// definition
Margin call
Demand for additional cash or collateral
Short definition
A request for additional cash or collateral when the value or risk of a position changes. It may be variation margin settling or collateralising current exposure under the contract, or an increase in initial margin covering potential losses after default.
risk atlas
Knowledge map
Intuition
A margin call specifies resources to be posted under the contract. Payment can fall due before cash arrives on another position.
Formula
at each deadline: bridge = max(0, cumulative cash due - cumulative cash resources available by that time)Why it matters now
A producer short futures can gain on physical crude and still have to advance cash before the cargo settles.
Related analyses
- Government debt: the margin-call deadline
- When the barrel becomes a margin callHedging, cash, clearing and transmission to bank balance sheets.
Related guides
- Reading the oil marketPrices, curve, inventories, OPEC and physical data.
- Reading interest-rate swapsValuation, clearing and counterparty risk in derivatives.
Related datasets
- risk.jsonPublic snapshot of the risk signals.
- signals/history.jsonPoint-in-time history of the signals.
- risk-diff.json1, 7 and 30-day diff of signals, sources and models.
- evidence-graph.jsonClaims, evidence and their sources as a graph.
Signals using it
- Energy MonitorMethodology of the energy stress signal.
- Risk DiffRecent change in risk and source freshness.
Primary sources
- Intercontinental ExchangeBrent future specifications, clearing and indicative margins.
- European Central BankEnergy derivatives, margin calls, bank credit and EMIR data.
- Bank of EnglandMeasures of the 2022 European energy-margin stress.
- Financial Stability BoardInternational recommendations on margin-call preparedness.