Quick Answer — Sway Funded News Trading Rules
- • As of April 2026: News trading is allowed at Sway Funded on all account types — but a 5-minute buffer period applies around specific restricted high-impact events.
- • During the 5-minute buffer, you cannot open or close trades — the restriction applies to both entries and exits.
- • The list of restricted events is not static — check your client dashboard before each session for the current restricted event schedule.
- • Most standard news events (non-restricted) have no restrictions at all — you can trade freely around them.
- • Watch out: on the Instant Account, large single-day news profits can trigger the 20% consistency rule and raise your profit target.
Research-based breakdown: I haven't traded Sway Funded personally — my funded accounts are in futures. Everything here comes from their official help center, Terms of Service, and the trading community. Where rules are ambiguous, I've flagged it.
Read my complete Sway Funded rules overview for all account rules. For the main review, see my Sway Funded review. For the absolute latest on restricted events, check Sway Funded's website or their help center.
News trading at Sway Funded is permitted on all account types. The restriction is a 5-minute buffer window around specific high-impact events designated as restricted — during that window, you cannot open or close trades. Outside those windows, including around all non-restricted news events, you can trade freely.
This is a significantly more permissive news trading policy than most Forex prop firms, many of which ban news trading entirely or prohibit any open positions during major economic releases. Understanding exactly which events are restricted and how to check them before trading is the key operational detail.
How Does the News Trading Buffer Work?
The 5-Minute Window
The buffer applies 5 minutes before and 5 minutes after a restricted event — a 10-minute restricted window centered on the event release time. During this window, you cannot:
- Open new positions
- Close existing positions
Both entry and exit are restricted. This is important: if you have an existing trade open when the buffer starts, you can't close it during the window. You need to either close it before the buffer starts or hold through the entire 10-minute window.
Which Events Are Restricted?
Not all high-impact news events are on the restricted list. Sway Funded maintains a specific list of events that trigger the buffer restriction — this list is accessible in your client dashboard. The documentation doesn't publish a static list of event types that are always restricted; the dashboard is the authoritative source and should be checked before each trading session.
Based on general prop firm industry practice, the restricted events typically include major central bank decisions (FOMC, ECB, BOE rate decisions), NFP, and other high-liquidity macro releases. But don't assume — verify in your dashboard.
Is the Restricted Events List Static?
No. The list can change over time. New events can be added, existing ones removed. Checking the dashboard before each session is the correct procedure, particularly for weekly high-impact events like CPI, retail sales, and FOMC minutes, which may or may not be on the restricted list in any given period.
What Happens If You Violate the News Buffer Rule?
Trading during the buffer window on a restricted event is a rule violation at Sway Funded. The consequence for rule violations at prop firms is typically account termination — the specific enforcement at Sway Funded should be confirmed in their Terms of Service or with support, but violating trading restrictions is generally treated the same as breaching a drawdown limit.
The buffer violation is also the type of rule breach that's straightforwardly auditable: Sway Funded can see exactly when a trade was opened or closed relative to the event timestamp. There's no ambiguity in the enforcement if you do trade during the window.
What News Events Are NOT Restricted?
Any event not on Sway Funded's specific restricted list has no trading restrictions at all. You can:
- Have positions open going into the release
- Open new positions immediately before the release
- Scale in during the move
- Close at any time during or after the release
This is a meaningful advantage over stricter firms. Many news traders target medium-impact events (PMI data, housing numbers, consumer confidence) that aren't on most restricted lists. At Sway Funded, these are completely unrestricted.
Even for events that are restricted, you can still trade them — you just need to open before the 5-minute buffer starts or wait until the buffer ends (5 minutes after the release) before entering.
How Does Sway Funded's News Policy Compare to Other Prop Firms?
| Firm Type | News Trading Policy | Practical Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Sway Funded | Allowed; 5-min buffer on specific restricted events | Most news events unrestricted; buffer only on high-impact list |
| News-ban firms | No positions during any major releases | News traders must close before every release or skip entirely |
| Hold-ban firms | No existing trades during news | Swing traders must flatten before every major release |
| Fully permissive firms | No restrictions on any news events | Complete freedom; trade any event at any time |
Sway Funded sits closer to the fully permissive end of the spectrum. The 5-minute buffer on a specific restricted list is a relatively minor constraint compared to firms that prohibit news trading entirely. For a news-focused Forex trader, Sway Funded's policy is one of the more accommodating available among funded accounts with real drawdown structures.
Practical News Trading Strategies Within the Rules
Trading Before the Buffer
If you have a directional view on an event, you can enter before the buffer starts. Position is already open when the restricted window begins, holds through the 10-minute window, and you can exit after the window closes.
The risk: if the event goes against you and you can't close during the window, you hold through the adverse move. On a 10-minute window, this is manageable if you've sized appropriately. On a large event, it can mean holding through significant slippage before you're allowed to exit.
Trading After the Buffer Ends
The cleaner approach for most news traders: wait for the release and the initial spike, then enter in the direction of the sustained move after the 5-minute post-event buffer expires. You miss the initial spike but trade with the confirmed direction and reduced whipsaw risk.
