Interactive Brokers

[i4ever]

Has anyone else had trouble with the IB website (for administration etc., not the trading platform). For the least 20 hours or so I haven't been able to get in. Mostly it just freezes after log in but the few occasions where I have successfully got in only the heading banners were displayed not the content. Its just that I've updated my OS recently to OS X Mavericks and I am not sure whether that is a coincidence or the problems are somehow linked.

I had trouble all day Wednesday trying to login. It was constantly attempting to connect. I tried it on OSX Mavericks and on Windows 7 - and from different locations (home and work). It eventually worked that night during my chat with them. They did not seem to realise that there was an issue on their end.

I logged into webtrader this morning and it looks different to the other day - could not see the market value etc.

 

[bellenuit]

It's down for maintenance today (2nd Nov).

It's still down today, which is close to 48 hours off the air. I've had no success from an iPad either.

 

[payday]

I've been able to log in today - both the TWS platform and the account maintenance section - did so this morning around 10am or so, and again this afternoon about 3pm and just checked some orders this evening with no problems with log in. Maybe your java settings have changed - I often find this to be problematic when java updates.

 

[bellenuit]

I've been able to log in today - both the TWS platform and the account maintenance section - did so this morning around 10am or so, and again this afternoon about 3pm and just checked some orders this evening with no problems with log in. Maybe your java settings have changed - I often find this to be problematic when java updates.

Still having massive problems logging in under Safari. It worked with no problem for a few days after upgrading to Mavericks, but since Saturday evening I just can't seem to get in.

I've downloaded Chrome and have been able to get in using that, but it is very slow and there seems to be some oddities that I can't figure out why they might be related to my specific computer. For instance, when I go under message centre, even though I have created some tickets that I have marked as closed and have received a few messages that I have read, none show even when I check the show all, read/unread or hidden deleted tags.

I know some people are complaining about javascript under mavericks/safari as causing slowness (in general, not for IB), the IB website is the only one I have issues with.

 

[yazz]

Still having massive problems logging in under Safari. It worked with no problem for a few days after upgrading to Mavericks, but since Saturday evening I just can't seem to get in.

I've downloaded Chrome and have been able to get in using that, but it is very slow and there seems to be some oddities that I can't figure out why they might be related to my specific computer. For instance, when I go under message centre, even though I have created some tickets that I have marked as closed and have received a few messages that I have read, none show even when I check the show all, read/unread or hidden deleted tags.

I know some people are complaining about javascript under mavericks/safari as causing slowness (in general, not for IB), the IB website is the only one I have issues with.

Not having any problems here and I'm Running OSX 10.9. But when running from a browser, I had to double-click the downloaded latest.mac.jnlp file. Then things fired up.

However, I mostly run IB TWS on Parallels under windows. More reliable, and looks better than the OSX java version IMO.

 

[hseldon1234]

As long as you have an ID or a bank statement or an account with the other country with an address you are good to go.

I changed mine.

Do you mean I need to have a foreign address? I.e. is a foreign passport sufficient?

How did you change, did you just ring up and ask to change the country status?

 

[bellenuit]

For those not aware and are having difficulty reconciling their own figures with those calculated by IB, as of September 1st IB now pass on the SEC Fee to Australian clients on sales of US shares (under the flat rate).

It is on sales only and is calculated as 0.0000174*Value of Aggregate Sales. It is just a trivial amount ($1.74 per $100K), but can be annoying if you are not aware of it and find your own calculations not matching IB's.

This fee is shown if you select Costs under www.interactivebrokers.com and then drill down to Commissions, Flat Rate and North America. You will see it under transaction fees. For some reason they have not update the local Australian web site, www.interactivebrokers.com.au, to reflect this.

 

[rx2]

Do you mean I need to have a foreign address? I.e. is a foreign passport sufficient?

How did you change, did you just ring up and ask to change the country status?

Did you find out how to do this?

 

[agilm]

Re: Interactive Brokers Margin Lending

Has anyone else been caught by the Interactive Brokers stuff up with Margin Lending for Australians?

If you haven't heard, they are not licensed by ASIC to provide margin lending, so have suspended all margin lending to Australian Individuals.

