Retail proprietary trading powerhouse FTMO has officially issued an urgent operational advisory to its global database of evaluated and funded traders. The directive features back-to-back technical windows, combining a mandatory infrastructure sweep with critical schedule adjustments ahead of major global market holidays.
Traders across all equity, forex, and futures indices are being advised to adjust their risk management protocols immediately to avoid accidental account breaches due to expected liquidity gaps.
The Saturday Server Blackout
The operational sequence began over the weekend on Saturday, June 13, 2026. FTMO deployed a synchronized backend maintenance routine across its entire server ecosystem.
Between the hours of 09:00 and 11:00 Platform Time (GMT+3), live trading functions on MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and cTrader were entirely disabled. The two-hour localized blackout was designed to optimize server matching speeds and clear internal log backlogs following a massive surge in summer evaluation registrations. While the maintenance successfully concluded with all platforms returning online, the firm is warning users that post-maintenance liquidity curves can experience micro-slippage during the first few market sessions of the new week.
Upcoming Juneteenth & Tuen Ng Festival Adjustments
Compounding the weekend technical adjustments, FTMO’s risk desk published a sweeping schedule shift for Thursday, June 18, and Friday, June 19, 2026, driven by a confluence of Western and Eastern market closures:
- The HK Tuen Ng Festival (June 18): Hong Kong equity indices will experience an early close. Specifically, the
HK50.cashindex will permanently halt trading early at 19:00 platform time on Thursday, remaining fully closed through Friday. FTMO - The US Juneteenth Federal Holiday (June 19): United States equities, CFDs, and agricultural instruments will be closed for the entire day. FTMO
Furthermore, high-volume indices including the US100, US30, US500, Metals CFDs, and US Oil will all face an abrupt, early holiday close at 20:00 platform time on Friday, June 19.
[June 13: Full Server Maintenance] ➔ [June 18: HK50 Early Close (19:00)] ➔ [June 19: US Holiday Early Close (20:00)]
The Threat of “Overnight Swap” Traps
With massive federal holiday closures on the horizon, FTMO issued a direct warning regarding overnight rollover swaps. When institutional banks close for federal holidays, interest rate differentials widen rapidly, causing overnight swap fees to violently spike or invert.
The firm explicitly reminded its funded traders that managing these floating overnight holding costs remains the sole responsibility of the individual account operator. If an unexpected swap adjustment pushes an active account past its Daily Loss Limit at midnight, the automated risk engine will trigger a hard breach, entirely erasing the challenge or funded status.
What This Means for MarketGrid Readers
When an institutional giant like FTMO modifies its trading blocks, the rest of the retail prop firm industry inevitably experiences mirrored conditions due to shared liquidity providers.
If you are currently holding funded positions, do not treat the upcoming week like standard market conditions. Expect wider spreads, potential flash-whipsaws during thin holiday sessions, and heavy swap fees. The smart move for any disciplined prop trader over the next 72 hours is to flatten volatile positions ahead of the early holiday closures and prioritize capital preservation over raw profit targets.
