What Is the Difference between Initial Margin and Maintenance Margin in Futures Trading?
Initial margin is the minimum amount of money a trader must deposit in their margin account to open a new futures position. It acts as a performance bond.
Maintenance margin is the minimum equity level that must be maintained in the account after the position is open. If the account equity falls below the maintenance margin due to market losses, the trader receives a margin call and must deposit funds to bring the account back up to the initial margin level.
