Several Chinese Banks Tighten Leveraged Trading on Gold and Silver, Margin Requirement for Gold-Silver Leveraged Trading Soars to 140%

June 22 — China Construction Bank, China Merchants Bank (CMB), and Bank of China have announced coordinated adjustments to margin requirements for individual precious metals deferred contracts traded on the Shanghai Gold Exchange, with the banks unveiling the changes sequentially. Specifically, China Construction Bank will raise margins for all gold and silver deferred contracts to 120%, while CMB will hike its margin requirement from 100% to 140%. Both banks’ new rules will take effect after the closing settlement on June 22. Separately, Bank of China will adjust its individual gold deferred contract margin ratio from 99.9% to 120% and its individual silver deferred contract margin from 99.96% to 119.91%, with changes set to go into effect following the closing settlement on June 24, 2026 (Wednesday). Wu Zewei, a special researcher at Suixin Bank, noted that a margin ratio exceeding 100% effectively resets leverage for individual precious metal deferred transactions to zero—a shift with profound implications for all market participants. For retail investors, this will drastically limit short-term speculative trading opportunities, lower fund utilization efficiency, and significantly raise high-frequency trading costs, pushing speculative capital to gradually exit the market. For the broader precious metals market, short-term trading volumes may decline, but the move will successfully root out irrational speculative bubbles, leading to more stable and orderly market operations. (Jinse)