, with a 20% requirement. Regulation no. 8/2026 applies from 16 September 2026, with no transitional period for positions already open.
Act: Regulation no. 8/2026 of the Financial Supervisory Authority amending letter c) of Article 3 of Regulation no. 11/2018 of the Financial Supervisory Authority
Published: Official Gazette of Romania (Monitorul Oficial) no. 787 of 16 September 2026
In force from: 16 September 2026, the very day of publication, under Article II of the regulation

The Financial Supervisory Authority has changed a single letter in an eight year old regulation, and the effect lands straight in the accounts of clients who trade on the price of oil, gas or grain. Regulation no. 8/2026, published in Official Gazette of Romania no. 787 of 16 September 2026, rewrites letter c) of Article 3 of ASF Regulation no. 11/2018 and applies from the very day of publication. It is the second piece of regulation issued by ASF in September 2026 in the field of investments, after the one through which brokers were given the right to hold in custody the investments made through crowdfunding platforms.

A contract for difference, known by its English initials CFD, is an agreement between a client and an intermediary under which the two pay each other the difference between the price of an asset when the position is opened and its price when the position is closed. The client buys no barrel of oil and no gram of silver, only exposure to the movement of the price. Because he does not pay the full value of the position but only a part of it, he can move sums far larger than he holds in his account. The part he puts down is called the initial margin, and the ratio between the exposure and his own money is called leverage.

Article 3 of ASF Regulation no. 11/2018 sets that ratio on five steps, according to what stands behind the contract: 30:1, that is 3.33% own money, for pairs between the dollar, the euro, the yen, the pound, the Canadian dollar and the Swiss franc; 20:1, that is 5%, for ten major stock indices, for currency pairs involving smaller currencies and for gold; 10:1, that is 10%, at letter c); 2:1, that is 50%, for cryptocurrencies; and 5:1, that is 20%, for shares and for any other asset not named in the article.

Until the amendment, letter c) read as follows: the 10% threshold applies where the commodity index or the equity securities index of the underlying asset is a commodity index or any equity securities index other than those at letter b). The text therefore required an index. A commodity taken as such, oil, natural gas, silver, copper, wheat or maize, appeared nowhere in the article, with the exception of gold, which has its own step at letter b). The consequence was that commodities ended up in the residual basket at letter e), where the requirement is 20%.

The new letter c) moves things around: the 10% threshold applies where the commodity type or equity securities index type underlying asset is a commodity or any equity securities index other than those at letter b). The word commodity comes in, the phrase commodity index goes out.

What it changes in practice

For a client opening a position on the price of oil, the calculation halves. With 1,000 lei in the account, under the 20% requirement he could support an exposure of 5,000 lei. Under the 10% requirement he can support 10,000 lei. The same own money, twice the exposure and, mirroring it, twice the loss on the same price movement of the asset.

In the opposite direction, contracts whose benchmark is a commodity index rather than a specific commodity leave letter c). They are not found at letter b) either, which names ten equity indices, gold and the currency pairs, so they stay at letter e), where the client has to cover 20% of the position. For anyone trading such indices, the sum locked up in the account doubles.

The rest of the rules in ASF Regulation no. 11/2018 remain untouched. The intermediary is still obliged to close the client’s positions when the money in the account plus unrealised profits falls below half of the required margin, to guarantee that the client’s debt cannot exceed the money in the trading account, and to display a risk warning on every piece of marketing material. The standard warning in annexes no. 3 and no. 4 to the regulation contains a figure worth remembering for anyone approaching this product: between 74% and 89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading contracts for difference.

Anyone who fails to observe the regulation answers under Title X of Law no. 126/2018, the sanctions chapter of the capital market law. The rule applies to anyone selling or distributing such contracts in Romania to retail clients, whether it is a financial investment services company authorised here or an investment firm from another member state operating on the Romanian market.

What has changed compared with the previous situation

The difference between the two versions of letter c) fits into a comparison of a few words. The old text required the underlying asset to be a commodity index or an equity index. The new text requires the underlying asset to be a commodity or an equity index. In practice, commodities proper come under the threshold, and commodity indices go out.

