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Pro Prohibited Trading Practices

To maintain a fair and transparent trading environment, certain strategies and behaviours are strictly prohibited.

Any violation may result in:

  • Payout rejection

  • Profit forfeiture

  • Account suspension

  • Permanent removal from the Traderscale program

📌 Please read this first

The examples in this article explain how rules may be applied. They are not trading advice or pre-approval of a strategy.

Support can explain the published rules and submit eligible cases for review, but cannot recommend lot sizes, risk percentages, or a method for passing an account.

Completing an evaluation, reaching a profit target, or seeing a green dashboard does not automatically confirm payout approval. Final payout review also checks compliance with prohibited trading practices.

The Dealing Team reviews the complete trading history and context. A single trade, stop loss, or dashboard status should not be viewed in isolation.

Quick guide to common concerns

Find the section that answers your question:

  • My evaluation passed or dashboard was green. Why is there still a review? → How payout and manual reviews work

  • Why does Support mention a different position ID? → What evidence may be used in a review

  • I used a stop loss. Why can a trade still be reviewed? → Sections 4, 12 and 14

  • Can I increase size after a loss? → Section 4

  • Can I place the same trade on another account? → Sections 7 and 11

  • Can a family member, mentor, or manager trade the account? → Section 13

  • Can I use an EA, copier, bot, or automated manager? → Sections 7 and 9

  • What happens if a trade closes before two minutes? → Section 10

How payout and manual reviews work

The dashboard tracks evaluation objectives and account limits. It does not replace the final compliance review.

At payout, the Dealing Team may review individual trades, complete trade sequences, risk changes, trade duration, stop-loss behaviour, and activity across related accounts.

A review may also be requested by the trader. Support will collect the account details and explain the next step, but the final decision remains with the Dealing Team.

Depending on the finding and account terms, an outcome may include profit adjustment, payout rejection, account suspension, account breach, or removal from the program.

What evidence may be used in a review

The Dealing Team may refer to:

  • Account number and program type

  • Symbol and trade direction

  • Platform ticket number and server-side position ID

  • Entry and close times

  • Trade duration

  • Lot size or risk changes across a sequence

  • Stop-loss placement and furthest stop-loss distance

  • Closed PnL, floating PnL, equity movement, and daily loss exposure

  • Activity on other TraderScale accounts where relevant

💡 Why ticket and position IDs can look different

A platform ticket may be linked to a server-side position ID. Support or the Dealing Team may reference either identifier when explaining the same trade or trade sequence.

1. Arbitrage Trading

What this means: Using price differences, delays, or technical inefficiencies to obtain an execution advantage is not permitted.

This includes:

  • Latency arbitrage

  • Triangular arbitrage

  • Cross-platform price exploitation

  • Execution-delay manipulation

❓ Common question: What if the price on another platform was different?

Normal price differences can occur between providers, but deliberately trading to exploit a mismatch, delay, or infrastructure limitation is prohibited.

What may be reviewed: Execution timing, price-feed differences, platform activity, and repeated patterns.

Possible outcome: Profits may be adjusted, a payout may be rejected, or the account may be breached.

2. High Frequency Trading

What this means: Ultra-fast execution intended to capture very small price movements within milliseconds is not permitted.

This includes:

  • Algorithmic or manual patterns designed to exploit micro-movements or execution speed

❓ Common question: Is every short trade considered high frequency trading?

No single factor decides the outcome. The Dealing Team reviews speed, frequency, purpose, and the full pattern. The separate two-minute rule still applies to every position.

What may be reviewed: Execution speed, number of trades, repeated duration, use of an expert advisor and trade pattern.

Possible outcome: Profits may be adjusted, a payout may be rejected, or the account may be breached.

3. News Bracketing

What this means: Placing opposing pending orders around price immediately before major news to capture movement in either direction is prohibited.

This includes:

  • Simultaneous buy and sell pending orders structured as a news straddle

❓ Common question: Is all news trading prohibited?

Directional discretionary news trading may be permitted, but structured buy-and-sell bracketing is not. Traders remain responsible for all other account rules during volatile conditions.

What may be reviewed: Order timing, order direction, event timing, and whether the setup was structured to capture either direction.

Possible outcome: Profits may be adjusted, a payout may be rejected, or the account may be breached.

4. Martingale Strategy

What this means: Increasing position size or total risk after a loss in an attempt to recover previous losses is not permitted.

This includes:

  • Lot-size increases

  • Amount risked increases

  • Increasing total exposure after losing trades

  • Recovery-style sequences that increase risk following a loss

❓ Common question: I only increased my lot size once. Is that automatically martingale?

