Overview
- FINRA’s Board approved replacing the fixed $25,000 equity requirement for pattern day traders with an intraday margin framework that ties buying power to maintenance margin during the session.
- The amendments now go to the SEC, and implementation has been discussed for late 2025 or potentially 2026 if approved.
- The change would lower a major barrier for smaller accounts and could increase day-trading and options activity on retail brokerage platforms.
- Academics warn the shift to margin-based intraday exposure can magnify losses for inexperienced investors, especially given growing retail use of options.
- The original minimum, set in 2001 after the dot-com era, is being revisited as technology reshapes access, and some reporting notes draft discussions of thresholds near $2,000 that are not final.