The process of converting an individual or joint account to grantor trust account is outlined below:
Due to the manual steps and scheduling required, you should allow a minimum of one week after trust account approval and submitting your request for the transfer to take effect.
IMPORTANT NOTES
Introduction
Following the establishment of Interactive Brokers Australia Pty Ltd (IB Australia), who holds an Australian Financial Services License, number 453554, Australian residents maintaining an account with Interactive Brokers LLC (IB LLC) will have their account transferred to IB Australia as IB LLC intends to cease business in Australia. Outlined below are the steps required to initiate the transfer and information regarding the account holder's relationship with IB Australia following the transfer.
How To Transfer Your Account To IB Australia
Moving your account to IB Australia is easy. The process is simple because we will use the information and documents we already have on file for you. The transfer process is initiated once you sign the online authorisation form. This form will be presented to you immediately upon log in to Account Management. Once the form has been signed your account will be scheduled for transfer, with the transfer typically taking effect over a weekend (with consideration given to weekends which coincide with option expiration processing).
Click Here to Authorise the Transfer of Your Account
We encourage you to complete the application to transfer to IB Australia as soon as possible.
Products offered by IB Australia
As a client of IB Australia, you will continue to be able to trade all of the exchange traded products you currently have access to (including local and global stocks, bonds, options, futures, etc.) through Interactive Brokers’ award winning trading platform and software. For further information on IB Australia's products and services, please see our website.
Australian regulatory status
Upon transfer of your account to IB Australia, you will automatically be designated as a retail client. However, if it appears that you may qualify as a wholesale investor or as a professional investor, or if you believe that you would qualify for either, you will have the option to complete and submit the required documentation for IB Australia to consider.
Offering margin under IB Australia
IB Australia have decided that they will not be offering margin accounts to a corporate entity which is designated as a retail client. As a result, if you currently have a margin account and you have not submitted the required documentation to allow IB Australia to categorize you as either a wholesale client or a professional investor, upon transfer of your account to IB Australia, you will not be able to use your margin account for any new purchases. If you think that you might qualify as either a wholesale client or a professional investor, and you would like to retain the benefits of a margin account with IB Australia, please ensure that you complete and submit the required documentation as soon as possible.
You should also note that IB Australia only offers risk based margin accounts, similar to our Portfolio Margin accounts under IB LLC. If you currently have a Reg T margin account and would like to simulate and review the margin changes after the migration, please login to our TWS trading platform, go to the Account window and select Margin Requirements then Portfolio Margin.
Client Money Considerations
Transfer Of Money From IB LLC To IB Australia: IB LLC and IB Australia are separate legal companies. When you complete the application to transfer your account to IB Australia, you will be directing IB LLC to close your account, transfer your positions, and pay to IB Australia all of the cash currently in your account. Upon receiving these funds, IB Australia will pay the funds into an IB Australia Client Money Account (discussed in more detail below). The actual transfer will occur as soon as practicable following the opening of your account with IB Australia.
Money To Be Held On Trust By IB Australia: IB Australia is required to handle all money that it receives from you or on your behalf in accordance with Part 7.8 of the Corporations Act. In other words, IB Australia is required to maintain one or more trust/segregated client money accounts (Client Money Accounts) with a bank for the holding of monies it receives for or from its clients. This money is held on trust for IB Australia's clients. IB Australia will initially only hold client money in Australian dollars (AUD), U.S. dollars (USD), British Pounds (GBP), or Euros (EUR).
For the purposes of this article, these currencies will be referred to as IBA supported currencies.
Conversion Or Withdrawal Of Non IBA supported currency Balances Before Transfer: You will be given a choice in the IB Australia application process as to which of these supported currencies you would like as your base currency. If you have cash balances in currencies other than IBA supported currencies (AUD, USD, GBP or EUR) these will to be converted into your nominated base currency upon the transfer of your account to IB Australia. The exchange rate that will apply to such a conversion will be the best rate that is reasonably available to IB LLC through its existing liquidity providers when it performs the conversion.
Client Assets And Positions – Transition
When you transfer your account to IB Australia, IB Australia will be your service provider, not IB LLC. When you trade through your IB Australia account, IB Australia will execute Australian market transactions for you, and will arrange for offshore brokers to execute transactions in offshore markets, including IB LLC and other Interactive Broker Group affiliates, as appropriate. In those markets, the offshore brokers will treat IB Australia as their client (and IB Australia will operate omnibus client accounts with those brokers to cover transactions for IB Australia's clients).
IB Australia will replace IB LLC as your custodian. IB Australia will hold all assets that you purchase through IB Australia on your behalf subject to IB Australia’s General Terms, which are available here.
Please refer to IB Australia’s Financial Services Guide, which provides important information about the custody services that IB Australia provides and the sub-custodians that IB Australia uses.
