As a U.S. broker-dealer registered with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) for the purpose of facilitating customer securities transactions, IB LLC is subject to various regulations relating to the extension of credit and margining of those transactions. In the case of foreign equity securities (i.e., non-U.S. issuer), Reg T. allows a U.S. broker to extend margin credit to those which either appear on the Federal Reserve Board's periodically published List of Foreign Margin Stocks, or are deemed to have a have a "ready market" under SEC Rule 15c3-1 or SEC no-action letter.

Prior to November 2012, "ready market" was deemed to include equity securities of a foreign issuer that are listed on what is now known as the FTSE World Index. This definition was based upon a 1993 SEC no-action letter and was premised upon the fact that, while there may not have been a ready market for such securities within the U.S., the securities could be readily resold in the applicable foreign market.  In November of 2012, the SEC issued a follow-up no-action letter (www.sec.gov/divisions/marketreg/mr-noaction/2012/finra-112812.pdf) which expanded the population of foreign equity securities deemed to have a ready market to also include those not listed on the FTSE World Index provided that the following four conditions are met:

1. The security is listed on a foreign exchange located within a FTSE World Index recognized country, where the security has been trading on the exchange for at least 90 days;

2. Daily bid, ask and last quotations for the security as provided by the foreign listing exchange are made continuously available to the U.S. broker through an electronic quote system;

3. The median daily trading volume calculated over the preceding 20 business day period of the security on its listing exchange is either at least 100,000 shares or $500,000 (excluding shares purchased by the computing broker);

4. The aggregate unrestricted market capitalization in shares of the security exceed $500 million over each of the preceding 10 business days.

Note: if a security previously meeting the above conditions no longer does so, the broker is provided with a 5 business day window after which time the security will no longer be deemed readily marketable and must be treated as non-marginable.

Foreign equity securities which do not meet the above conditions, will be treated as non-marginable and will therefore have no loan value. Note that for purposes of this no-action letter foreign equity securities do not include options.

The term "excess margin securities" refers to margin securities carried for the account of a customer having a market value in excess of 140 percent of the total debit balance in the customer's account. These securities are in excess of the securities held in a customer's margin account that are pledged by the customer as collateral for the margin loan and can be used to support the purchase of additional securities on margin

Example:

A customer whose account equity consists solely of a cash balance of USD 10,000 on Day 1 purchases 400 shares of stock ABC at USD 50 per share on Day 2.

On Day 2, the customer's excess margin securities total USD 6,000. This is calculated by subtracting 140% of the margin debit or loan balance from the market value of the stock position ($6,000 = $20,000 - {1.4 * $10,000}).

The term is relevant from a regulatory perspective as the SEC requires that U.S. broker dealers segregate and maintain in a good control location (e.g., DTC or bank) all customer securities which are deemed excess margin securities. Such securities cannot be pledged or loaned to finance the activities of the firm or other customers without specific written permission from the customer. The portion of the securities classified as margin securities ($20,000 - $6,000 or $14,000 in this example) are subject to a lien and may be pledged or loaned by the broker to others to assist in financing the loan made to the customer.

Note that securities which were excess margin at the date of acquisition may later be reclassified as margin securities based upon the customer's subsequent trade and/or margin borrowing activity. For example, if the loan value of excess margin securities is subsequently used to acquire additional securities on margin, a portion of securities will then be reclassified as margin securities and subject to a lien. If the customer subsequently deposits cash or sells securities to reduce or eliminate the margin loan, the securities will be reclassified as excess margin or fully paid and are required to be segregated.
See also "fully paid securities".

The following article is intended to provide a general introduction to share-based Contracts for Differences (CFDs) issued by IBKR.

For Information on IBKR Index CFDs click here. For Forex CFDs click here. For Precious Metals click here.

Topics covered are as follows:

I.    CFD Definition
II.   Comparison Between CFDs and Underlying Shares
III. CFD Tax and Margin Advantage
IV.  US ETFs
V.   CFD Resources
VI.  Frequently Asked Questions

Risk Warning

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage.

61% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with IBKR.

You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

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

I.  Share  CFD Definition

IBKR CFDs are OTC contracts which deliver the return of the underlying stock, including dividends and corporate actions (read more about CFD corporate actions).

Said differently, it is an agreement between the buyer (you) and IBKR to exchange the difference in the current value of a share, and its value at a future time. If you hold a long position and the difference is positive, IBKR pays you. If it is negative, you pay IBKR.

IBKR Share CFDs are traded through your cash or margin account, and you can enter long as well as short leveraged positions. The price of the CFD is the exchange-quoted price of the underlying share. In fact, IBKR CFD quotes are identical to the Smart-routed quotes for shares that you can observe in the Trader Workstation and IBKR offers Direct Market Access (DMA). Similar to shares, your non-marketable (i.e. limit) orders have the underlying hedge directly represented on the deep book of those exchanges at which it trades.  This also means that you can place orders to buy the CFD at the underlying bid and sell at the offer.

