FundingPips has removed its controversial Significant Unscheduled Market Event rule following widespread criticism from the prop trading community. The SUME clause, which allowed FundingPips to deduct profits made during unexpected periods of market volatility, has disappeared from the firm’s central news policy and all five of its main CFD account pages.
The reversal comes one day after FundingPips was criticised for attempting to restrict profits generated around Donald Trump’s speeches and posts on X. When that wording was challenged, the firm removed the specific Trump reference but replaced it with an even broader SUME rule. FundingPips has now removed that rule as well.
FundingPips’ Rapid Rule Changes
The controversy began when Capital Critic detected that FundingPips Zero’s news policy had been changed to include “Trump speeches and tweets.” This meant traders could potentially be penalised because of a post they had no way of anticipating.
I criticised the change on X, explaining that traders cannot plan around an unscheduled tweet. The post received more than 37,000 views, while other traders raised similar concerns across X, and FundingPips’ community channels.
FundingPips Community and Partnerships Manager Avikk responded by saying the Trump wording had “already changed and removed” . However, the replacement rule caused further criticism. FundingPips introduced a Significant Unscheduled Market Event, or SUME, clause stating that profits made during events causing extreme volatility, abnormal price movements, liquidity issues, widening spreads or price gaps could be deducted.
This arguably made the policy worse. Instead of identifying one source of unexpected volatility, the SUME wording could potentially cover almost any unscheduled event that FundingPips considered significant.
Why Traders Rejected The SUME Rule
The SUME policy didn’t provide objective definitions for terms such as “extreme volatility” or “abnormal price movements.” It also failed to explain when an unscheduled event started, how long the restriction lasted or which trades would be affected.
The wording said profits “may be subject” to deduction, giving FundingPips considerable discretion over enforcement. A trader could enter a legitimate position during ordinary market conditions, have unexpected news move the market in their favour and then lose the resulting profit.
There was no equivalent protection if the same event caused a loss. This meant FundingPips could potentially remove the upside while leaving the trader responsible for the downside. The firm’s rules also stated that traders remained responsible if a profit deduction caused the account to exceed its daily or maximum loss limit.
Traders were effectively being asked to avoid events they couldn’t predict and punished when they failed to do so.
FundingPips Removes The Rule
The current FundingPips news policy no longer contains any reference to Trump tweets, Significant Unscheduled Market Events or SUME profit deductions. The same wording has also been removed from the individual pages for FundingPips Zero, 1 Step Flex, 2 Step Standard, 2 Step Flex and 2 Step Pro.
FundingPips has returned to rules based on scheduled events listed on its official economic calendar. On standard Master Accounts, profits from trades opened or closed within five minutes either side of restricted high-impact news can still be deducted, unless the trade was opened more than five hours before the event.
FundingPips Zero remains stricter. Positions cannot be opened, closed or held within ten minutes either side of restricted high-impact news and speeches. Unlike SUME, these events appear on the FundingPips dashboard, giving traders an opportunity to identify and avoid them.
Community Backlash Worked
FundingPips deserves some credit for removing the policy quickly. Prop firms need to manage risk during unusual market conditions, but any restriction affecting trader profits must be clear, objective and possible to follow.
However, the rule should never have been introduced in this form. FundingPips added the Trump wording, replaced it with a broader SUME clause and then removed that clause within a short period. Making repeated changes to rules that can determine whether traders receive their profits creates unnecessary confusion.
Conclusion
Removing the SUME rule was the correct decision, that I called for in my previous article. FundingPips’ regular scheduled-news restrictions remain in place, but traders are no longer exposed to a vaguely defined policy covering unpredictable market events.
The rapid reversal also shows why public scrutiny matters in the prop firm industry. Traders challenged a rule they believed was unfair, the criticism gained attention and FundingPips changed its policy.
This is a clear win for the trading community, but firms should properly assess rule changes before publishing them, not after traders are forced to complain.
