Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to establish effective arrangements for obtaining, when house-investments.com hereafter the “Company”, is executing clients’ orders, the best possible result for its clients. This document aims to set out those arrangements and to ensure compliance with legislative requirements and the departmental and general procedures, which are set within this Internal Procedures Manual.
Legal Framework
In accordance with the Investment Services and Activities and Law regulating the capital market, house-investments.com must take all reasonable steps to obtain, when executing orders, the best possible result for their clients taking into account price, costs, speed, likelihood of execution, size, nature or any other consideration relevant to the execution of the order. Nevertheless, whenever there is a specific instruction from the client, the house-investments.com shall execute the order following the specific instruction.
In addition, Company must establish and implement an order execution policy to allow the Company to obtain, for its clients’ orders, the best possible result.
Policy
Dealing Room is the relevant department to which the order execution policy mainly applies. Senior Management reviews the policy on an annual basis or / and whenever a material change occurs that impacts the Company’s ability to continue offering best execution of its clients’ orders using the Company’s trading platform.
The Company proceeded to the establishment and maintenance of an Order Execution Policy, in order to ensure compliance with the obligation to execute orders on terms most favourable to the clients and to achieve the best possible results for its clients, taking into consideration its clients’ ability, needs and trading policies, where applicable and possible.
The policy outlines the process that the Company follows in executing trades, and assures taking all reasonable steps to consistently obtain the best possible result for clients through its order execution policy. It is noted however that when executing an order following a specific client instruction, the Company will execute the order in line with those instructions and will consider that it has discharged its best execution obligations.
Best Execution Criteria
The Company will take into account the best execution criteria for determining the relative importance of the execution factors:
The characteristics of the client
The characteristics of the client order
The characteristics of the financial instruments that are the subject of that order
The characteristics of the execution venues to which that order can be directed.
The best possible result will be determined in terms of the total consideration, representing the price of the contract and the cost related to execution. The other execution factors of speed, likelihood of execution size, nature or any other relevant consideration will, in most case, be secondary to price and cost considerations, unless they would deliver the best possible result for the client in terms of total consideration.
Execution Factors
The Company, when managing client’s orders takes into account various execution factors, provided that there are no specific instructions from the client to the Company about the way of execution of the orders. The execution factors include:
Price
Speed and likelihood of execution
Costs or commissions
Size and nature of the order
Market conditions and variations
Execution capability
Any other direct consideration relevant to the execution of the order
Specific Instructions
In circumstances where the client provides the Company with a specific instruction as to how to execute an order and the Company has accepted this instruction, then the Company will execute the order in accordance with that specific instruction.
Nevertheless, if the client provides a specific instruction to carry out an order, then by executing that order the Company will be complying with the Company’s duty to provide the client with best execution. This may result in being unable to follow the Company’s order execution policy for that particular order.
Execution Venues
Execution venues are the entities to which the orders are placed or to which the Company transmits orders for execution. The Execution Venue for clients’ orders will be duly authorised investment firms.
In particular, the Client deposits funds with the Company and places an order via a trading platform and the Company is responsible for safeguarding of clients’ funds. Upon receipt of the order, the Company opens an exactly identical order on its name with the market maker, per order received or accumulatively. In this respect, the Company executes the client order by acting as a riskless principal (i.e. enters into true back to back trades).
Pricing
The Company will provide its own tradable prices which are derived from independent price providers. The main way in which the Company will ensure that the client receives the best execution will be to ensure that the price provision to the client is made with reference and compared to a range of underlying price providers and data sources. The Company reviews its independent price providers at least once a year to ensure that correct and competitive pricing is offered.
The provider, is continuously updating its prices, therefore last updated prices are displayed on Company’s trading platform.
Costs
When the client opens a position in some types of financial instruments a commission or a financing fee will apply.
Size of order
All orders are placed in monetary value. The client will be able to place his order as long as he has enough balance in his trading account. If the client wishes to execute a large size order, in some cases the price may become less favorable considering the feed obtained from its price provider.
Speed
Obviously, prices change over time. The frequency with which they do varies with different financial instruments and market conditions. Considering that the tradable prices which are distributed via the Company’s trading platform/terminal, technology used by the client to communicate with the Company plays a crucial role. For instance, the use of a wireless connection, or dial up connection, or any other communication link that can cause a poor internet connection can cause unstable connectivity to the Company’s trading platform/terminal. The result for the client is to place his orders at a delay and the order to be executed at better or worst prevailing market price offered by the Company via its platform/terminal.
Nature of the order
The particular characterizing of an order depends on the Binary option to be selected by the client. The value of the option is mainly depended on the volatility of the underlying instrument, the set time of option expiration and the risk management to be selected by the client.
“Market Order”: The Client may place the order with the Company and the said order will be instantly executed against a price that the Company has provided. If the Client wishes, he may attach to the Market Order a Stop Loss in order to limit the Client’s loss and/or Take Profit in order to limit the Client’s profit.
“Pending Order”: In this case the Client places a pending order to be executed at a later time at the price the Client specifies. The Company has a duty to monitor the pending order and when the price provided by the Company reaches the price specified by the Client, the order will be executed at that price. Buy Limit, Buy Stop, Sell Limit and Sell Stop are the available pending orders.
Under certain market conditions, when the execution of an order at the requested price is impossible, the Company may perform such order at the best available current market price.
An order may be modified by the Client before being executed. However, the Client may not change or remove Stop Loss, Take Profit and Pending Orders if the price has reached the level of the order execution.
Once the Client has provided the Company with specific instructions as to how his order has to be executed, then the Company will have complied with the obligation to take all reasonable steps to obtain the best possible result when executing that order, simply by following the Client’s instructions. In some cases, the Client’s instructions may prevent the implementation of the Company’s Order Execution Policy. If the Client’s instructions are incomplete, then the Company will follow it’s Order Executions.
Likelihood of execution
Due to the levels of volatility affecting the underlying instrument’s price, the Company seeks to provide client orders with the fastest execution reasonably possible.
Likelihood of settlement
The Company shall proceed with the settlement of all transactions upon the execution and/or time of expiration of the specific transaction.
Market Impact
The Company’s quoted prices which are derived from its independent price providers may be affected by various factors which could also affect the abovementioned factors. The Company will take all reasonable factors to ensure the best possible result for its clients.
Conclusion
Appropriate information is provided to the client on the content of the execution policy. The prior consent of the clients is obtained regarding the documented order execution policy to be followed. In addition, a clear and prominent warning is disclosed to the Company’s clients (within the Client Agreement) that any specific instruction from a client may prevent the Company from taking the steps that is has designed and implemented in its execution policy for obtaining the best possible result for the execution of those orders in respect to the elements covered by those instructions.
Adequate information is provided to the clients through this policy in relation to the factors that are taken into consideration by the management when handling clients’ orders. Also, the policy is reviewed periodically by the Company and the clients are informed accordingly in relation to any material changes.
