Stock Market Game 2018

Rules of Entry

1. Objective

The objective of the game is to invest virtual capital of CHF100,000 and to obtain the best return. Although the stock market game is virtual, it allows players to develop their skills in a very realistic environment.

This stock market game is organised by Finance Club HEC Lausanne and The Finance Association EPFL, both of which have their registered offices in Lausanne, at the University of Lausanne, Quartier Dorigny, Bâtiment Internef, Boîte aux lettres n°51, 1015 Lausanne. The stock market game is organised with the collaboration of Swissquote Bank Ltd (together, the “Organisers”).

During the stock market game playing period, i.e. from Monday 26 February to Friday 23 March 2018, entrants may buy and sell securities traded on the following indices:

  • SMI and SPI (Switzerland)
  • DAX30 (Germany)
  • CAC40 (France)
  • BEL20 (Belgium)
  • AEX25 (Netherlands)
  • FTSE MIB Index (Italy)
  • DJ IND and NASDAQ 100 (USA)

Leveraged Structured Products, but only in the form of ordinary warrants listed on the Scoach Suisse market and expiring after 01 April 2018, may also be traded as part of the stock market game. On acquisition, they may not constitute more than 10% of the portfolio’s value.

For reasons of expediency, the only products available are those that can be electronically traded on the stock market through Swissquote’s website.

Entrants may access their virtual account 24 hours a day, and may place buy and sell orders at any time during the day and take advantage of continually updated security prices. Orders are validated using real-time market information.

 

2. Timetable

 

Registration opens  Monday 5 February 2018

Registration ends     March 16th 2018 at midnight

Duration of the trading game  from Monday 26 Feb at midday to Friday 23 March 2018 at midday

Awards presentation  Wednesday 28 March 2018

 

3. Entry conditions

 

It is free to enter the stock market game.

To be able to enter the stock market game, entrants must be adults and be legally competent. To be included in the final ranking, entrants must be university students (or HES & “hautes ecoles”).

Only one registration per entrant is permitted. Entrants are not permitted to circumvent the rules of the stock market game by playing using someone else’s login details or by setting up two registrations. An entrant who circumvents the rules shall be disqualified.

Entrants who are invited by the organisers to the closing ceremony, which shall take place on the 28 March 2018, agree to attend the ceremony. Entrants who fail to attend shall, in principle, be disqualified. The organisers may, however, waive their right to disqualify an entrant, if they consider that there are reasonable grounds for the entrant’s absence.

Members of Finance Club HEC Lausanne, The Finance Association EPFL and employees of Swissquote Bank are not permitted to enter the stock market game.

 

4. Registration

 

Entrants must register using the link on the stock market game page of the website no later than midnight on Friday 16 March 2018 at midnight.

Entrants must provide their surname, first name and address. They shall then receive an email confirming their registration with an activation link. Entrants must activate the link to avoid their registration lapsing.

 

5. Playing the stock market game

 

Objective

Although the game is played in a virtual environment, entrants place their orders in real time on the ordering page. In contrast, on pages other than the ordering page, prices are shown with a delay.

 

Accessing your account

Accounts may be accessed from Monday 26 February via the stock market game’s web page. Entrants can access the game by entering the access code they chose on registration.

 

Searching for securities

Securities can be searched for using various criteria, such as the company’s name (e.g. “Novartis”), symbol (“NOVN” for Novartis) or ISIN code (“CH0012005267” for Novartis”).

 

Placing and executing orders

After selecting the security they wish to trade, entrants may click on “Trade” to call up the ordering page.

Although orders may be placed at any time, they may of course only be executed during the relevant stock exchange’s opening hours.

Completed transactions are listed in each entrant’s account under “Transactions”.

All unexecuted orders may be cancelled by clicking on “Open trades”, then on “Cancel” next to the relevant order.

Orders may be “Limit”, “Stop loss”, “Stop limit”, “On stop” or “At best” orders.

In “At best” orders, the execution price is the market price at the moment the order is placed. If a price is offered for fewer securities than the number of securities ordered, the order shall only be partially executed and the remainder shall be cancelled.

For “Limit” orders, if the price at the limit set by an entrant is offered for fewer securities than the number of securities ordered, the order shall only be partially executed and the remainder shall be cancelled.

For “Stop loss” orders, the sell order is conditional on the order only being placed in the order book when the price has fallen to a certain level (the Trigger level).

A “Stop limit” order is practically identical to a “Stop loss” order, but it also sets a minimum price (a Limit price).