To compare IBKR’s transparent CFD model to others available in the market please see our Overview of CFD Market Models.

IBKR currently offers approximately 8000 Share CFDs covering the principal markets in the US, Europe and Asia. The constituents of the major indexes listed below are currently available as IBKR Share CFDs. In many countries IBKR also offers trading in liquid small cap shares. These are shares with free float adjusted market capitalization of at least USD 500 million and median daily trading value of at least USD 600 thousand.  Please see CFD Product Listings for more detail. More countries will be added in the near future.

II.   Comparison Between CFDs and Underlying Shares

*IB LLC and IB-UK accounts.

**EEA area clients cannot trade US ETFs directly, as they do not publish KIDs.

III. CFD Tax and Margin Advantage

Where stamp duty or financial transaction tax is applied, currently in the UK (0.5%), France (0.3%), Belgium (0.35%) and Spain (0.2%), it has a substantially detrimental impact on returns, particular in an active trading strategy. The taxes are levied on buy-trades, so each time you open a long, or close a short position, you will incur tax at the rates described above.

The amount of available leverage also significantly impacts returns. For European IBKR entities, margin requirements are risk-based for both stocks and CFDs, and therefore generally the same. IB-UK and IB LLC accounts however are subject to Reg T requirements, which limit available leverage to 2:1 for positions held overnight.

To illustrate, let's assume that you have 20,000 to invest and wish to leverage your investment fully. Let's also assume that you hold your positions overnight and that you trade in and out of positions 5 times in a month.

Let's finally assume that your strategy is successful and that you have earned a 5% return on your gross (fully leveraged) investment.

The table below shows the calculation in detail for a UK security. The calculations for France, Belgium and Spain are identical, except for the tax rates applied.

The following table summarizes the reduction in return for a stock investment, by country where tax is applied, compared to a CFD investment, given the above assumptions.

IV. US ETFs

EEA area residents who are retail investors must be provided with a key information document (KID) for all investment products. US ETF issuers do not generally provide KIDs, and US ETFs are therefore not available to EEA retail investors.

CFDs on such ETFs are permitted however, as they are derivatives for which KIDs are available.

Like for all share CFDs, the reference price for CFDs on ETFs is the exchange-quoted, SMART-routed price of the underlying ETF, ensuring economics that are identical to trading the underlying ETF.

V.   CFD Resources

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

CFD Contract Specifications

CFD Product Listings

CFD Commissions

CFD Financing Rates

CFD Margin Requirements

CFD Corporate Actions

The following video tutorial is also available:

How to Place a CFD Trade on the Trader Workstation

VI.  Frequently Asked Questions

What Stocks are available as CFDs?

Large and Mid-Cap stocks in the US, Western Europe, Nordic and Japan. Liquid Small Cap stocks are also available in many markets. Please see CFD Product Listings for more detail. More countries will be added in the near future.

Do you have CFDs on other asset classes?

Yes. Please see IBKR Index CFDs - Facts and Q&A, Forex CFDs - Facts and Q&A and Metals CFDs - Facts and Q&A.

How do you determine your Share CFD quotes?

IBKR CFD quotes are identical to the Smart routed quotes for the underlying share. IBKR does not widen the spread or hold positions against you. To learn more please go to Overview of CFD Market Models.

Can I see my limit orders reflected on the exchange?

Yes. IBKR offers Direct market Access (DMA) whereby your non-marketable (i.e. limit) orders have the underlying hedges directly represented on the deep books of the exchanges on which they trade. This also means that you can place orders to buy the CFD at the underlying bid and sell at the offer. In addition, you may also receive price improvement if another client's order crosses yours at a better price than is available on public markets.

How do you determine margins for Share CFDs?

IBKR establishes risk-based margin requirements based on the historical volatility of each underlying share. The minimum margin is 10%, making CFDs more margin-efficient than trading the underlying share in many cases.  Retail investors are subject to additional margin requirements mandated by the European regulators. There are no portfolio off-sets between individual CFD positions or between CFDs and exposures to the underlying share. Concentrated positions and very large positions may be subject to additional margin. Please refer to CFD Margin Requirements for more detail.

Are short Share CFDs subject to forced buy-in?

Yes. In the event the underlying stock becomes difficult or impossible to borrow, the holder of the short CFD position may become subject to buy-in.

How do you handle dividends and corporate actions?

IBKR will generally reflect the economic effect of the corporate action for CFD holders as if they had been holding the underlying security. Dividends are reflected as cash adjustments, while other actions may be reflected through either cash or position adjustments, or both. For example, where the corporate action results in a change of the number of shares (e.g. stock-split, reverse stock split), the number of CFDs will be adjusted accordingly. Where the action results in a new entity with listed shares, and IBKR decides to offer these as CFDs, then new long or short positions will be created in the appropriate amount. For an overview please CFD Corporate Actions.

