VWAP, or Volume-Weighted Average Price, is a measure of the average price at which a stock traded over a given timeframe (typically one day). Assume, for example, the aggregate trades for stock ABC on day ‘T’ equals 100 shares at $21.00, another 100 shares at $22.00 and 300 shares at $24.00. The calculation for the VWAP of ABC for day ‘T’ is as follows:
Accumulate/Distribute is a sophisticated trading algorithm which allows one to buy or sell large orders by splitting the trade into multiple orders with the goal of reducing visibility and market impact.
IMPORTANT NOTE
This algo will only operate when the trader is logged into the TWS. If the trader has been logged out prior to the algo completing (either by user action or by the automated nightly restart), a message will appear upon the next log in which will allow for re-activation of the algo.
The ScaleTrader is a sophisticated trading algorithm which allows one to enter a large quantity order that is executed in a series of increments or components, with each component being executed at a progressively better price.
Instruments handled by the ACATS system include the following asset classes: equities, options, corporate bonds, municipal bonds, mutual funds and cash. It should be noted; however, that ACATS eligibility does not guarantee that any given security will transfer as each receiving broker maintains its own requirements as to which asset classes as well as securities within a particular asset class it will accept.
Account holders are encouraged to use the Contract Search link on IB’s homepage to assess transfer eligibility prior to initiating a full account transfer request. In the case of mutual funds, please click here for a list of fund families and funds offered by IB.
The rejection of an ACATS transfer request is typically initiated by action of the delivering broker once that broker has had an opportunity to review the request and confirm the details of the account to be transferred. In the case of certain rejection notices (i.e., categories 1-5 and 10 below), the ACATS process affords the receiving broker (IB) a 24-hour window within which revised information may be transmitted and after which time the transfer request will require resubmission by the client. During this 24-hour window, IB will attempt to contact the transferring client in an effort to reconcile any discrepancies causing the initial rejection notice. Rejections generally fall into the following categories:
Rejections by the Receiving Broker:
10. Credit Violation - the result of the transfer if effected would be to place the account in margin deficit and subject to forced liquidation.
Virtually all countries apply withholding taxes when local companies seek to distribute dividends to externally based shareholders (whether those shareholders are corporate or not). The rate at which IBKR is obligated to withhold for a given payment depends largely upon whether there is a tax treaty in place between the US and the country of residence of the dividend recipient. .
The table below depicts certain the rates of withholding as applied by IBKR effective 6-1-2012.
Jurisdiction #1 |
Jurisdiction #2 | Withholding Rate | |
United States | Australia | 15.0% | |
United States | Austria | 15.0% | |
United States | Bangladesh | 15.0% | |
United States | Barbados | 15.0% | |
United States | Belgium | 15.0% | |
United States | Bulgaria | 10.0% | |
United States | Canada | 15.0% | |
United States | China | 10.0% | |
United States | Cyprus | 15.0% | |
United States | Czech Republic | 15.0% | |
United States | Denmark | 15.0% | |
United States | Egypt | 15.0% | |
United States | Estonia | 15.0% | |
United States | Finland | 15.0% | |
United States | France | 15.0% | |
United States | Germany | 15.0% | |
United States | Hungary | 15.0% | |
United States | Iceland | 15.0% | |
United States | India | 25.0% | |
United States | Indonesia | 15.0% | |
United States | Ireland | 15.0% | |
United States | Israel | 25.0% | |
United States | Italy | 15.0% | |
United States | Jamaica | 15.0% | |
