1 Limites applicables aux effets de levier

 1.1 Marge ESMA
Les limites applicables aux effets de levier fixées par l'ESMA à différents niveaux dépendent du sous-jacent :

• 3,33 % pour les paires de devises majeures; les paires de devises majeures sont une combinaison d'USD ; CAD ; EUR ; GBP ; CHF ; JPY
• 5 % pour les paires de devises non majeures et indices majeurs;
  • Les paires de devises non majeures sont celles comprenant une devise qui n'est pas listée ci-dessus, ex. : USD.CNH
  • Les indices principaux sont IBUS500, IBUS30, IBUST100, IBGB100, IBDE40, IBEU50, IBFR40, IBJP225, IBAU200
• 10 % pour les indices sur titres secondaires : IBES35, IBCH20, IBNL25, IBHK50
• 20 % pour les titres individuels

 1.2 Marges appliquées - Exigence standard

En plus des marges de l'ESMA, IBKR établit ses propres exigences de marges (Marges IB) basées sur la volatilité historique du sous-jacent et autres facteurs. Nous appliquerons les marges IB si elles sont supérieures à celles déterminées par l'ESMA.

Vous trouverez des informations concernant les marges IB et ESMA applicables ici.

1.2.1 Marges appliquées - Marge minimum de concentration

Des frais de concentration sont appliqués si le portefeuille est composé d'un petit nombre de positions CFD et/ou actions, ou si les deux positions les plus importantes dominent. Nous soumettons le portefeuille à un test de résistance en appliquant un mouvement défavorable de 30 % sur les deux positions les plus importantes et un mouvement défavorable de 5 % sur les positions restantes. La perte totale obtenue sera alors utilisée comme exigence de marge de maintien si elle est supérieure à l'exigence standard pour les positions groupées d'actions et de CFD. Veuillez noter que les frais de concentration sont le seul cas où la marge des positions d'actions et de CFD est calculée ensemble.

1.3 Approvisionnement des exigences de marge initiale

Pour ouvrir une position de CFD, la marge initiale doit correspondre à celle de la trésorerie.

Initialement, toute la liquidité utilisée pour approvisionner le compte est disponible pour le trading de CFD. Toute exigence de marge initiale pour d’autres instruments et les liquidités utilisées pour acheter des actions en espèces réduisent les liquidités disponibles. Si vos achats d’actions au comptant ont créé un prêt sur marge, aucun fonds n’est disponible pour les transactions sur CFD, même si votre compte dispose de fonds propres importants. Nous ne pouvons pas augmenter un prêt sur marge pour approvisionner la marge de CFD, conformément aux règles ESMA.

Les profits réalisés pour les CFD sont inclus dans la trésorerie et disponibles immédiatement; la trésorerie ne doit pas nécessairement faire d'abord l'objet d'un règlement. Les profits non réalisés ne peuvent cependant pas être utilisés pour satisfaire les exigences de marge initiales.

2 Règle de clôture des positions ouvertes basée sur la marge

2.1 Calculs de la marge de maintien et liquidations

L'ESMA exige qu'IBKR liquide les positions de CFD lorsque la valeur de compte éligible devient inférieure à 50 % de la marge initiale requise pour ouvrir les positions. IBKR peut clôturer des positions plus tôt si notre analyse des risques est plus prudente. La valeur de compte éligible comprend la trésorerie de CFD et le P&L de CFD non réalisé (positif et négatif). Notez que les liquidités CFD excluent les liquidités à l'appui des exigences de marge pour d'autres instruments. 

La base pour ce calcul est la marge initiale requise au moment de l'ouverture d'une position CFD. En d'autres termes, contrairement aux calculs de marge applicables aux positions autres que CFD, le montant de la marge initiale ne change pas lorsque la valeur de la position ouverte change.