I got an email 2 days ago, giving me till the 11th of November to either deposit money (so I have no loan), sell shares, or transfer shares. Thanks IB for the 6 days to get this sorted !! This has major implications with capital gains tax, eligibility of interest on the loan etc. I'm currently thinking I will transfer my IB held ASX listed shares to my CommSec account (with margin lending). I don't know what to do with my US equities.

What alternatives are there to Interactive Brokers that offer Margin Lending to Australians on International Shares ?

Extremely annoyed with IB!

 

[bellenuit]

Re: Interactive Brokers Margin Lending

Has anyone else been caught by the Interactive Brokers stuff up with Margin Lending for Australians?

If you haven't heard, they are not licensed by ASIC to provide margin lending, so have suspended all margin lending to Australian Individuals.

I got an email 2 days ago, giving me till the 11th of November to either deposit money (so I have no loan), sell shares, or transfer shares. Thanks IB for the 6 days to get this sorted !! This has major implications with capital gains tax, eligibility of interest on the loan etc. I'm currently thinking I will transfer my IB held ASX listed shares to my CommSec account (with margin lending). I don't know what to do with my US equities.

What alternatives are there to Interactive Brokers that offer Margin Lending to Australians on International Shares ?

Extremely annoyed with IB!

The reminder email was sent out 2 days ago, but the original email was sent on 12th October. I was overseas at the time and only got back a few weeks ago, but I have sorted it out now (by paying out what I owed). IMO, something like this deserved 3 months notice.

There has been a lot of discussion on this on the last two pages of this thread.

 

[geecee]

Re: Interactive Brokers Margin Lending

Has anyone else been caught by the Interactive Brokers stuff up with Margin Lending for Australians?

If you haven't heard, they are not licensed by ASIC to provide margin lending, so have suspended all margin lending to Australian Individuals.

I got an email 2 days ago, giving me till the 11th of November to either deposit money (so I have no loan), sell shares, or transfer shares. Thanks IB for the 6 days to get this sorted !! This has major implications with capital gains tax, eligibility of interest on the loan etc. I'm currently thinking I will transfer my IB held ASX listed shares to my CommSec account (with margin lending). I don't know what to do with my US equities.

What alternatives are there to Interactive Brokers that offer Margin Lending to Australians on International Shares ?

Extremely annoyed with IB!

If you don't have to cash to pay off your margin loan and you don't want to liquidate, then your best bet is to get onto CommSec ASAP and apply for International Securities. If you can get it set up in time (bear in mind that you need to print, sign, witness and post forms to Sydney) you can then submit an ACATS request to transfer your US holdings to CommSec. This will buy you some breathing space to find another broker who don't charge ComSec's ludicrous fees & rates (e.g. USD$65.00 or 0.75%, whichever is greater for US trades!) You technically have until Monday night Australian time before IB will start liquidating, so you may just scrape in.

Google "barron's annual online broker survey" 2013 for a good rundown on the alternatives. My research revealed that PlaceTrade, OptionsHouse, TradeKing and ScottTrade don't offer accounts to Australians. FWIW, I decided that tradeMonster offered the best combination of fees, margin rate, and overall rating, although they don't have access to OTC markets.

Good luck!

 

[i4ever]

Re: Interactive Brokers Margin Lending

Has anyone else been caught by the Interactive Brokers stuff up with Margin Lending for Australians?

If you haven't heard, they are not licensed by ASIC to provide margin lending, so have suspended all margin lending to Australian Individuals.

I got an email 2 days ago, giving me till the 11th of November to either deposit money (so I have no loan), sell shares, or transfer shares. Thanks IB for the 6 days to get this sorted !! This has major implications with capital gains tax, eligibility of interest on the loan etc. I'm currently thinking I will transfer my IB held ASX listed shares to my CommSec account (with margin lending). I don't know what to do with my US equities.

What alternatives are there to Interactive Brokers that offer Margin Lending to Australians on International Shares ?

Extremely annoyed with IB!

I created an account with another brokerage, unfortunately its been a pain trying to transfer the positions. I didn't realise I had AUD debit in there as I normally just use USD, and the system cannot handle it Fortunately, IB is being quite helpful where they can, and if you have proof that you are trying to move it then they may freeze your account temporarily instead of liquidating it. Unfortunately, if you haven't started any process then you may be too late..