An “On stop” order is a buy order subject to the condition that it is to be immediately executed when the security hits a defined price.

Where the entrant does not have sufficient funds or sufficient securities, a message warns him/her that the order has been rejected.

 

Costs and dividends

As in real life, transactional costs (commissions, Swiss federal stamp tax and stock exchange tax) shall be deducted from the entrant’s virtual portfolio.

Dividends paid on the securities held in the entrant’s portfolio during the stock market game playing period shall, in principle, be added to the entrant’s portfolio, although no guarantee is given in this respect. Dividend payments and other corporate actions shall generally be processed within eight days of the effective payment date of the dividend.

HOWEVER, GIVEN THE COMPLEXITY OF THIS AREA, NO GUARANTEE IS PROVIDED THAT CORPORATE ACTIONS WILL BE CORRECTLY PROCESSED.

Contrary to real life, trades made by the entrants have, of course, no effect on the price of the securities that they are trading. In addition, no interest is paid on uninvested cash.

 

Adjustments

In order to guarantee an appropriate level of fairness, the organisers may, in certain exceptional circumstances (e.g. technical problems) make certain adjustments to entrants’ portfolios, including cancelling transactions, executing void transactions and returning all or some entrants’ portfolios to the positions they were in before the occurrence of an exceptional incident.

The organisers may also suspend or disqualify an entrant if they suspect that he/she has circumvented the rules and technical aspects of the stock market game or benefited from an unfair advantage to improve his/her ranking. Entrants who are suspended or disqualified may not dispute their suspension or disqualification or bring any claim as a result thereof.

 

Exchange rates

Where any currency has a negative balance, an automatic exchange shall be carried out on a daily basis from Monday to Friday.

Accordingly, negative positions will, to the extent possible, be hedged using available positive cash resources in other currencies.

 

6. Problems and questions

A contact form is provided on the stock market game’s website for entrants to ask questions about the stock market game.

 

7. Provisional and final rankings

The rankings will be displayed on the stock market game’s web page and will be updated daily. The full rankings will be displayed on the stock market game’s website.

The relevant value for the purpose of the rankings is the portfolio’s value converted into CHF. The rankings are updated every night. Holdings are valued at the day’s last available closing price. If no closing price is available, the most recent purchase or sale price is then used to value the product.

The final rankings shall be based on the most recent closing prices and exchange rates available on Friday 23 March 2018, at latest.

Only players who have made a minimum of four trades over the stock market game playing period will be eligible to be included in the final rankings.

 

8. Prizes

The winner(s) shall be the entrant(s) with the highest portfolio value. They shall be contacted by the organisers. The other entrants shall not be notified of the results.

Prizes are neither exchangeable nor transferable. In no circumstances may prizes be converted into cash. The organisers shall not accept any request to alter the constituent elements of the trip.

The organisers reserve the right, at any time, to change the prizes that are to be awarded to the winners of the stock market game. During the stock market game playing period, entrants will be notified of any changes via the stock market game’s website (www.jeuboursier.ch).

Entrants may not make any claim whatsoever in respect of the virtual returns obtained as part of the stock market game.

 

9. Authorisation

As part of the stock market game, players authorise the organisers to display their surname and first name on the websites and social networking sites of Finance Club HEC Lausanne, The Finance Association EPFL and Swissquote, with no restriction placed on their use (including on duration, number of uses and the number of territories). They shall receive no payment or other benefit for allowing these details to be displayed.

 

10. Acceptance of these rules

 

Any person who enters the stock market game shall be deemed to have accepted these rules. Any entrant who breaches these rules shall be excluded from the stock market game. The organisers reserve the right, at any time, to exclude any entrant whose behaviour is not in the spirit of the stock market game, without needing to provide justification or notice.

The organisers shall be entitled to deal with any dispute as they see fit. Any decisions are final and may not be appealed.

The organisers reserve the right to shorten, amend or cancel the stock market game if they consider it appropriate in the circumstances. Entrants shall be notified of any such decision as soon as possible.

Entrants may not use such a decision as the basis for a legal claim against Finance Club HEC Lausanne, The Finance Association EPFL or Swissquote. The same shall apply in the event of any technical problems before and during the stock market game playing period.

Any change to these rules shall be announced via the stock market game’s website. An entrant shall be deemed to have accepted any such changes to the rules if he/she continues to play the stock market game.

 

11. Governing law and jurisdiction

 

These rules shall be governed by Swiss law. The place of jurisdiction shall be Lausanne.

Executed on 01 February 2018