2.1.1 Exemple

Vous avez 2000 EUR en espèces dans votre compte et pas de position ouverte. Vous souhaitez acheter 100 CFD de XYZ au prix limite de 100 EUR. 50 CFD sont d'abord exécutés, puis les 50 restants. Votre trésorerie disponible diminue au fur et à mesure des exécutions:

 *La valeur de compte est la trésorerie plus le P&L non réalisé

Le prix passe à 110. Votre valeur de compte est maintenant de 3000 mais vous ne pouvez pas ouvrir de positions supplémentaires car la trésorerie disponible est toujours de 0, et en vertu des règles de l'ESMA, les marges initiales (MI) et de maintien (MM) restent inchangées:

 Puis le prix baisse et passe à 95. Votre valeur de compte passe à 1500 mais il n'y a pas de violation de marge puisque elle est toujours supérieure à l'exigence fixée à 1000 :

 Le prix baisse encore et passe à 85 ce qui se traduit par une violation de la marge et déclenche une liquidation :

 3 Protection contre les valeurs négatives

Suite aux mesures de l'ESMA, votre responsabilité sur les CFD se limite aux fonds dédiés au trading de CFD. Les autres instruments financiers (ex. actions ou contrats à terme) ne peuvent pas être liquidés pour satisfaire une insuffisance de marge sur un CFD.*

Par conséquent, les actifs autres que les CFD ne font pas partie de votre capital sous risque pour le trading de CFD. 

Si vous perdez plus que les fonds dédiés au trading de CFD, IB devra annuler la perte. 

Étant donné que la protection contre les valeurs négatives représente un risque supplémentaire pour IBKR, nous facturerons aux investisseurs de détail un spread supplémentaire de 1 % pour les positions de CFD détenues d'une séance à l'autre. Vous trouverez le détail des taux de financement des CFD ici.

*Bien que nous ne puissions pas liquider les positions autres que CFD pour couvrir un déficit de CFD, nous pouvons liquider des positions de CFD pour couvrir un déficit non CFD.

ESMA Rules for CFDs (Retail Clients only)
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has enacted new CFD rules effective 1st August
2018.

The rules include: 1) leverage limits on the opening of a CFD position; 2) a margin close out rule on a per
account basis; and 3) negative balance protection on a per account basis.

The ESMA Decision is only applicable to retail clients. Professional clients are unaffected.
Please refer to the following articles for more detail:

ESMA CFD Rules Implementation at IBKR (UK) and IBKR LLC

ESMA CFD Rules Implementation at IBIE and IBCE

Introduction
A London Gold CFD enables you to have exposure to price movements of physical Gold without actually owning it. A London Gold CFD is an agreement between you and IBKR to exchange the difference in price of the underlying over a period of time. The difference to be exchanged is determined by the change in the reference price of the underlying. Thus, if the price of physical Gold traded on the London bullion market rises and you are long the CFD, you receive cash from IBKR and vice versa. A London Gold CFD can be bought long or sold short to suit your view of market direction in the future.

Contract Specifications

Price Determination
The IBKR London Gold and Silver CFDs reference physical Gold and Silver traded on the London bullion market. The London bullion market is a wholesale over-the-counter market for the trading of precious metals. Trading is conducted among members of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA). Most of the members are major international banks.

IBKR receives quote streams from approximately 10 such major banks, in much the same way it does for cash forex. IBKR Smart routes between the banks, and the best available price at any given time becomes the reference price for the CFDs. IBKR does not add a spread to the banks’ quotes.

Low Commissions and Financing Rates: Unlike other CFD providers IBKR charges a transparent
commission, rather than widening the spread. Commission rates are only 0.015% for London Gold and 0.03% for London Silver. Overnight financing rates are just benchmark +/- 1.5% (an additional 1% surcharge is added for retail accounts).

Transparent Quotes: Because IBKR does not widen the spread, the Metals CFD quotes accurately
represent the spreads and price movements of the related cash metal, as described above.

Margin Efficiency: IBKR establishes house-margin requirements based on historic volatility of the
underlying and other factors. Retail clients are subject to regulatory minimum initial margins of 5% for
London Gold or 10% for London Silver. 

Trading Permissions: Same as for Share and Index CFDs.

Market Data Permissions: Metals CFD market data is free, but a permission is required for system
reasons.

Worked Trade Example (Professional Clients):

You purchase 100 XAUUSD CFDs at $1,942.5 for USD 194,250 which you then hold for 5 days.