This approach avoids the buffer entirely — you're not in the restricted window at all. The tradeoff is wider spreads immediately post-event and slightly reduced entry price on a directional move.
Non-Restricted Events (Unrestricted)
The most practical approach for Sway Funded accounts: focus news trading on medium-impact events not on the restricted list. You have complete freedom around these events, so all standard news trading tactics (pre-event positioning, spike trading, fade strategies) apply without any buffer constraint.
Does the News Buffer Apply Differently Across Account Types?
The news trading rules appear to apply uniformly across Rapid, Regular, and Instant Account types. The 5-minute buffer and restricted events list are not described as varying by account type.
The interaction that differs by account type is the consistency rule on the Instant Account: a successful news trade that generates a large single-day profit can trigger the 20% consistency rule on the Instant Account, adjusting the profit target upward. This doesn't affect the Rapid or Regular accounts, which have no consistency rule.
What About Holding Through the Buffer on an Existing Position?
If you have a swing trade open when a restricted event's buffer window begins, you cannot close that position during the buffer. You hold through the window.
This is the scenario that catches swing traders off-guard. You've held EUR/USD long for three days, there's a scheduled FOMC decision today, and you planned to close before the announcement. If you try to close 4 minutes before the scheduled release, you're inside the 5-minute buffer — the close is blocked.
The operational fix: be aware of the restricted events schedule from your dashboard at the start of each week. If you have a swing position and there's a restricted event upcoming, plan your exit to be at least 5 minutes outside the buffer window.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Sway Funded allow news trading?
Yes. As of April 2026, Sway Funded allows news trading on all account types — Rapid Challenge, Regular Challenge, and Instant Account. The restriction is a 5-minute buffer around specific high-impact events listed in the client dashboard. During that buffer, neither opening nor closing trades is permitted. Outside those windows, news trading is fully unrestricted.
What is the 5-minute news buffer at Sway Funded?
The 5-minute news buffer at Sway Funded is a restricted trading window that applies 5 minutes before and 5 minutes after specific high-impact events listed in the client dashboard. During this 10-minute window, traders cannot open new positions or close existing ones. The restriction applies to both entries and exits on all account types.
Which news events are restricted at Sway Funded?
The specific restricted events at Sway Funded are listed in the client dashboard, and the list is not static — it can change over time. Traders should check the dashboard before each session to see which upcoming events carry the 5-minute buffer restriction. Events not on the restricted list have no trading restrictions at all.
Can you hold positions through a restricted news event at Sway Funded?
You can hold positions through a restricted news event, but you cannot open or close them during the 5-minute buffer window before and after the event. If you want to exit before the news, close the position at least 5 minutes before the event time. If you miss that window, you must hold through the entire buffer before you're allowed to close.
What happens if you trade during the news buffer at Sway Funded?
Trading during the 5-minute buffer window at Sway Funded on a restricted event is a rule violation. Rule violations at prop firms typically result in account termination. Sway Funded can audit the exact timing of any trade relative to the event timestamp, so this is a clearly enforceable rule. Confirm the specific consequences in Sway Funded's Terms of Service.
Does Sway Funded ban news trading entirely?
No. Sway Funded does not ban news trading. The firm's policy is one of the more permissive among Forex prop firms — only specific events on a restricted list carry any restriction, and that restriction is limited to a 5-minute buffer. Most medium-impact events have no restrictions at all.
How does Sway Funded's news policy compare to FTMO or similar firms?
Sway Funded's news trading policy is more permissive than many major competitors. FTMO and similar firms have historically restricted trading around major news events more broadly, with no-trade windows that can span multiple events. Sway Funded's approach — specific restricted events with a defined 5-minute buffer — gives news traders more operational flexibility.
Does the Instant Account's consistency rule interact with news trading?
Yes. On the Sway Funded Instant Account, a large profit from a single news trading session can trigger the 20% consistency rule, which raises the profit target upward. This doesn't apply to the Rapid or Regular accounts. News traders who generate concentrated profits from single events should note this interaction when deciding between account types.
Can you trade the non-farm payrolls (NFP) at Sway Funded?
Whether NFP is on Sway Funded's restricted events list must be confirmed in the client dashboard — the specific list of restricted events is not published as a static public document. If NFP is on the restricted list, the 5-minute buffer applies. If it isn't, there are no restrictions on trading NFP at Sway Funded.
Is copy trading a news trade still allowed at Sway Funded?
Yes. Copy trading is fully permitted at Sway Funded from any source. If you're copying from a signal provider that trades around news events, those copied trades follow the same news trading rules — they cannot be opened or closed during the 5-minute buffer on restricted events. The news buffer applies to the account regardless of how the trades are generated.
The bottom line: Sway Funded's news trading policy is one of the more trader-friendly setups in Forex prop trading. The 5-minute buffer on specific restricted events is a minor operational constraint — check your dashboard before the session, know which events are restricted, and manage your timing accordingly. Most news events have no restrictions at all. The bigger consideration for news traders is choosing the right account type: if you're trading concentrated news positions that produce large single-day profits, the Rapid Challenge's lack of a consistency rule makes it a cleaner fit than the Instant Account.
