Payment In Lieu of a Dividend (“payment in lieu” or “PIL”) is a term commonly used to describe a cash payment to an account in an amount equivalent to the ordinary dividend. Generally, the amount paid is per share owned. In addition, the dividend in most cases is paid quarterly (i.e., four times per year). The dividend payment is classified as follows: (1) ordinary dividend; and/or (2) payment in lieu of dividend. The former designation is for a payment received directly from the issuer or its paying agent. The latter designation is used when a cash payment is received from other than the issuer or the issuer’s agent.

Payment in lieu of an ordinary dividend may be received when the shares have been bought on margin, or when the account has a subsequent margin loan due to borrowing money to facilitate the payment for additional purchases of shares or as the result of a withdrawal from the margin account. Payment in lieu of a dividend may also be received when shares are owed to the brokerage firm and have not been received by the dividend record date.

To better understand the difference between an ordinary dividend and a payment in lieu, we will explain the steps taken by IB to comply with US regulations. Each business day, the Firm analyzes the positions in each customer account, every borrow, every loan, every pledge of shares for each security held by its customers to determine how many shares are held on margin and the associated margin loan balances. For each security that is fully paid, we are required to segregate those shares in a good control location (for example, a depository or a US bank. See KB1964).  For shares that are held as collateral for a margin loan we are allowed to hypothecate and re-hypothecate shares valued up to 140 percent of the total debit balance in the customer account (See KB1967).

While the guidelines noted above for segregation of securities are clear, there are exceptions that are outside of the Firm's control. For instance, through no fault of its own, IB may have a deficit in segregated shares due to customer activity that changes the Firm’s overall segregation requirement for a security. This may be for a variety of reasons including a delay in receiving shares that have been loaned out to a counterparty after segregation requirements are recalculated and the Firm has issued a stock loan recall, sales of securities by one or more customers that reduce or eliminate margin loans, the deposit of cash by customers that similarly reduce or eliminate margin loans, or a failure of a counterparty to deliver shares for a trade settlement.

Upon issuing a recall of shares loaned, rules permit the borrower of the shares up to 3 business days to return them. The borrower of the shares is required to return them to us when we issue a recall, but if by business day 3 the shares have not been returned, IB may then issue a buy-in notice to begin the process of regaining possession of the shares. An additional 3 business days is generally needed for the purchased shares to settle and be delivered to the firm. Similarly if a counterparty fails to deliver by settlement date, shares to IB to settle a customer purchase, IB can issue a buy-in notice but the purchase of such shares are also subject to trade settlement in 3 days.

To summarize, if by the record date of a dividend certain shares have not been delivered to IB, the Firm will be paid an amount of cash that is equivalent to the dividend amount, but IB will not receive a qualified dividend payment directly from the issuer. In such cases, the Firm will receive PIL and will have no choice but to allocate such payment in lieu to customer accounts. The firm first allocates PIL to those accounts who hold the shares as collateral for a margin loan. If, after PIL is allocated to all shareholders whose accounts are not fully paid, any portion of PIL remains to be paid, it is allocated on a pro-rata basis to each remaining client account.

Account holders should be aware that a PIL may have different tax consequences than an ordinary dividend and should consult a tax advisor to understand such differences and whether they apply to their particular situation.