On a Forex account, one usually opens, then closes a position after some time. On a multi-currency bank account, permanent change can be achieved between the currencies. My question is if actions similar to the multi-currency bank account can be taken on a Forex broker account (with or without using leverage)? Can the leveraged money be stored in different currencies in the long term? (On a broker account I mean metatrader4 platform, and any average Forex broker.)
Certainly, the forex account is in Base currency and positions in the account are, for example, either sell Base/Other, buy Other/Base, or Base cash. If the account deposits and the account positions are the same size then there is no actual leverage even though a margin deposit is accounted to each position. That accounting makes a free cash balance amount.
In fact a buy of Base/Other or a sell of Other/Base in a Base currency account, even if un-leveraged, also makes sense because there is a choice of which other currency to set against. Simply holding Base cash would be like holding un-leveraged Base currency against a basket of other currencies.
A regulated forex broker keeps customer deposits in bank accounts separate from their operating funds. Some forex brokers pay interest on the free account balance. A forex broker in Denmark has government bank insurance on customer deposits.
