ECB Rate Decision (Main Refinancing Rate)
Eight scheduled meetings per year (Thursday) · 14:15 CET
The European Central Bank's policy decision for the euro area. As with the Fed, the decision is usually priced; the statement's guidance tweaks carry the surprise.
The 45 minutes between the decision and the press conference are a structural trap for EUR positions — the presser regularly reverses the initial move.
What it measures
The Governing Council's decision on the euro area's three policy rates, published with a statement on the growth and inflation outlook.
Why the economy cares
Monetary policy for the world's second currency. As with the Fed, the decision itself is usually priced — the guidance about the pace and endpoint of future moves carries the surprise.
How it maps onto the chart
Hawkish → EUR up (EURUSD bid, DAX often pressured); dovish → EUR down. Our measurement: the post-decision hour runs ~2.7x an ordinary 14:15 CET hour on EURUSD — second only to the FOMC among measured events.
Price behavior around the release
Before
European morning compresses; EURUSD tends to hold a tight range from the London open into the decision, stacking stops on both sides.
During
Sharp initial repricing at 14:15 CET — but with a structural catch: the press conference 30 minutes later regularly reverses it.
After
Treat decision + presser as one 90-minute event. The move that survives the President's Q&A is the one worth joining; the 14:15 impulse alone has poor follow-through stats.
Who lets you trade it
News-trading policy of every firm in our verified catalog, read off the firm's own pages. Details and per-program exceptions live in the firm's rules.
| Firm | Policy | Window | If violated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha Capital | Restricted (funded) | ±5 min | Profit removed |
| Apex Trader Funding | Allowed | — | — |
| AquaFunded | Allowed | ±5 min | Profit share reduced |
| Atlas Funded | Restricted (funded) | ±5 min | Profit removed |
| Blue Guardian | Restricted (funded) | ±5 min | Profit removed |
| BrightFunded | Restricted (funded) | ±5 min | Profit removed |
| Bulenox | Allowed | — | None |
| E8 Markets | Allowed | — | — |
| Earn2Trade | Allowed | — | None |
| FTMO | Restricted (funded) | ±2 min | Account breach |
| Funded Trading Plus | Allowed | — | None |
| FundedNext | Allowed | ±5 min | Profit share reduced |
| FundingPips | Restricted (funded) | ±5 min | Profit removed |
| FXIFY | Allowed | — | — |
| Lucid Trading | Allowed | — | — |
| MyFundedFutures | Restricted (funded) | ±2 min | — |
| Take Profit Trader | Restricted (funded) | — | — |
| The5ers | Allowed | — | — |
| Topstep | Allowed | — | — |
| Tradeify | Allowed | — | — |
Policies verified 2026-08-22 and re-checked weekly. Restricted usually applies to funded accounts only — evaluations are commonly exempt; open the firm's rules for the exact split.