The old wording was not an invention of ASF. It reproduces word for word letter (c) of Annex I to Decision (EU) 2018/796 of the European Securities and Markets Authority, in the Romanian version published in the Official Journal of the European Union, L series, no. 136 of 1 June 2018. The English version of the same annex, the only one ASF now follows, says something else: 10% where the commodity or equity index type underlying asset is a commodity or any equity index other than those at letter (b). The Romanian text in the Official Journal of the European Union turned the commodity into a commodity index, and ASF Regulation no. 11/2018 took the translation over as it stood in October 2018.

ASF Regulation no. 11/2018 had been amended only once until now, by ASF Regulation no. 24/2020, published in Official Gazette of Romania no. 1.143 of 26 November 2020. That one rewrote Article 2(2), the definition of the margin close-out, and came after Law no. 158/2020, published in Official Gazette of Romania no. 673 of 29 July 2020, had repealed the definition in Article 104(6)(e) of Law no. 126/2018. Article 3, the one with the leverage steps, had never been touched until Regulation no. 8/2026.

Advantages and disadvantages

What it improves

  • The Romanian text now says the same thing as the European measure it applies, and a client who wants to check for himself no longer finds two different answers to the same question.
  • Gone is the grey area in which an ordinary commodity appeared nowhere in Article 3 and had to be inferred from the residual basket at letter e).
  • Intermediaries operating in other member states as well no longer need a separate rule for their Romanian clients on commodity contracts.
  • The regulation does not touch the protections that matter most to the client: automatic margin close-out, the ban on ending up in debt beyond the money in the account, and the mandatory risk warning.
  • The amendment is short and can be read in one go, unlike the sweeping rewrites that force a whole article to be reconstructed.

What remains a problem

  • The own money requirement falls from 20% to 10% on commodity contracts, which doubles the exposure a retail client can support with the same sum and, with it, the possible loss.
  • Commodity indices leave letter c) without the regulation saying where they end up, and the answer comes only from reading letter e) to the end.
  • There is no transitional provision for positions opened before 16 September 2026, even though the rule enters into force on the same day it appears.
  • The regulation nowhere explains why the text is being changed now, after almost eight years, and the reader has to compare the two versions himself to understand what is at stake.
  • ASF Regulation no. 11/2018 reaches its second amendment without being republished in consolidated form, so anyone wanting the full text has to piece together three acts.

Practical advice

  1. Ask your intermediary, in writing, for the list of margin requirements by type of asset applicable after 16 September 2026. On commodity contracts it should say 10%, and on commodity indices, 20%.
  2. If you hold open positions on a commodity index, check before the next session whether the platform has recalculated the required margin. A requirement raised from 10% to 20% can trigger the automatic closing of the position.
  3. Do not confuse a lower threshold with a lower risk. A 10% requirement means that a 10% price movement the wrong way can consume the whole sum you put down for that position.
  4. Read the percentage in the risk warning displayed by your intermediary. It is calculated quarterly, over the previous 12 months, and shows how many retail accounts lost money with that provider, not in general.
  5. Check the ASF register to see whether the firm you work with is entitled to distribute such contracts in Romania. The margin rules bind only those under the authority’s supervision.
  6. If your intermediary asks you for less than 10% margin on a commodity contract, report it to ASF. Failure to observe the regulation is sanctioned under Title X of Law no. 126/2018.

