Margin Disclosure Statement
Century Pacific Securities, Ltd. (CP)
is furnishing this document to you to provide some basic facts about
purchasing securities on margin, and to alert you to the risks involved
with trading securities in a margin account. Before trading stocks in
a margin account, you should carefully review the margin agreement provided
by Sterne Agee (SALI), CP's Clearing firm. Consult your broker regarding
any questions or concerns you may have with your margin accounts.
When you purchase securities, you may
pay for the securities in full or you may borrow part of the purchase
price from SALI. If you choose to borrow funds from SALI, you will open
a margin account with SALI. The securities purchased are the SALI's
collateral for the loan to you. If the securities in your account decline
in value, so does the value of the collateral supporting your loan,
and, as a result, SALI can take action, such as issue a margin call
and/or sell securities or other assets in any of your accounts held
with the member, in order to maintain the required equity in the account.
It is important that you fully understand
the risks involved in trading securities on margin. These risks include
the following:
- You can lose more funds
than you deposit in the margin account. A decline in the value of
securities that are purchased on margin may require you to provide additional
funds to SALI that has made the loan to avoid the forced sale of those
securities or other securities or assets in your account(s).
- SALI can force the sale
of securities or other assets in your account(s). If the equity
in your account falls below the maintenance margin requirements or the
SALI's higher "house" requirements, SALI can sell the securities
or other assets in any of your accounts held at SALI to cover the margin
deficiency. You also will be responsible for any short fall in the account
after such a sale.
- SALI can sell your securities
or other assets without contacting you. Some investors mistakenly
believe that a firm must contact them for a margin call to be valid,
and that the firm cannot liquidate securities or other assets in their
accounts to meet the call unless the firm has contacted them first.
This is not the case. SALI will attempt to notify their customers of
margin calls, but they are not required to do so. However, even if SALI
has contacted a customer and provided a specific date by which the customer
can meet a margin call, SALI can still take necessary steps to protect
its financial interests, including immediately selling the securities
without notice to the customer.
- You are not entitled to
choose which securities or other assets in your account(s) are liquidated
or sold to meet a margin call. Because the securities are collateral
for the margin loan, the firm has the right to decide which security
to sell in order to protect its interests.
- SALI can increase its "house"
maintenance margin requirements at any time and is not required to provide
you advance written notice. These changes in firm policy often take
effect immediately and may result in the issuance of a maintenance margin
call. Your failure to satisfy the call may cause the member to liquidate
or sell securities in your account(s).
- You are not entitled to
an extension of time on a margin call. While an extension of time
to meet margin requirements may be available to customers under certain
conditions, a customer does not have a right to the extension.
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