Closing the Position

CFD Resources
Below are some useful links with more detailed information on IB’s CFD offering:

CFD Product Listings

CFD Commissions

CFD Financing Rates

CFD Margin Requirements

CFD Contract Specifications

Frequently asked Questions

Are short Metals CFDs subject to forced buy-in?
No.

Can I take delivery of the underlying metal?

No, IBKR does not support physical delivery for Metals CFDs.

Are there any market data requirements?
The market data for Metal CFDs is free, and is included the market data for Index CFDs. However, you need to subscribe to the permission for system reasons. To do this, log into Account Management, and click through the following tabs: Settings/User Settings/Trading Platform/Market Data Subscriptions. Alternatively you can set up an Index or Metals CFD in your TWS quote monitor and click the “Market Data Subscription Manager” button that appears on the quote line.

How are my CFD trades and positions reflected in my statements?
If you are a client of IBKR (U.K.) or IBKR LLC, your CFD positions are held in a separate account segment identified by your primary account number with the suffix “F”. You can choose to view Activity Statements for the F-segment either separately or consolidated with your main account. You can make the choice in the statement window in Account Management.

If you are a client of other IBKR entities, there is no separate segment. You can view your positions normally alongside your non-CFD positions.

In what type of IB accounts can I trade CFDs e.g., Individual, Friends and Family,
Institutional, etc.?
All margin and cash accounts are eligible for CFD trading. 

Can I trade CFDs over the phone?
No. In exceptional cases we may agree to process closing orders over the phone, but never opening
orders.

Can anyone trade IB CFDs?
All clients can trade IB CFDs, except residents of the USA, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand and
Israel. There are no exemptions based on investor type to the residency-based exclusions.

Introduction
A warrant confers the right to buy (call-warrant) or sell (put-warrant) a specific quantity of a specific underlying instrument at a specific price over a specific period of time.

Pay-out Profile

With some warrants, the option right can only be exercised on the expiration date. These are referred to as “European-style” warrants. With “American-style” warrants, the option right can be exercised at any time prior to expiration. The vast majority of listed warrants are cash-exercised, meaning that you cannot exercise the warrant to obtain the underlying physical share. The exception to this rule is Switzerland, where physically settled warrants are widely available.

Factors that influence pricing
Not only do changes in the price of the underlying instrument influence the value of a warrant, a number of other factors are also involved. Of particular importance to investors in this regard are changes in volatility, i.e. the degree to which the price of the underlying instrument fluctuates. In addition, changes in interest rates and the anticipated dividend payments on the underlying instrument also play a role.

However, changes in implied volatility - as well as interest rates and dividends - only affect the time value of a warrant. The primary driver - intrinsic value - is solely determined by the difference between the price of the underlying instrument and the specified exercise price.

Historical and implied volatility
In addressing this topic, a differentiation has to be made between historical and implied volatility. Implied volatility reflects the volatility market participants expect to see in the financial instrument in the days and months ahead. If implied volatility for the underlying instrument increases, so does the price of the warrant.

This is because the probability of profiting from a warrant during a particular time-frame increases if the price of the underlying instrument is highly volatile. The warrant is therefore more valuable.

Conversely, if implied volatility decreases, that leads to a decline in the value of warrants and hence occasionally to nasty surprises for warrant investors who aren’t familiar with the concept and influence of volatility.

Interest rates and dividends
Issuers hedge themselves against price changes in the warrant through purchases and sales of the underlying instrument. Due to the leverage afforded by warrants, the issuer needs considerably more capital to hedge its exposure than you require to buy the warrants. The issuer’s interest expense associated with that capital is included in the price of the warrant. The amount of embedded interest reduces over time and at expiration is zero.

In the case of puts, the situation is exactly the opposite. Here, the issuer sells the underlying instrument
short to establish the necessary hedge, and in so doing receives capital that can earn interest. Thus interest reduces the price of the warrant by an amount that decreases over time.

As the issuer owns shares as a part of its hedging operations, it is entitled to receive the related dividend
payments. That additional income reduces the price of call warrants and increases the price for puts. But if the dividend expectations change, that will have an influence on the price of the warrants. Unanticipated special dividends on the underlying instrument can lead to a price decline in the related warrants.