United States | Japan | 10.0% | |
United States | Kazakhstan | 15.0% | |
United States | Korea | 15.0% | |
United States | Latvia | 15.0% | |
United States | Lithuania | 15.0% | |
United States | Luxembourg | 15.0% | |
United States | Malta | 15.0% | |
United States | Mexico | 10.0% | |
United States | Morocco | 15.0% | |
United States | Netherlands | 15.0% | |
United States | New Zealand | 15.0% | |
United States | Norway | 15.0% | |
United States | Pakistan | 30.0% | |
United States | Philippines | 25.0% | |
United States | Poland | 15.0% | |
United States | Portugal | 15.0% | |
United States | Romania | 10.0% | |
United States | Russia | 10.0% | |
United States | Slovakia | 15.0% | |
United States | Slovenia | 15.0% | |
United States | South Africa | 15.0% | |
United States | Spain | 15.0% | |
United States | Sri Lanka | 15.0% | |
United States | Sweden | 15.0% | |
United States | Switzerland | 15.0% | |
United States | Thailand | 15.0% | |
United States | Trinidad and Tobago | 25.0% | |
United States | Tunisia | 20.0% | |
United States | Turkey | 20.0% | |
United States | Ukraine | 15.0% | |
United States | United Kingdom | 15.0% | |
United States | Venezuela | 15.0% | |
Canada | Algeria | 15.0% | |
Canada | Argentina | 15.0% | |
Canada | Armenia | 15.0% | |
Canada | Australia | 15.0% | |
Canada | Austria | 15.0% | |
Canada | Azerbaijan | 15.0% | |
Canada | Bangladesh | 15.0% | |
Canada | Barbados | 15.0% | |
Canada | Belgium | 15.0% | |
Canada | Brazil | 15.0% | |
Canada | Bulgaria | 15.0% | |
Canada | Cameroon | 15.0% | |
Canada | Chile | 15.0% | |
Canada | China | 15.0% | |
Canada | Croatia | 15.0% | |
Canada | Cyprus | 15.0% | |
Canada | Czech Republic | 15.0% | |
Canada | Denmark | 15.0% | |
Canada | Dominican Republic | 18.0% | |
Canada | Dubai | 15.0% | |
Canada | Ecuador | 15.0% | |
Canada | Egypt | 15.0% | |
Canada | Estonia | 15.0% | |
Canada | Finland | 15.0% | |
Canada | France | 15.0% | |
Canada | Gabon | 15.0% | |
Canada | Germany | 15.0% | |
Canada | Guyana | 15.0% | |
Canada | Hungary | 15.0% | |
Canada | Iceland | 15.0% | |
Canada | India | 25.0% | |
Canada | Indonesia | 15.0% | |
Canada | Ireland | 15.0% | |
Canada | Israel | 15.0% | |
Canada | Italy | 15.0% | |
Canada | Ivory Coast | 15.0% | |
Canada | Jamaica | 15.0% | |
Canada | Japan | 15.0% | |
Canada | Jordan | 15.0% | |
Canada | Kazakhstan | 15.0% | |
Canada | Kenya | 25.0% | |
Canada | Korea | 15.0% | |
Canada | Kuwait | 15.0% | |
Canada | Kyrgyzstan | 15.0% | |
Canada | Latvia | 15.0% | |
Canada | Lithuania | 15.0% | |
Canada | Luxembourg | 15.0% | |
Canada | Malaysia | 15.0% | |
Canada | Malta | 15.0% | |
Canada | Mexico | 15.0% | |
Canada | Moldova | 15.0% | |
Canada | Mongolia | 15.0% | |
Canada | Morocco | 15.0% | |
Canada | Netherlands | 15.0% | |
Canada | New Zealand | 15.0% | |
Canada | Nigeria | 15.0% | |
Canada | Norway | 15.0% | |
Canada | Oman | 15.0% | |
Canada | Pakistan | 20.0% | |
Canada | Papua New Guinea | 15.0% | |
Canada | Peru | 15.0% | |
Canada | Philippines | 15.0% | |
Canada | Poland | 15.0% | |
Canada | Portugal | 15.0% | |
Canada | Romania | 15.0% | |
Canada | Russia | 15.0% | |
Canada | Senegal | 15.0% | |
Canada | Singapore | 15.0% | |
Canada | Slovakia | 15.0% | |
Canada | Slovenia | 15.0% | |
Canada | South Africa | 15.0% | |
Canada | Spain | 15.0% | |
Canada | Sri Lanka | 15.0% | |
Canada | Sweden | 15.0% | |
Canada | Switzerland | 15.0% | |
Canada | Tanzania | 25.0% | |
Canada | Thailand | 15.0% | |
Canada | Trinidad and Tobago | 15.0% | |
Canada | Tunisia | 15.0% | |
Canada | Turkey | 20.0% | |
Canada | Ukraine | 15.0% | |
Canada | United Kingdom | 15.0% | |
Canada | United States | 15.0% | |
Canada | Uzbekistan | 15.0% | |
Canada | Venezuela | 15.0% | |
Canada | Vietnam | 15.0% | |
Canada | Zambia | 15.0% | |
Canada | Zimbabwe | 15.0% |
By regulation, trading access to the Indian financial markets for individuals residing outside India is currently restricted to "Non-Resident Indians" ("NRIs") and "Financial Institution Intermediaries" ("FIIs") only.