A single size change is not explained in isolation. The Dealing Team reviews the order of trades, previous losses, timing, exposure, and whether the increase formed part of a recovery pattern. Support cannot pre-approve a sizing method.

What may be reviewed: The sequence of wins and losses, lot-size changes, amount risked changes, timing, and total exposure.

Possible outcome: Profits may be adjusted, a payout may be rejected, or the account may be breached.

5. Grid Trading

What this means: Placing multiple layered orders at fixed price intervals without a clear directional basis is prohibited.

This includes:

  • Repeated layered entries at preset intervals

  • Structures designed mainly to capture movement in either direction

❓ Common question: Are multiple entries always prohibited?

Multiple entries are not judged only by their number. The Dealing Team reviews the spacing, purpose, direction, timing, and risk structure. Support cannot approve a proposed entry plan in advance.

What may be reviewed: Order spacing, layering, direction, timing, and total risk.

Possible outcome: Profits may be adjusted, a payout may be rejected, or the account may be breached.

6. Exploiting System Errors

What this means: Profiting from a known or apparent technical issue, pricing error, feed delay, or platform malfunction is prohibited.

This includes:

  • Continuing to trade a visible pricing or execution error

  • Attempting to retain profits created by a system malfunction

❓ Common question: What should I do if I notice a platform or price issue?

Stop trading the affected instrument and contact Support with a screenshot, time, symbol, and account number. Do not attempt to take advantage of the issue.

What may be reviewed: Platform logs, price feed, execution records, and the trader's activity after the issue became apparent.

Possible outcome: Affected profits may be removed and further enforcement may apply.

7. Trade Coordination and Copy Trading

What this means: Each account must be traded independently by the registered trader. Coordinated or mirrored execution is not permitted.

This includes:

  • Signal sharing used for coordinated execution

  • Mirrored trading

  • Copy-trading software

  • Coordinated execution between individuals or accounts

❓ Common question: Can I copy trades from my own main account or trade the same setup as another person?

TraderScale accounts must be traded manually and independently by the registered trader. Mirrored trading of accounts under one Traderscale user is prohibited without the use of a trade copier and within the rest of the platform rules.

What may be reviewed: Matching symbols, directions, entry times, exits, lot sizes, and repeated patterns across accounts.

Possible outcome: Profits may be adjusted, payout may be rejected, or accounts may be breached.

8. One-Sided or Speculative Exposure

What this means: Repeated unbalanced directional exposure without controlled risk or a consistent trading rationale may be reviewed as speculative behaviour.

This includes:

  • Repeated all-in directional exposure

  • Patterns with no clear risk framework or repeatable method

❓ Common question: Does Traderscale require a specific strategy?

No specific strategy is recommended. However, trading must show controlled risk and must not rely on reckless or purely chance-based exposure. Support cannot assess or pre-approve a strategy before it is traded.

What may be reviewed: Consistency of risk, repeated directional exposure, trade rationale visible from the pattern, and overall account behaviour.

Possible outcome: The account or payout may be affected if the behaviour is considered structurally unsound.

9. Expert Advisors and Automation

What this means: Expert Advisors, bots, scripts, automated execution tools, and systems that automatically place or manage trades are prohibited.

This includes:

  • Automated entries or exits

  • Automated trade management

  • Bots, scripts, or trade-copying systems

❓ Common question: Can I use a tool only for trade management?

If the tool places, changes, closes, or manages trades automatically, it falls within this restriction. All trading must be manually executed by the registered trader.

What may be reviewed: Platform logs, order timing, repeated execution patterns, and software-linked activity.

Possible outcome: The account or payout may be affected.

10. Tick Scalping and Minimum Trade Duration

What this means: Entering and exiting within seconds to capture minimal price movement is prohibited. Every position must be held for at least two minutes.

This includes:

  • Trades closed before the two-minute minimum

  • Repeated very short-duration trades aimed at tiny price movements

❓ Common question: If one trade closes in less than two minutes, is the whole account automatically breached?

Profit from trades below two minutes will be removed and will affect payout share. The final outcome depends on the account terms, trade result, frequency, and the complete review. If profits below two minutes exceed the payout share, your payout will be rejected and your account will be reset with a 7 day delay before the next eligible payout window.

❓ Common question: What if a trade closes before two minutes because of a stop loss, take profit, or platform event?

Provide the ticket, timestamps, and any supporting screenshot so the exact closure can be reviewed. Support cannot guarantee an exception. Repeated short-duration patterns remain subject to review.

What may be reviewed: Server entry and close times, trade result, exit method, frequency, and repeated duration pattern.