- - - Updated - - -

If you don't have to cash to pay off your margin loan and you don't want to liquidate, then your best bet is to get onto CommSec ASAP and apply for International Securities. If you can get it set up in time (bear in mind that you need to print, sign, witness and post forms to Sydney) you can then submit an ACATS request to transfer your US holdings to CommSec. This will buy you some breathing space to find another broker who don't charge ComSec's ludicrous fees & rates (e.g. USD$65.00 or 0.75%, whichever is greater for US trades!) You technically have until Monday night Australian time before IB will start liquidating, so you may just scrape in.

Google "barron's annual online broker survey" 2013 for a good rundown on the alternatives. My research revealed that PlaceTrade, OptionsHouse, TradeKing and ScottTrade don't offer accounts to Australians. FWIW, I decided that tradeMonster offered the best combination of fees, margin rate, and overall rating, although they don't have access to OTC markets.

Good luck!

Hi, just had a look at tradeMonster. Is the Fed Fund 0.25%? Thanks

 

[bellenuit]

Re: Interactive Brokers Margin Lending

I'm currently thinking I will transfer my IB held ASX listed shares to my CommSec account (with margin lending). I don't know what to do with my US equities.

Depending on the value of your ASX securities, the following might be an option....

Do a foreign currency transaction within IB to pay off your USD negative balance (I have been told by IB that this is allowed even with the current restrictions that do not allow you to increase margin, as your overall balance remains unchanged except for the FC transaction fee of a few dollars). So you will have no USD margin left, but a bigger AUD margin.

Transfer the AUD margin and some or all ASX equities to CommSec, keeping your US equities with IB. So long as your transferred ASX equities cover CommSec's margin requirements on LVR for the transferred margin, that should hopefully be OK. Note you will need to keep a buffer of AUD 500.00 in your IB account to cover incidentals like interest paid by you.

So long as there is no transfer of ownership there should be no CGT issues. I also don't see why you would have an issue claiming interest as a tax deduction following transference of the margin to IB, so long as your audit trail shows the amounts borrowed and transitioned between accounts were for share investments. Pass it by your accountant to be on the safe side.

I would only transfer to CommSec the minimum shares to meet their LVR plus a buffer amount you are comfortable with. If IB regains their ability to lend to individuals in 4 months or so, you don't have many to transfer back. Also, you can continue to trade ASX shares retained in IB at their lower commission rates.

 

[lenny]

Does anyone have an update when this IB margin fiasco will be resolved.

 

[geecee]

Does anyone have an update when this IB margin fiasco will be resolved.

According to their most recent email: We regret having to take this action but we hope that Interactive Brokers will be able to offer margin lending to "natural person" clients at some point in the future. We anticipate that this may be possible in a 4-6 month time frame but we are unable to predict this with any certainty. Should you have any questions regarding this Notice, please contact your local Customer Service Center.

 

[umeboshichan]

I can tell you that I have a Family trust account (just myself and my wife) and recently I updated a company name, (which is registered for about $230 a yr with ASIC) as the trustee and IB have since removed the margin restriction.

 

[Doddsville]

I am looking for a new broker and unfortunately was trying to sign up with IB right around the time of the margin lending debacle.

I make infrequent trades (holding positions on average months or years) and am looking for the ability to trade equities long/short (equally important) across a variety of markets (mainly US and AU, but IBs breadth of markets was very appealing).

Options are not really a major part of my strategy so are a secondary consideration.

IB was attractive to me because of the range of securities available (both long/short) and the low currency spreads and ease of trading international markets (and low fees obviously).

Can anyone help out with advice regarding the following:
1) Shorting equities is only possible with a margin account (correct as far as I know)
2) Suggest another broker that would best meet my needs

I have an account with E*Trade in the US but moving funds is too cumbersome and spreads are terrible, and an account with IG Markets but the range of US/international securities is not great, especially for smaller market cap stocks.

I do not really want to go through the hassle of setting up a company account, so would prefer not to go that route to get around the margin lending restrictions.

Thanks

 

[skyQuake]

I am looking for a new broker and unfortunately was trying to sign up with IB right around the time of the margin lending debacle.

I make infrequent trades (holding positions on average months or years) and am looking for the ability to trade equities long/short (equally important) across a variety of markets (mainly US and AU, but IBs breadth of markets was very appealing).