NRI
NRIs are defined in the Indian Foreign Exchange Management Act of 1999 and the Indian Foreign Exchange Management Deposit Regulations of 2000.
In short, to qualify for NRI status you must:
a. Reside outside of India for more than 182 days per year, and;
b. Hold Indian citizenship, or;
c. Be a Person of Indian Origin as defined in the Indian Foreign Exchange Management Deposit Regulations of 2000.
Please note that applicants must satisfy criteria (a) and criteria (b) or (c) and will be prompted to review the aforementioned legislation and confirm their status at the point of application. To trade Indian products as an NRI, new or existing clients may apply for an account through the IBKR website.
FII
Currently not supported.
An account holder who purchases a US stock outside of normal or regular trading hours (i.e., 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern time) but during the extended trading hours session (i.e., 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time) on the day prior to that stock going ex-dividend is entitled to receive that dividend. The reasoning behind this is that trades executed during the extended trading hours session on Day 'T' settle at the same time ('T+2') as trades which are executed during regular trading hours on Day 'T'. All such trades will therefore settle within a timeframe sufficient for the purchaser to be recognized as an owner of the shares prior to the close of the Record Date.
Following the same logic, an account holder who sells and closes out a long US stock position during the extended trading hours session on the day prior to that stock going ex-dividend will not be entitled to receive that dividend. However, if the stock was sold stock (i.e. an opening trade), the account holder would be obligated to pay the dividend to the lender of the shares.
The TWS contains two checks to limit the possibility of clients entering trades at prices which are substantially inconsistent with that of the current market.
Under the first check, stock buy orders which are 10% above the prevailing NBBO ask price will be automatically rejected by IBKR as will stock sell orders which are 10% below the prevailing NBBO bid price. In the case of options, IBKR's automatic rejection threshold percentage for both buy and sell orders is 20%. When an order violating these parameters is transmitted, it will be rejected and a TWS pop-up window will be displayed with the following warning message: "Limit price too far outside NBBO" or "This order is not accepted. The limit price cannot be more than 10% through the NBBO.".
The second check relates to orders which are transmitted at prices which do not violate the parameters set by IBKR as outlined above, but which do violate parameters established by the account holder. Here the account holder is able to establish Precautionary Settings by selecting the Order and then Configure Order Presets menu options from the TWS. This will open up a window providing for the creation of price thresholds set in terms of percentage or the number of ticks outside of the NBBO (settings may also be defined in terms of share/contract quantity or total dollar value of trade). When an order violating the account holder's parameters is transmitted, it will be rejected and a TWS pop-up window will be displayed with the following warning message: "The price specified would violate the percentage constraint specified in the default order settings. Do you really want to submit this order?" Unlike in the case of the check set by IBKR, the account holder has the option of overriding their own settings and transmitting the order by clicking on the "Yes" button.
Accounts which have been set up as a 'Cash' type do not have access to the proceeds from the sale of securities until such time the transaction has settled at the clearinghouse and proceeds have been issued to IBKR. Securities settlement generally takes place on the third business day following the sale transaction. Providing access to the funds prior to settlement would constitute a loan, a transaction which is precluded from taking place within this account type.
The one exception is under the Free-Riding rule. Clients with a cash account can use the proceeds from the sale of a security to purchase a different security under the condition that the second security is held until settlement of the initial sale. If the client sells the second security prior to settlement of the initial trade, they will be in violation of the Free-Riding rule and will be locked for 90 days from utilizing this exception.
Account holders who wish to have access to settled funds prior to the settlement day may do so by electing an account type of 'Margin'. Under this account type unsettled funds may be used for trading purposes but may not be withdrawn until settlement. Account holders maintaining a 'Cash' account may request an upgrade to a 'Margin' type account by logging in to Client Portal and selecting the Settings > Account Settings menu item and Account Type from the Configuration panel. Upgrade requests are subject to a compliance review to ensure that the account holder maintains the appropriate qualifications.