Account Linkage FAQs
Q: Which accounts are eligible for linkage?
A: Eligible accounts include Independent individual and IRA accounts which have matching country and state of legal residence and account title.
Q: What are the benefits of linkage?
A: The principal benefits of linkage are ease of access and potential savings in market data subscription fees. Following linkage, all accounts will be accessed via a single User Name, password and SLS device. After login to the trading platform or Client Portal Management you will be provided with a drop-down window for selecting the account you wish to trade or perform administrative tasks thereby eliminating the need to memorize multiple login information or maintain additional security devices.
In addition, as market data subscriptions are billed at a session level (i.e., User Name) and only a single TWS session can be viewed for any one user at a given time, account holders previously maintaining duplicate market data subscriptions for multiple accounts have the opportunity to consolidate those following linkage.
Q: If I link two accounts enrolled in SLS, are there any restrictions with respect to the security device which will remain following linkage?
A: Yes. In the case of a linkage request where the two accounts are SLS enrolled but maintain different devices, IBKR requires that the account holder retain the device having the highest protection rating as noted at the time of your request.
Q: What do I do with security devices which no longer are operable following linkage?
A: In the case of Security Code Cards, you may discard of the device once the linkage has been processed. For all other devices, you will need to return the device to IBKR to ensure that your account is not assessed a lost device fee. Click here for additional information regarding returning your device.
Q: Can I maintain multiple groups of linked accounts?
A: No. Once an account linkage has been requested and processed, all subsequent requests must be linked to that original grouping
Q: Can I unlink accounts which have already been linked?
A: No. Once a link has been established it is permanent and cannot be undone.
Q: Why has the linkage request which I submitted not been processed?
A: Linkage requests are automatically processed as of the close of business on the day submitted when accounts are SLS enrolled and the individual information on record identical (e.g. mailing address, telephone numbers, email address, etc.). If any of these conditions are not met, the linkage request will not be processed until SLS enrollment is complete and/or Compliance review of the information changes and any supporting documentation necessary to evidence the change has been received.
Q: Once linked, from which account will market data subscription fees be deducted?
A: Account holders are allowed to designate a billing account from which all market data fees may be deducted. We recommend that you select the account which generates the greatest level of commission activity if your subscription provides for fee waiver should your monthly commissions reach a minimum threshold (e.g., U.S. Securities & Commodities Market Data Bundle). IBKR will only look to the activity conducted in the billing account to determine waiver eligibility rather than aggregating the commission activity across all linked accounts. In selecting the billing account, consideration should also be given to selecting an account having the greatest level of equity as well as cash. This will minimize situations where the account has insufficient cash and the billing serves to increase the margin debit balance or where the account does not have margin permissions or maintains insufficient equity with loan value which, in both cases, will result in the liquidation of positions to cover the fees. IBKR will not act to automatically transfer cash across linked accounts to meet subscription obligations.
Q: If I link two accounts, will I have any restrictions on short sales?
A: Accounts owned by the same beneficial owner are considered in a consolidated manner when determining the ability to sell a stock short. If account A is long 100 shares and account B is short 100 shares, a new order to sell shares in either account A or account B will be considered a short sale, as overall the accounts hold a 0 position. The new sell order would be subject to any applicable locate requirements.
Why is there no "Last" price for Forex pairs?
Overview:
The Last column does not show the most recent trade for currency pairs but either the midpoint of the most recent bid/ask price or if not available then the previous day closing price. This is not a market data error but rather the nature of the Forex market.
Background:
The global Forex market is what is referred to as an "OTC" (Over the Counter) market. Unlike the options, futures or listed equity markets, there is no central reporting facility for OTC markets, including Forex. Hence there is no official "tape". The Last Traded Price for Forex depends entirely upon where you look. Bloomberg, Reuters, Yahoo, Google, IB, etc will all have different combinations of pools of liquidity from which they are gleaning this information. Since there is no official "Last Price" for Forex, IB cannot report one on our TWS. The previous day's closing price is the last traded price from the liquidity providers IB does business with. It may not match the last traded price for the previous day from other agencies who might have access to additional--or less--liquidity providers than does IB.