Options are not really a major part of my strategy so are a secondary consideration.

IB was attractive to me because of the range of securities available (both long/short) and the low currency spreads and ease of trading international markets (and low fees obviously).

Can anyone help out with advice regarding the following:
1) Shorting equities is only possible with a margin account (correct as far as I know)
2) Suggest another broker that would best meet my needs

I have an account with E*Trade in the US but moving funds is too cumbersome and spreads are terrible, and an account with IG Markets but the range of US/international securities is not great, especially for smaller market cap stocks.

I do not really want to go through the hassle of setting up a company account, so would prefer not to go that route to get around the margin lending restrictions.

Thanks

IG is a decent alternative while IB fixes up its mess. I agree its range on US stuff is rather limited if you're looking at small caps but everything else is rather crap

 

[jlryan87]

I got an offensive big surprise yesterday when I was trying to get things straight

It appears that IB has not been totally honest in the way they present the whole margin debacle. In reality, my account is practically freezed on the basis of no fault on my part. If your account is not, please kindly let me know (post here or PM if that is ok).

A bit of background here. I have some US shares (all paid with cash), positive AUD cash balance but negative USD cash balance (net cash is positive). But I cannot convert my AUD into USD because this has been deemed as a 'margin' trade and actively refused by the system. This FX conversion trade never got the chance of being transmitted at all, so the cutomer service rep got all confused unsure of what trade I was talking about. Eventually, after wasting more than 1 hour in the Australian midnight, neither the trade issue rep or the guy at the phone trade desk can help.

Next, I tried purchasing some US shares (for testing purpose only as I put in some ridiculous price that cannot be filled). Expectedly this trade is automatically rejected as well. It is at this point I have an epiphany. All trades are margin trades regardless of whether I have enough cash for them. It is because the account is Reg T margin. I do not think there is a cash account which I can convert to at this point (correct me if wrong).

What really happen is: Australian accounts are all technically freezed if your sole purpose is trading stocks. The term 'freeze' should have been honestly communicated at the starting point of the margin debacle.

 

[bellenuit]

I got an offensive big surprise yesterday when I was trying to get things straight

It appears that IB has not been totally honest in the way they present the whole margin debacle. In reality, my account is practically freezed on the basis of no fault on my part. If your account is not, please kindly let me know (post here or PM if that is ok).

A bit of background here. I have some US shares (all paid with cash), positive AUD cash balance but negative USD cash balance (net cash is positive). But I cannot convert my AUD into USD because this has been deemed as a 'margin' trade and actively refused by the system. This FX conversion trade never got the chance of being transmitted at all, so the cutomer service rep got all confused unsure of what trade I was talking about. Eventually, after wasting more than 1 hour in the Australian midnight, neither the trade issue rep or the guy at the phone trade desk can help.

Next, I tried purchasing some US shares (for testing purpose only as I put in some ridiculous price that cannot be filled). Expectedly this trade is automatically rejected as well. It is at this point I have an epiphany. All trades are margin trades regardless of whether I have enough cash for them. It is because the account is Reg T margin. I do not think there is a cash account which I can convert to at this point (correct me if wrong).

What really happen is: Australian accounts are all technically freezed if your sole purpose is trading stocks. The term 'freeze' should have been honestly communicated at the starting point of the margin debacle.

Just a couple of points, as I haven't attempted to do what you are doing so can't express an opinion.

I have been told by IB on a ticket I raised that I could pay off a negative USD balance with a positive AUD balance by doing an FC transaction and it would not contravene the limitations on margin trading that are currently in force. I haven't actually done it, but I am surprised that it didn't work for you.

I suspect that what IB clients are being told is not in alignment with how the system works, as your experience seems to suggest. On Thursday, while having an online conversation with IB Support, I was told that I had cleared my margin (I had a small negative balance at the time, but it was more than compensated by accrued dividends that were already recorded against my account). Yet last night I received a system generated email from IB that was saying I still had margin and if not cleared by the 14th they would sell some of my shares. Support are saying that accrued dividends are taken into account when it comes to determining if you still have open margin, but I am not sure if the system calculates on that premise. I intend to take no further action based on what support have told me, but I will be very p***** off if they sell some of my shares.