The following is a brief summary of the asset and position holding arrangements going forward:
Assets/Positions | Past IB LLC Arrangement | Future IB Australia Arrangement |
Australian securities | IB LLC as custodian (and IB Australia as sub-custodian and executing broker) |
IB Australia as custodian and BNP Paribas Securities Services (as sub-custodian and clearing participant) |
Foreign securities | Foreign sub-custodian (including IB LLC affiliates) | IB Australia as custodian and IB LLC as sub-custodian. |
Australian exchange traded derivatives |
IB Australia (clearing participant) | IB Australia (clearing participant) |
International exchange traded derivatives |
Foreign broker/clearing participant in relevant market |
Foreign broker/clearing participant in relevant market |
FX positions | Contract with IB LLC | Contract with IB Australia |
When you agree to transfer your account to IB Australia, you will be instructing and authorising IB Australia and IB LLC to do all things reasonably required to facilitate the transfer of all assets and positions from your IB LLC account to your new IB Australia account, including to amend their books and records to reflect the transition, and to give appropriate instructions and directions to sub-custodians, clearing participants and other external providers.
Please note that if you hold positions in products that IBA does not support, such as OTC Metals, these positions will be closed out prior to transfer by IBA at the prevailing price. It is recommended that you close these out prior to completing the transfer form.
In addition, if you participate in the Stock Yield Enhancement Program (SYEP), IB Australia does not as yet support this service. You will not be able to participate in this once your account is transferred to IB Australia.
In order to ensure continued compliance with our regulatory obligations, Interactive Brokers Australia has decided that we will NOT accept any other form of collateral except cash for the purposes of determining whether you can trade or hold ASX24 products. If the margin requirements of ASX24 products cannot be met using cash, an account will be subject to automated liquidation.
A new IB account number will be assigned and our deposit Instructions may change. Prior to making any new deposits, we ask that you obtain the new deposit instructions through Account Management.
The Insured Bank Deposit Sweep Program is available to only those non-U.S. residents whose account is carried with IBLLC, the U.S. broker, or IB-UK, the introducing broker. If your account was previously carried by IBLLC, but is now carried by IB Australia, your account is no longer eligible for the Insured Bank Deposit Sweep Program. Further information is available at this link:
What If I Choose Not To Transfer My Account To IB Australia or Don't Act?
You are not required to transfer your account to IB Australia but you will need to close or transfer you account ASAP as IB LLC intends to cease providing financial services in Australia very soon. This means IB LLC will cease offering financial services and products to Australian residents, including you. This will impact you as follows:
If your account remains open and you have not opened a new account with IB Australia before a
nominated date of which we will be informed, then IB LLC (U.S.) will, under the terms of its Customer
Agreement with you, impose trading restrictions on your account, including prohibiting you from
opening new positions and may transfer your account to IB Australia.
What Happens When IB LLC (U.S.) Transfers My Account To IB Australia?
Please note the following information is only relevant if you do not apply to transfer your Account(s) to IB Australia prior to a date we will inform you of.
If you have NOT applied to transfer your account(s) to IB Australia, then IB LLC (U.S.) will be forced to assign your account(s) to IB Australia. When this happens, IB Australia will be holding your account under the same agreement that you held the account with IB LLC (U.S.).
You will be prohibited from opening new positions until you accept the legal terms that govern and the disclosures that relate to IB Australia’s account offering; you can, however, apply to withdraw your funds and transfer positions to 3rd party brokers.
Please also note the following:
Other
IB requires that clients verify their mobile phone in order to receive account and trade related communication directly via SMS. Clients who fail to verify their phone will be subject to trade restrictions pending completion of this process. Verification is performed online and the steps for doing so are outlined below.
In case your account has been already opened but your mobile number has not been yet verified, please jump directly to KB2552 to complete the verification process.
When completing your Interactive Brokers Account Application, you will see a blue bar at the top of the page that says "CONFIRM MOBILE NUMBER."
You can click on that bar any time during steps 1-4. Once you do, you will see this window:
Once you have entered your full number, it will be recognized and a confirmation message is sent immediately. Validate your phone number by entering the SMS Code received in the Confirmation Code field and click Submit.
If you are unable to do this during the application process, you can always confirm it on the Application Status page
OVERVIEW
IB is required by regulation to verify the identity and address of each applicant and, where copies of physical documents are required, is often subject to local rules as to the type and form of documents which may be accepted. In the case of Australian residents, documents can only be accepted if certified as a true copy of the original by an approved individual. A list of such individuals along with other requirements and document submission instructions is outlined below.
LIST OF APPROVED CERTIFIERS
1Person must be authorized/licensed/registered under Australian law.