Overview of Fees
Clients and as well as prospective clients are encouraged to review our website where fees are outlined in detail.
An overview of the most common fees is provided below:
1. Commissions - vary by product type and listing exchange and whether you elect a bundled (all in) or unbundled plan. In the case of US stocks, for example, we charge $0.005 per share with a minimum per trade of $1.00.
2. Interest - interest is charged on margin debit balances and IBKR uses internationally recognized benchmarks on overnight deposits as a basis for determining interest rates. We then apply a spread around the benchmark interest rate (“BM”) in tiers, such that larger cash balances receive increasingly better rates, to determine an effective rate. For example, in the case of USD denominated loans, the benchmark rate is the Fed Funds effective rate and a spread of 1.5% is added to the benchmark for balances up to $100,000. In addition, individuals who short stock should be aware of special fees expressed in terms of daily interest where the stock borrowed to cover the short stock sale is considered 'hard-to-borrow'.
3. Exchange Fees - again vary by product type and exchange. For example, in the case of US securities options, certain exchanges charge a fee for removing liquidity (market order or marketable limit order) and provide payments for orders which add liquidity (limit order). In addition, many exchanges charge fees for orders which are canceled or modified.
4. Market Data - you are not required to subscribe to market data, but if you do you may incur a monthly fee which is dependent upon the vendor exchange and their subscription offering. We provide a Market Data Assistant tool which assists in selecting the appropriate market data subscription service available based upon the product you wish to trade. To access, log in to Portal click on the Support section and then the Market Data Assistant link.
5. Minimum Monthly Activity Fee - there is no monthly minimum activity requirement or inactivity fee in your IBKR account.
6. Miscellaneous - IBKR allows for one free withdrawal per month and charges a fee for each subsequent withdrawal. In addition, there are certain pass-through fees for trade bust requests, options and futures exercise & assignments and ADR custodian fees.
For additional information, we recommend visiting our website and selecting any of the options from the Pricing menu option.
How do I determine which market data subscription is applicable for a given security?
IBKR provides account holders with a Market Data Assistant tool which assists in selecting the subscription services available for a given security (stock, option or warrant) they wish to trade. The search results show all exchanges upon which the product trades, the subscription offering and its monthly fee for both Professional and Non-Professional clients as well as the depth of market variations associated with each subscription.
To access the Market Data Assistant:
- Log in to Client Portal
- Click on the Help menu (question mark icon in the top right corner) followed by Support Center
- Scroll down and select Market Data Assistant
- Enter the Symbol or ISIN and the Exchange
- Choose a value for the optional filters: Professional/Non Professional subscriber status, Currency and Asset
- Click Search
- Review the available options and decide which subscription best meets your needs.
Find more information on the market data selections page of the IBKR website.
Links:
WebTrader: Market Depth Tools
How to access and use market depth tools on WebTrader
For a brief introduction to the WebTrader platform please click here
For a brief video on basic order entry using WebTrader please click here
For a brief video on how to display option chains using WebTrader please click here
For a brief video on how to customize the WebTrader please click here
If I change my address with IB, will my billing address be automatically changed for my direct billed NYSE Professional market data subscription?
No. The subscriber must change the updated address directly with the NYSE through their website located at www.nyxdata.com/mds. Once on the NYSE website, the subscriber will need to click on Account Profile Change link located under the Account Information Changes menu.
Does IBKR provide for a dormant or inactive account status?
While there is no provision for dormant or inactive account status, there is no monthly minimum activity requirement or inactivity fee in your IBKR account.
While we have no minimum account balance, should the account balance fall below USD 2,000 IBKR is precluded, by regulation, from affording margin treatment to securities positions. In addition, account holders will also be billed for any market data subscriptions maintained and, as a matter of policy, will have subscriptions terminated automatically when the account balance falls below USD 500.
Individuals seeking to close an account are encouraged to refer to our User's Guide to familiarize themselves with the steps and prerequisites for taking this action.