Possible outcome: Profit may be removed and payout may be rejected; further action may apply depending on the finding.

11. Hedge Trading

What this means: Opening opposing positions on the same instrument at the same time, including across multiple accounts, is prohibited when used to offset exposure or exploit pricing inefficiencies.

This includes:

  • Simultaneous buy and sell positions on the same instrument

  • Opposing exposure split across Traderscale accounts

❓ Common question: What if the buy and sell positions are on different accounts or opened a few minutes apart?

The rule applies across accounts. The review considers overlap, purpose, timing, instruments, size, ownership, and account activity. It is not limited to positions opened in the exact same second.

What may be reviewed: Direction, entry and close times, overlap, exposure, and activity across accounts.

Possible outcome: Profits may be adjusted, payout may be rejected, or the account may be breached.

12. Risking the Full Daily Loss Limit

What this means: Deliberately using the full daily loss allowance on one trade or a layered sequence is considered reverse arbitrage and is prohibited.

Maximum allowable daily exposure:

  • Speedy accounts: 4%

  • Pro accounts: 5%

  • Instant Funded accounts: 2.5%

❓ Common question: Does staying just below the daily loss limit make the trade acceptable?

No. The review considers whether the risk was deliberately structured to use the full allowance, not only whether the final number remained below the limit. Support cannot recommend a maximum safe risk amount.

What may be reviewed: Planned exposure, combined open risk, layered trades, equity movement, and repeated behaviour.

Possible outcome: Structured attempts may result in account termination or other enforcement.

13. Account Sharing and Reselling

What this means: Only the registered trader may access, control, and trade the account. Accounts cannot be sold, shared, transferred, or managed by another person.

This includes:

  • Selling or transferring an account

  • Allowing another person to trade or manage the account

  • Third-party account management

❓ Common question: Can my spouse, friend, mentor, or account manager trade for me?

No. The registered trader must make and execute all trading decisions. Another person may not access or manage the account on the trader's behalf.

What may be reviewed: Login and access records, account activity, device ID's and evidence of third-party control where relevant.

Possible outcome: The account may be suspended, breached, or removed from the program.

14. Toxic Trading Behaviour

What this means: Reckless or structurally unsound risk behaviour identified by the Dealing Team is prohibited. This may include failure to meet applicable stop-loss requirements and negative risk-to-reward behaviour.

This includes:

  • Trading without a stop loss when a stop loss is required by the account terms

  • Failure to meet the applicable stop-loss timing requirement

  • Negative risk-to-reward behaviour

  • Other structurally unsound risk patterns

❓ Common question: I used a stop loss. Why can the trade still be classified as toxic or prohibited?

A stop loss addresses only one part of risk control. The review may still consider the furthest stop-loss distance, entry price, close price, total exposure, lot-size changes, and the overall sequence. An active add-on does not exempt the account from unrelated prohibited-practice rules.

What may be reviewed: Entry price, furthest stop-loss distance, close price, risk-to-reward, exposure, and full trade sequence.

Possible outcome: Profit may be reduced, payout may be rejected, or the account may be breached. Negative risk-to-reward above 60% may lead to payout rejection and account breach, while applicable positive PnL below that threshold may be deducted from the payout share.

Monitoring and Enforcement

  • Some prohibited behaviours cannot be confirmed reliably in real time.

  • Assessment may take place at payout review or after a trader requests a manual review.

  • The Dealing Team reviews the trading history as a whole, including relevant activity across multiple accounts.

  • TraderScale uses a professional third-party Dealing Team to review trading activity at payout.

  • Failure to comply may result in enforcement without prior notice, subject to the account terms and final review.

Before contacting Support about a review

Please prepare the following so the case can be checked efficiently:

  • Registered email address

  • Account number and program type

  • Symbol or instrument

  • Platform ticket number, if available

  • Approximate date and time of the trade

  • Screenshot of the dashboard or platform message

  • A short explanation of the specific rule or trade you want clarified

✅ Support can help with

  • Explaining the published rule in plain language

  • Confirming what information is needed

  • Clarifying ticket and position references

  • Submitting eligible cases to the Dealing Team

  • Sharing the current review status when available

❌ Support cannot

  • Pre-approve a trading strategy

  • Recommend lot sizes or risk percentages

  • Explain how to avoid a rule finding

  • Guarantee a payout, reversal, or reinstatement

  • Override a final Dealing Team decision without new verified information


Need help after reading this article? Contact [email protected] and include the requested account and trade information. Support will explain the next step and, where appropriate, submit the case for review.

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