1. If I have sold a position (either Options or Futures), but if I already have bought a protective position (hedge, with no downside risk, like buying an at the money put on long futures), do I still need to provide a margin? Or only a minimal margin?
As far as I know, brokers do enjoy the facility of netting their obligation and paying the margin to Exchange only on net position. But this netting is not extended to retail clients. i.e – you pay margin for short option position, but even if u have long option position that reduces the risk, brokers ignore the safety extended by long position and still charge the full margin.
Though in western mkt, spreads or hedged positions for retail clients get requires lower margin.
For futures, if you have long current month, and short next month (which is calendar spread), so enjoy the benefit of lower margin.. but as near month contract comes to expiry, the safety net gets removed and hence your position risk increases and hence the margin requirement too.
2. If ans. for 1 is that I do not need to, then, how will NSE ensure that I hold my protective position till the end?
3. I read that they do provide the margin waiver on a calendar spread, but will remove it three days before the expiry. I'm puzzled, what does this mean?
5. If I have a verical spread (net credit), how is the margin calculated? In other words, do they consider me holding a multi-legged position while calculating the hedge / margin?
I think these 3 questions got answered above.
4. Can a broker have a different rule than NSE (more strict or lean)?
Yes. Brokers are free to charge higher margin because of their own risk mgmt requirement. Some brokers who are aggressive, go bit loose on this (but generally not below the exchanges required limits).. and other conservative brokers charge more. This practice is globally true. In US mkt, for one mini S&P500 – where few broker charges around 2k to 2.5k USD, there are other brokers charging just 400 to 500 USD.
As everything is negotiable in life.. why not negotiate this too with your broker ?
Hope this answers your queries. These are as per my understanding of margin system and I hope I am not wrong. But if someone finds anything wrong, then pls highlight here.
Happy Trading