Frequently asked questions

What is a contract for difference, in plain words?
It is an agreement between you and an intermediary under which you pay each other the price difference of an asset between the moment the position is opened and the moment it is closed. You do not buy the asset, you only take on exposure to the movement of its price.
What does an initial margin of 10% mean?
It means that, for a position of 10,000 lei, you have to hold at least 1,000 lei of your own in the account. The rest of the exposure is carried by leverage, which in this case is 10:1.
From what date does the new rule apply?
From 16 September 2026, the date the regulation was published in the Official Gazette of Romania. Article II expressly provides for entry into force on the date of publication, and the three day period reserved for laws and ordinances does not apply to the regulations of regulatory authorities.
Which assets count as commodities in this context?
The regulation does not list them. Market practice includes oil, natural gas, industrial and precious metals other than gold, and agricultural products. Gold has its own step, at letter b), with a 5% requirement.
Why does gold stay at 5% and not move to 10%?
Because letter b) mentions it separately, and the new letter c) expressly excludes everything already provided for at letter b). Gold has been treated from the outset as a less volatile asset than the other commodities.
What happens to positions opened before 16 September 2026?
The regulation says nothing about them. How the intermediary recalculates the margin on existing positions depends on the contract you signed and on his internal policy, which is why it is worth checking with him directly.
Does the rule also apply to firms from other states that offer me such contracts?
Yes, if the marketing, sale or distribution takes place in Romania to retail clients. Article 104 of Law no. 126/2018 looks at the place where the distribution happens, not at the state in which the firm is authorised.
What can I lose, at worst, on such a contract?
At most the money in your trading account. The law imposes negative balance protection, meaning the intermediary cannot ask you for sums beyond what you have deposited. That does not mean losing the whole deposit is ruled out, quite the opposite.
Where can I read the full text of the margin rules?
In Article 3 of ASF Regulation no. 11/2018, published in Official Gazette of Romania no. 856 of 9 October 2018, read together with ASF Regulation no. 24/2020 and with ASF Regulation no. 8/2026, which amends letter c).

Editorial analysis

The act has no errors of its own. What it does have is a story that is not visible on reading it from start to finish: it repairs a departure that stayed in force for 2,899 days, almost eight years, and that did not start with ASF. Letter c) of 2018 is a faithful copy of letter (c) of Annex I to ESMA Decision (EU) 2018/796, in the Romanian version from the Official Journal of the European Union, L series, no. 136 of 1 June 2018, and that version says commodity index where the English original says commodity. The same Romanian translation of the decision contains, in Article 1, the phrase this directive inside an act that is a decision, a sign that the text never went through a careful reading. Romania took the error over into a national regulation, and the regulation produced effects until September 2026.

The second observation concerns the combination of two letters of the same article. Regulation no. 8/2026 removes the phrase commodity index from letter c), but does not move it anywhere. Since letter b) names only ten equity indices, the currency pairs and gold, a contract whose benchmark is a commodity index falls under letter e) point (ii), where the requirement is 20%. An act that halves the own money requirement on commodities doubles it, in the same sentence, on commodity indices. The regulation says this nowhere, and the reader finds it out only by going through Article 3 to the last letter.

The third observation concerns the pace. The ASF Council deliberated on 26 August 2026, the regulation was signed on 10 September and published on 16 September, that is 21 days from the decision to the Official Gazette of Romania. Those on the receiving end, however, are given no interval at all: the rule applies from the day of publication, in a market where positions are recalculated in real time and where a margin recalculation can close a position automatically. The administration took three weeks for its own internal journey and left intermediaries zero days to adjust their systems.

What should be changed

  • A public explanatory note, published together with the regulation. A paragraph saying that the amendment aligns the text with the English version of the ESMA decision would spare every intermediary a comparison of three documents made on his own.
  • A transitional provision for open positions. A short period, of a few working days, in which the new requirements apply only to new positions would remove the risk that the change of threshold on commodity indices triggers automatic closures on the day of publication.
  • A referral to ESMA for the correction of the Romanian version of Decision (EU) 2018/796. As long as Annex I in Romanian stays unchanged in the Official Journal of the European Union, any reader starting from the European source arrives at the wrong rule, and the error can be reproduced in another national act.
  • Republication of ASF Regulation no. 11/2018 in consolidated form. After two amendments, the full text does not exist in a single official place, even though these are rules addressed directly to retail clients, not only to lawyers.
  • Correcting the agreement in letter c). The Romanian wording o marfă sau orice indice al titlurilor de capital, alții decât cei prevăzuți la lit. b) uses a masculine plural for two nouns of different genders. It does not change the legal solution, but a sentence that has to be read twice has no place in a rule that sets how much a person may risk with his own money.

Original text of the legal act

The text below is reproduced in Romanian, the official form of publication.

The full text, as published in the Official Gazette of Romania

Official Gazette of Romania no. 787 of 16 September 2026 16 pages PDF, 171 KB the act starts on page 15

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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific situations, consult a licensed attorney or tax advisor.