Key valuation factors
Let’s assume the following warrant:
Warrant Type: Call
Term to expiration: 2 years
Underlying : ABC Share
Share price: EUR 30.00
Strike: EUR 30.00
Exercise ratio: 0.1
Warrant’s price: EUR 0.30

Intrinsic value
Intrinsic value represents the amount you could receive if you exercised the warrant immediately and then bought (in the case of a call) or sold (put) the underlying instrument in the open market.

It’s very easy to calculate the intrinsic value of a warrant. In our example the intrinsic value is EUR 00.00
and is calculated as follows:

(price of underlying instrument – strike price) x exercise ratio
= (EUR 30.00 – EUR 30.00) x 0.1

= EUR 00.00

If the price of the ABC share increases by EUR 1, the intrinsic value becomes
= (EUR 31.00 – EUR 30.00) x 0.1

= EUR 00.10

The intrinsic value of a put warrant is calculated with this formula:

(strike price – price of underlying instrument) x exercise ratio

It’s important to note that the intrinsic value of a warrant can never be negative. By way of explanation:
if the price of the underlying instrument is at or below the exercise price, the intrinsic value of a call equals zero. In this instance, the price of the warrant consists only of “time value”. On the flipside, the intrinsic value of a put is equal to zero if the price of the underlying instrument is at or above the exercise price.

Time value
Once you’ve calculated the intrinsic value of a warrant, it’s also easy to figure out what the time value of that warrant is. You simply deduct the intrinsic value from the current market price of the warrant. In our example, the time value is equal to EUR 1.30 as you can see from the following calculation:

(warrant price – intrinsic value)
= (EUR 0.30 EUR – EUR 0.00)

= EUR 0.30

Time value gradually erodes during the term of a warrant and ultimately ends up at zero upon expiration. At that point, warrants with no intrinsic value expire worthless. Otherwise you can expect to receive payment of the intrinsic value. Take note, though: a warrant’s loss of time value accelerates during the final months of its term.

Premium
The premium indicates how much more expensive a purchase/sale of the underlying instrument would be via the purchase of a warrant and the immediate exercise of the option right as opposed to simply buying/selling the underlying instrument in the open market.

Hence the premium is a measure of how expensive a warrant actually is. It follows that, when given a choice between warrants with similar features, you should always buy the one with the lowest premium. By calculating the premium as an annualized percentage, warrants with different terms to expiry can be compared with each other.

The percentage premium for the call warrant in our example can be calculated as follows:

(strike price + warrant price / exercise ratio – share price) / share price * 100

= (EUR 30.00 + EUR 0.30 / 0.1 – EUR 30.00) / EUR 30.00 x 100

= 10 percent

Leverage
The amount of leverage is the price of the share * ratio divided by the price of the warrant. In our example 30.00*0.1/0.3 = 10. So when the price of ABC increases by 1% the value of the warrant increases by 10%.

The amount of leverage is not constant however; it varies as intrinsic and time value changes, and is particularly sensitive to changes in intrinsic value. As a rule of thumb, the higher the intrinsic value of the warrant, the lower the leverage. For example (assuming constant time value):

Introduction
Discount certificates are designed to provide an enhanced return in sideways markets, compared to a direct investment in the underlying.

Discount certificates make it possible for you to buy an underlying instrument for less than its current market price. However, the maximum payback on a discount certificate is limited to a predetermined amount (cap).

Discount certificates normally have a term to maturity of one to three years. At maturity, a determination is made of where the price of the underlying instrument stands.

If it is at or above the cap, you’ll earn the maximum return and receive payment of the amount reflected by the cap.

If the price of the underlying instrument is below the cap on the maturity date, you’ll receive either the corresponding number of shares or a cash settlement reflecting the value of the underlying instrument on the maturity date.

Pay-out Profile

Example
Assume a discount certificate on ABC share. The certificate has a cap of EUR 40.00, and a purchase price of EUR 36.00. The table below shows scenarios depending on the final price of the underlying.