OTHER REQUIREMENTS
Each page of the document being certified must contain the certifiers signature plus the following statement: "I certify this document to be a true and accurate copy of the original as sighted by me". Have the certifying party complete the Certified Copy Certificate Form for fastest processing. If you do not use the above form, ensure to include the following information on the first page of the document being certified:
DOCUMENT SUBMISSION
Documents cannot be sent electronically and must be delivered to IB by mail or courier.
New Accounts Department
Interactive Brokers Australia Pty Ltd
P.O. Box R229
Royal Exchange, NSW 1225
Australia
Courier
New Accounts Department
Interactive Brokers Australia Pty Ltd
Level 40 Grosvenor Place
225 George Street, Sydney, NSW 2000
Australia
This guide contains instructions for a Trust to complete the online tax information and to electronically submit a W-9 or W-8BEN.
Your U.S. income tax classification determines the tax form(s) required to document the account.
You must login to Account Management with the trust's primary username to access the Tax Form Collection page.
a. Click Manage Account > Account Information > Tax Information > Tax Forms.
IBKR offers three types of joint accounts: Tenants with Rights of Survivorship, Tenancy in Common and Community Property. Each of these joint account types is limited to two account holders.
Applicants interested in opening an account with multiple owners in excess of two may consider the corporate, partnership, limited liability company or unincorporated legal structure account types offered by IBKR. Note that documentation establishing proof of formation and address are generally required at the point of application.
The process of adding a second owner to an existing single account for purposes of converting to a joint account is outlined below:
Información para completar el nuevo cuestionario no-profesional.
El NYSE y la mayoría de los mercados estadounidenses requieren que los proveedores confirmen el estado de datos de mercado de cada cliente antes de permitirles recibir datos de mercado. En adelante, el Cuestionario No-Profesional se utilizará para identificar y confirmar el estado de datos de mercado de todos los clientes suscriptores. Según los requisitos de los mercados, sin una identificación de los clientes como no-profesionales, el estado de datos de mercado predeterminado será profesional. El proceso protegerá y mantendrá el estado de datos de mercado correcto para todos los nuevos suscriptores. Para ver una breve guía sobre las definiciones no-profesionales, consulte el artículo ibkb.interactivebrokers.com/article/2369.
Para obtener la designación de no-profesional, deben responderse todas las preguntas del cuestionario. Como los mercados requieren confirmaciones positivas de pruebas de designaciones no-profesionales, un Cuestionario No-Profesional incompleto o dudoso tendrá como resultado la designación de Profesional hasta que el estado pueda confirmarse.
Si el estado debe cambiarse, contacte con Atención al Cliente.
Explicación de las preguntas:
a) ¿Recibe información financiera (incluidos precios de datos o novedades relacionados con valores, materias primas y otros instrumentos financieros) para su empresa u otra entidad comercial?
Explicación: ¿Recibe y utiliza los datos de mercado para uso en nombre de una empresa u otra organización, además de utilizarlos en esta cuenta para uso personal?
b) ¿Está realizando negociaciones de valores, materias primas o fórex para beneficios de una corporación, asociación, fideicomiso profesional, club de inversiones profesionales u otro tipo de entidad?
Explicación: ¿Negocia solo para usted o realiza operaciones en nombre de una organización (S.A., S.L., Ltd, LLC, GmbH, Co., LLP, Corp.)?
c) ¿Tiene algún acuerdo para (a) compartir los beneficios de sus actividades de negociación o (b) recibir compensación por sus actividades de negociación?
Explicación: ¿Se le compensa por operar o comparte los beneficios de sus actividades operativas con un individual o entidad terceros?
d) ¿Recibe espacio y equipo de oficina u otros beneficios a cambio de su negociación o trabaja como consultor financiero para cualquier persona, empresa o entidad comercial?
Explicación: ¿Una tercera parte le compensa por su actividad operativa, no necesariamente de forma económica?
a) ¿Está actuando actualmente en alguna capacidad como asesor de inversiones o bróker-díler?
Explicación: ¿Se le compensa por gestionar activos de terceros o se le compensa por aconsejar a otros cómo gestionar sus activos?
b) ¿Actúa como gestor de activos para valores, materias primas o fórex?
Explicación: ¿Se le compensa por gestionar valores, materias primas o fórex?
c) ¿Utiliza actualmente esta información financiera en una capacidad comercial o para gestionar los activos de su empresa o de su empleador?
Explicación: ¿Utiliza datos con propósitos comerciales, específicamente para gestionar los activos de su empresa/empleador?
d) ¿Utiliza el capital de cualquier persona física o jurídica en la realización de su negociación?
Explicación: ¿Hay activos en su cuenta de cualquier otra entidad, además de los suyos propios?
a) ¿Está distribuyendo, redistribuyendo, publicando, haciendo disponible o proporcionando en cualquier forma información financiera del servicio a terceros?
