When the heck are they going to fix this?
I went to the trouble of opening an account with IB only to find that as an Australian retail client it is next to useless for me - here's my exchange with the chat customer service rep -
Bob GH: How may I assist you?
ChatSys: This chat is associated with ticket #. Please record this number for use in future inquiries. You are currently in room 'Trade Problems'.
Bob GH: Hello, this is 'Bob GH'. How may I help you?
Bob GH: How may I assist you?
ChatSys: The communication channel has been successfully restored. You can continue communicating with the CSR.
me: Hello, I have an issue with the trading permissions. When I attempt to trade say eurusd, even if a very small trade of say 1000 units I get a message saying that I have insufficient funds in EUR to undertake the trade or similar
Bob GH: Since you have a cash account, you can only sell a currency you actually have balance in. In this case, you can only sell AUD
me: So how do I undertake a forex trade say eurusd?
Bob GH: You cannot do this in a cash account and since Australian residents are currently restricted from holding margin accounts, this would not be possible
me: what if the trade was audusd?
Bob GH: You can convert whatever your cash balance is, into another cash balance, but you cannot use leverage.
me: So there is no issue buying stocks on an overseas exchange then
Bob GH: No, as long as you have the currency to purchase the stock in the currency it is denominated in.
me: How do I do the conversion into the other currency in the case of stocks? Is this something that I do before I buy the stock?
Bob GH: You will have to bring up the quote the specific currency pair that you want to convert your currency into (Ex. AUD.USD). You will have to do this before you purchase the stock. Note that when you do a currency conversion, it takes 2 business days for the cash to settle, so you will not be able to purchase the stock until it settles
me: what is the point in having access to all of these overseas markets on an interactive program when I have to wait two days just to do a currency conversion, doesn't that sound ridiculous to you. I have an account with another broker and when I buy stock on the US exchange the currency changeover occurs instantaneously.
Bob GH: Unfortunately these are the current limitations for Australian account holders.
me: How long do you expect that these limitations will be in place?
Bob GH: This is a regulatory issues, so at this time we do not have a time line when we can offer margin accounts
me: With respect, its not just an issue about margin, its a matter of being able to do a currency changeover concurrently with the trade
Bob GH: Either way, you would still have to wait 2 business days for the cash to settle before you can use the funds. This is not an IB restriction this is a regulatory restriction for cash accounts.
me: In effect I have opened an account which enables me to trade Australian stocks and that's it - not even CFD's since I do not have access to margin. How do I close my account with IB? Absolutely pointless for me to have an account with IB, I wish it had been clearer on your website during the account opening process I have really wasted a lot of time on what is essentially useless for me. Sorry but quite annoyed about this
Bob GH: I apologize for the inconvenience. You can log into the Account Management menu, click on Manage Account > Settings > Close Account
me: Brokers like Saxo, IG, CMC and dozens of others offer instantaneous trading on exchanges around the world, even if as market makers and IB need two days just to change the money over....it's almost laughable, obviates the need for a whiz bang trading platform, might as well just have ticker tape and carrier pigeons - thanks for your help - no doubt it will take several days for my money to be refunded too.
ChatSys: This chat is being terminated by the Customer Service Rep.
Bob GH: Have a good night.
As you can see, the rep 'hung' up on me.
Anyway, food for thought if you are thinking of IB - very disappointing.