*Please note that in some cases it may not be possible to accurately adjust the CFD for a complex corporate action such as some mergers. In these cases IBKR may terminate the CFD prior to the ex-date.

Can anyone trade IBKR CFDs?

All clients can trade IBKR 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.

What do I need to do to start trading CFDs with IBKR?

You need to set up trading permission for CFDs in Client Portal, and agree to the relevant disclosures. If your account is with IBKR (UK) or with IBKR LLC, IBKR will then set up a new account segment (identified with your existing account number plus the suffix “F”). Once the set-up is confirmed you can begin to trade. You do not need to fund the F-account separately, funds will be automatically transferred to meet CFD initial margin requirements from your main account.  

If your account is with another IBKR entity, only the permission is required; an additional account segment is not necessary.

Are there any market data requirements?

The market data for IBKR Share CFDs is the market data for the underlying shares. It is therefore necessary to have market data permissions for the relevant exchanges. If you already have market data permissions for an exchange for trading the shares, you do not need to do anything. If you want to trade CFDs on an exchange for which you do not currently have market data permissions, you can set up the permissions in the same way as you would if you planned to trade the underlying shares.

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 Client Portal.

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.

Can I transfer in CFD positions from another broker?

IBKR does not facilitate the transfer of CFD positions at this time.

Are charts available for Share CFDs?

Yes.

In what type of IBKR accounts can I trade CFDs e.g., Individual, Friends and Family, Institutional, etc.? 

All margin and cash accounts are eligible for CFD trading. 

What are the maximum a positions I can have in a specific CFD?

There is no pre-set limit. Bear in mind however that very large positions may be subject to increased margin requirements. Please refer to CFD Margin Requirements for more detail.

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.

Account holders are encouraged to routinely monitor their order submissions with the objective of optimizing efficiency and minimizing 'wasted' or non-executed orders.  As inefficient orders have the potential to consume a disproportionate amount of system resources. IB measures the effectiveness of client orders through the Order Efficiency Ratio (OER).  This ratio compares aggregate daily order activity relative to that portion of activity which results in an execution and is determined as follows:

OER = (Order Submissions + Order Revisions + Order Cancellations) / (Executed Orders + 1)

Outlined below is a list of considerations which can assist with optimizing (reducing) one's OER:

1. Cancellation of Day Orders - strategies which use 'Day' as the Time in Force setting and are restricted to Regular Trading Hours should not initiate order cancellations after 16:00 ET, but rather rely upon IB processes which automatically act to cancel such orders. While the client initiated cancellation request which serve to increase the OER, IB's cancellation will not.

2. Modification vs. Cancellation - logic which acts to cancel and subsequently replace orders should be substituted with logic which simply modifies the existing orders. This will serve to reduce the process from two order actions to a single order action, thereby improving the OER.

3. Conditional Orders - when utilizing strategies which involve the pricing of one product relative to another, consideration should be given to minimizing unnecessary price and quantity order modifications. As an example, an order modification based upon a price change should only be triggered if the prior price is no longer competitive and the new suggested price is competitive.

4. Meaningful Revisions – logic which serves to modify existing orders without substantially increasing the likelihood of the modified order interacting with the NBBO should be avoided. An example of this would be the modification of a buy order from $30.50 to $30.55 on a stock having a bid-ask of $31.25 - $31.26.

5. RTH Orders – logic which modifies orders set to execute solely during Regular Trading Hours based upon price changes taking place outside those hours should be optimized to only make such modifications during or just prior to the time at which the orders are activated.

6. Order Stacking - Any strategy that incorporates and transmits the stacking of orders on the same side of a particular underlying should minimize transmitting those that are not immediately marketable until the orders which have a greater likelihood of interacting with the NBBO have executed.

7. Use of IB Order Types - as the revision logic embedded within IB-supported order types is not considered an order action for the purposes of the OER, consideration should be given to using IB order types, whenever practical, as opposed to replicating such logic within the client order management logic. Logic which is commonly initiated by clients and whose behavior can be readily replicated by IB order types include: the dynamic management of orders expressed in terms of an options implied volatility (Volatility Orders), orders to set a stop price at a fixed amount relative to the market price (Trailing Stop Orders), and orders designed to automatically maintain a limit price relative to the NBBO (Pegged-to-Market Orders).

The above is not intended to be an exhaustive list of steps for optimizing one's orders but rather those which address the most frequently observed inefficiencies in client order management logic, are relatively simple to implement and which provide the opportunity for substantive and enduring improvements. For further information or questions, please contact the Customer Service Technical Assistance Center.