Explicación: ¿Está enviando datos recibidos de nosotros a terceros de cualquier forma y manera?
a) ¿Está actualmente registrado o cualificado como operador de valores profesional con cualquier agencia de valores, o con cualquier mercado de contratos de futuros o materias primas o es un asesor de inversiones registrado con cualquier mercado estatal o nacional, autoridad reguladora, asociación profesional u organismo profesional reconocido? i, ii
SÍ☐ NO☐
i) Ejemplos de organizaciones reguladoras incluyen, pero sin limitarse:
ii) Los ejemplos de organizaciones autoreguladas (SROs) incluyen, pero sin limitarse:
Las preguntas de seguridad representan uno de los componentes del marco de seguridad que IB ha puesto en práctica para proteger su cuenta. Aquí le indicamos algunos sencillos consejos para seleccionar las preguntas y respuestas de seguridad, de modo que esta medida sea lo más efectiva posible:
1. Elija preguntas cuyas respuestas usted pueda recordar y contestar de forma consistente en un futuro.
2. Cuando sea posible, utilice respuestas de una sola palabra.
3. Preste atención a los espacios. Si utiliza "San Diego" como respuesta a una de las preguntas, el sistema rechazará "SanDiego."
4. Evite utilizar respuestas extravagantes o sin sentido, ya que son más difíciles de recordar en el futuro.
5. Seleccione una pregunta que no pueda adivinarse o encontrarse con facilidad, que tenga muchas posibles respuestas y con una baja probabilidad de adivinar la respuesta correcta.
6. Seleccione una pregunta cuya respuesta sea desconocida para otras personas, incluidos familiares, amigos, ex-cónyuge, etc.
7. Elija una pregunta que tenga una respuesta estable, que no vaya a cambiar con el tiempo.
Insight into completing the new Non-Professional Questionnaire.
The NYSE and most US exchanges require vendors to positively confirm the market data status of each customer before allowing them to receive market data. Going forward, the Non-Professional Questionnaire will be used to identify and positively confirm the market data status of all customer subscribers. As per exchange requirements, without positively identifying customers as non-professional, the default market data status will be professional. The process will protect and maintain the correct market data status for all new subscribers. For a short guide on non-professional definitions, please see https://ibkr.info/article/2369.
Each question on the questionnaire must be answered in order to have a non-professional designation. As exchanges require positive confirmations of proof for non-professional designations, an incomplete or unclear Non-Professional Questionnaire will result in a Professional designation until the status can be confirmed.
If the status should change, please contact the helpdesk.
Explanation of questions:
a) Do you receive financial information (including news or price data concerning securities, commodities and other financial instruments) for your business or any other commercial entity?
Explanation: Are you receiving and using the market data for use on behalf of a company or other organization aside from using the data on this account for personal use?
b) Are you conducting trading of any securities, commodities or forex for the benefit of a corporation, partnership, professional trust, professional investment club or other entity?
Explanation: Are you trading for yourself only or are you trading on behalf of an organization (Ltd, LLC, GmbH, Co., LLP, Corp.)?
c) Have you entered into any agreement to (a) share the profit of your trading activities or (b) receive compensation for your trading activities?
Explanation: Are you being compensated to trade or are you sharing profits from your trading activities with a third party entity or individual?
d) Are you receiving office space, and equipment or other benefits in exchange for your trading or work as a financial consultant to any person, firm or business entity?
Explanation: Are you being compensated in any way for your trading activity by a third party, not necessarily by being paid in currency.
a) Are you currently acting in any capacity as an investment adviser or broker dealer?
Explanation: Are you being compensated to manage third party assets or compensated to advise others on how to manage their assets?
b) Are you engaged as an asset manager for securities, commodities or forex?
Explanation: Are you being compensated to manage securities, commodities, or forex?
c) Are you currently using this financial information in a business capacity or for managing your employer’s or company’s assets?
Explanation: Are you using data at all for a commercial purposes specifically to manage your employer and/or company assets?
d) Are you using the capital of any other individual or entity in the conduct of your trading?
Explanation: Are there assets of any other entity in your account other than your own?
a) Are you distributing, redistributing, publishing, making available or otherwise providing any financial information from the service to any third party in any manner?
Explanation: Are you sending any data you receive from us to another party in any way, shape, or form?
a) Are you currently registered or qualified as a professional securities trader with any security agency, or with any commodities or futures contract market or investment adviser with any national or state exchange, regulatory authority, professional association or recognized professional body? i, ii
YES☐ NO☐
i) Examples of Regulatory bodies include, but are not limited to,
ii) Examples of Self-Regulatory Organization (SROs) include, but are not limited to: