Non-Resident Indians (NRI)

Indian regulations restrict trading access to Indian financial markets for individuals residing outside of India to Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) only.

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:

Reside outside of India for more than 182 days per year; and
Hold Indian citizenship; or
Be a person of Indian Origin as defined in the Foreign Exchange Management Deposit Regulations of 2000.

You must satisfy criteria (a) and criteria (b) or (c).

Please click the above links to review the Indian legislation concerning NRIs, and then confirm your status.

Important

Select the customer type you wish to open. You will not be able to change customer type once you leave this page.

Important

Select the customer type you wish to open. You will not be able to change customer type once you leave this page.

Individual Customer Types

Select one of the following customer types in an Individual Account Application:

Individual - An account owned and used by a single trader or investor.
Joint - An account owned and used by two individuals.
Trust - An account in which the securities are registered in the name of the trust, while a trustee controls the management of the investments.
IRA - Individual Retirement Account: Traditional, Roth or Simplified Employee Pension (SEP). IRA accounts are available for US residents only.
UGMA/UTMA - An account established as an irrevocable gift or transfer or assets to a minor, who can be any US resident younger than 18-21, depending on the laws of the state in which the minor resides. The assets in a UGMA/UTMA account can only be used for the benefit of the minor. The custodian administers the account until the minor reaches a specific age, called the age of termination.
Partnership - An account in the name of a partnership, managed on the partnership's behalf by the partnership's officers or authorized traders.
Corporation - An account in the name of a corporation, managed on the corporation's behalf by the corporation's officers or authorized traders.
Limited Liability Corporation - An account in the name of a limited liability company (LLC), managed on the LLC's behalf by its officers or authorized traders.
Unincorporated Business - An account in the name of an unincorporated business, managed on the business' behalf by the business officers or authorized traders.

Joint Customer Types

If you select Joint as the customer type, select one of the following Joint customer types:

Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship - A form of ownership in which two or more parties have equal interests in the account and in which title to the entire account goes to the survivor(s) upon the death of one of the account holders. This process avoids court probate of the property, but may have some tax consequences which should be reviewed with a tax advisor prior to opening the account.
Community Property - Applicable to residents of Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. Community Property is property received by a husband and wife during the marriage, except inheritances and specific gifts to one of the spouses. This form of ownership is recognized only in certain states which have community property laws and each spouse has an undivided one-half interest in the account. Upon the death of one spouse, the community property in the account generally passes to the other spouse with certain exceptions, including Texas, Nevada and New Mexico.
Tenants in Common - A form of ownership by two or more persons in which each person has an undivided interest in the account even though the percentage of interests may not be equal. Unlike joint tenants, there is no right of survivorship if one of the account holders dies. Upon the death of one tenant in common, a probate proceeding (court-supervised administration of the estate of the deceased) must be held to transfer the ownership interest in the account. This type of joint account requires that you enter ownership percentages in the account application.
Tenancy by the Entirety - A type of joint account permitted in certain states and available to people in a legally recognized marriage or civil union. It allows spouses to own property together as a single legal entity. Under a Tenancy by the Entirety, creditors of an individual spouse may not attach and sell the interest of a debtor spouse; only creditors of the couple may attach and sell the interest in the property owned by Tenancy by the Entirety. The difference between a Tenancy by the Entirety and a Joint Tenancy or Tenancy in Common is that a Tenant by the Entirety may not sell or give away his interest in the property without the consent of the other tenant.

IRA Customer Types

If you select IRA as the customer type, select one of the IRA customer types listed below. Note that IRA accounts are available to US residents only.

Traditional - A retirement savings plan that allows an individual taxpayer to contribute earnings until they are withdrawn. Contributions are subject to annual limits depending on the age of the account owner and may or may not be deductible depending on the individual's circumstances. Earnings accumulate tax-deferred until distributed to the account owner, at which time the earnings are subject to tax upon withdrawal. A spouse may contribute to a separate account subject to the same limits. Withdrawals made prior to age 59 1/2 are subject to a 10% penalty unless certain special circumstances apply. Distributions must begin by the account owner's required beginning date (RBD), which is April 1 following the year that the account owner turns age 70 1/2.
Traditional Inherited - An IRA account you may set up as the beneficiary of a Traditional IRA that you inherited from a spouse or other IRA account owner who has died, to receive a transfer of beneficiary IRA assets.
Traditional Rollover - A traditional IRA account that receives assets directly from an employer-sponsored plan such as a 401(K) or pension plan within 60 days of distribution from the plan. As long as no other assets are contributed to the Traditional Rollover IRA, the monies may be rolled over into a new employer's plan. A traditional rollover IRA is commonly used if you are changing jobs or retiring.
Roth - A retirement savings plan that allows an individual taxpayer to contribute earnings, subject to certain income limits. Earnings accumulate tax-free and contributions are nondeductible. Unlike Traditional IRAs, a Roth IRA account owner may continue to contribute after age 70 1/2 if they he or she has earned income. Withdrawals prior to age 59 1/2 are subject to a 10% penalty unless special circumstances apply. There are no age requirements that determine when an account owner must begin taking distributions. Contributions are subject to annual limits depending on the age of the account owner.
Roth Inherited - An IRA account you may set up as the beneficiary of a Roth IRA that you inherited from a spouse or other IRA account owner who has died, to receive a transfer of beneficiary IRA assets.
Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) - A tax-deferred retirement plan for small businesses and self-employed individuals in which an employee can set aside a percentage of pre-tax income into the plan. An annual contribution that an employer makes to an employee's SEP-IRA is subject to certain limits. The same limits apply to contributions made to a self-employed individual's SEP-IRA. There is 100% vesting of all plan contributions. Distributions generally follow the same rules that apply to IRAs.
SEP Inherited - An IRA account you may set up as the beneficiary of a SEP IRA that you inherited from a spouse or other IRA account owner who has died, to receive a transfer of beneficiary IRA assets.

Custodial Types

A Custodian can be an individual person, often a parent, grandparent or guardian of the minor, or an entity, such a corporation, partnership or similar organization. While the minor must be a US resident, the custodian does not.

The Uniform Gifts to Minor Act (UGMA) and Uniform Transfers to Minor Act (UTMA) are types of custodial accounts that are set up by an adult on behalf of a minor. An adult is designated as the custodian to manage the account for the benefit of the minor until the child reaches the age specified in the statute. When the child reaches the relevant age the custodianship ends and the child receives sole control of all the assets in the account.

Customer Types

Select one of the following customer types:

Partnership - An account in the name of a partnership, managed on the partnership's behalf by the partnership's general partners, officers or authorized traders.
Corporation - An account in the name of a corporation, managed on the corporation's behalf by the corporation's officers or authorized traders.
Limited Liability Corporation - An account in the name of a limited liability company (LLC), managed on the LLC's behalf by its managers, managing members, officers or authorized traders.
Unincorporated Business - An account in the name of an unincorporated business, managed on the business' behalf by the business officers or authorized traders.

Display Language and Input Language

The Display Language is the language in which all text and field labels are displayed in this application. You can change the Display Language at any time by clicking the map icon at the top of the page.

The Input Language is the language you use to enter information into ALL entry fields in this application. If you do not see this field, then your Input Language is English by default. If you do see this field, you can select any available language as the Input Language. If you select English, you must use English characters in input fields throughout this application. If you select a language other than English, you can use either English or characters in the selected language in any input field throughout this application. Once you select your Input Language, you will not be able to change it again.

Note that your selected Input Language will also be in effect on the following pages in Account Management after your account has been approved:

Manage Account > Account Information
Manage Account > Settings > Account Alias

Important

Select the customer type you wish to open. You will not be able to change customer type once you leave this page.

Individual Customer Types

Select one of the following customer types in an Individual Account Application:

Individual - An account owned and used by a single trader or investor.

Organization Customer Types

Select one of the following customer types:

Partnership - An account in the name of a partnership, managed on the partnership's behalf by the partnership's general partners, officers or authorized traders.
Corporation - An account in the name of a corporation, managed on the corporation's behalf by the corporation's officers or authorized traders.
Limited Liability Corporation - An account in the name of a limited liability company (LLC), managed on the LLC's behalf by its managers, managing members, officers or authorized traders.
Unincorporated Business - An account in the name of an unincorporated business, managed on the business' behalf by the business officers or authorized traders.

If you cannot finish your application now, you can return to it at anytime by clicking Login > Finish an Application located on the menu bar of our website (show me). You will need your username and password to login.

You will be notified when your application is complete and under review.

Base Currency

Base Currency is used for accounting purposes and refers to the currency in which an investor maintains a book of accounts. Our account application asks you to specify a single base currency to determine:

The currency of translation for your statements, and
The currency used for determining your margin requirements.

How Does Base Currency Affect My Account?

While the base currency you select will typically be the principal form of currency in which you intend to hold cash and the denomination of the instruments which you trade, you are eligible to hold cash balances and trade instruments denominated in either a base or non-base currency.
If you choose to maintain a cash or IRA account, then you are restricted to holding only long cash balances regardless of the currency of denomination.
If you maintain a margin account, you can change your base currency at any time in Account Management, and you may make deposits or withdrawals in a non-base currency from Account Management.
At some point, you may find yourself holding balances in currencies other than your designated base currency as a result of trades in products denominated in a different currency or from profits/losses directly associated with Forex trading. In these cases, we do not automatically convert the balances back to your base currency as this action would require assumptions about your desired currency exposure as well as the trade price at which you would be willing to close the position.

General Information

The information on this page appears because on the previous page, you answered "Yes" to the question "Is the account holder or any immediate family member resides in the same household, registered as a broker-dealer or an employee, director or owner of a securities or commodities brokerage firm, employee of a bank, hedge fund, exchange, or other financial services company?"

Registered Person

The person who is registered as a broker-dealer or an employee, director or owner of a securities or commodities brokerage firm. This could be you or any immediate family member resides in the same household.

Affiliated Organization

The securities or commodities brokerage firm with which the registered person is affiliated.

The information on this page appears because on the previous page, you answered "Yes" to the question "Is the account holder a member, employee, associated or affiliated person of a regulatory organization or exchange?"

Video Help

General Information

On this page of the application, you select your account type; enter your financial information, including net worth and liquid net worth; select your investment objectives, which determine the products you can be approved to trade; and select products you want to trade, entering your investment experience for each.

Account Types

Cash

A Cash account requires the account holder to have enough cash in the account to cover the cost of the transaction plus commissions. You cannot borrow to support trading in a Cash account. In addition, the following rules apply:

Shorting of stock is not allowed.
Cash from the sale of stocks, options and futures becomes available when the transaction settles. For example, US stock - three days, German stock - two days, US options - one day.
Intraday futures margin benefits (50% of regular margin requirements during the day, on certain exchanges), are not supported.
Limited purchase and sale of options are allowed.
The account may trade in multiple currencies, but must have the settled cash balance to enter trades.
Existing cash account holders can upgrade to a multi-currency cash account through Account Management.
Cash accounts may be upgraded to Margin accounts.

Margin

A Margin account is a US regulatory-based margin account that allows borrowing to support equities trading, shorting of equities, full options trading, full futures/futures options trading, currency conversions and securities/commodities trading in multiple currency denominations. In addition, the following rules apply:

Purchase and sale proceeds are immediately recognized.
Margin requirements are computed in real time under fixed, predetermined rules, with immediate position liquidation if the minimum maintenance margin requirement is not met.
Margin accounts can be upgraded to Portfolio Margin accounts provided they meet the minimum requirements, but Margin accounts cannot be downgraded to Cash accounts.
US securities regulations require market participants identified as pattern day traders to maintain a minimum of 25,000 USD in equity or equivalent.

Portfolio Margin

A Portfolio Margin account is a margin account that allows borrowing to support equities trading, shorting of equities, full options trading, full futures/futures options trading, currency conversions and securities/commodities trading in multiple currency denominations. In addition, the following rules apply:

Margin requirements are determined using a risk-based calculations based on recent fluctuations in the market.
We require a minimum 110,000 USD or equivalent for this account. If your account drops below 100,000 USD, you will be restricted from doing any margin increasing trades.

Net Worth and Liquid Net Worth

Net Worth

The total value of all assets you own, less what you owe (including all mortgages and debts).

Your Net Worth cannot be less than your Liquid Net Worth.

Liquid Net Worth

The total value of any assets you own that can be quickly converted into cash.

To qualify for a Portfolio Margin account, your Liquid Net Worth must be greater than 100,000 USD.

Annual Net Income

The total amount of your earnings for one year minus any taxes or other deductions taken from your pay. These other deductions could include health insurance, retirement contributions, court ordered judgements or support payments.

Total Assets

The total amount of current and long-term assets that you own.

Investment Objectives

Preservation of Capital - To seek maximum safety and stability for your principal by focusing on securities and investments that carry a low degree of risk.
Income - To generate dividend, interest or other income instead of or in addition to long-term capital appreciation.
Growth - To increase the principal value of your investments over time rather than seek current income. Investor assumes higher degree of risk.
Trading Profits - To increase the principal value of your investments by assuming substantially higher risk to your investment capital.
Speculation - To substantially increase the principal value of your investments by assuming substantially higher risk to your investment capital.
Hedging - To take positions in a product to hedge or offset the risk in another product.

Investment Experience

In this section, you select the products you want to trade and enter information about your trading experience for each product.

In general, to qualify as a customer, you must meet these requirements::

You must have executed 100 or more trades of any product, or 100 simulated trades in a Demo account (available on our website).
To trade any product, you must have a Good or Extensive Knowledge Level for that product.
To trade any product, you must have a minimum of one year of trading experience with that product.

Changing Information

Changing Information

On this page, there are two ways you can change the information you've already entered in this application:

Click the Edit link next to each section to go directly to that step in the application.
Click the Application Progress button, then click the application step to which you want to return.

Important

If you return to any completed step in your application and make changes, you will have to review all subsequent completed application steps.

If you return to any completed step in your application and do not make changes, you can click a number on the Navigation Bar to return to the most recently completed step in the application.

About Deposits

You must meet our minimum deposit requirements. For more information on required minimums, see the Required Minimum page on our website (link opens web page in new browser window).

Important

Your application will not be processed until you complete the deposit instructions on this page. All new accounts must deposit the required minimum in equity (cash or stock) before they can trade.

About Deposits

There are two categories of deposits: deposit notifications and actual fund deposits.

Deposit notifications are notifications to us that you intend to deposit funds of a specified amount into your account. Deposit notifications do not actually transfer funds; you are responsible for initiating the transfer of funds yourself. The first group of funding methods listed on the left side of this page (Wire Transfer, Check, and so on), are all deposit notifications. For example, if you select a Wire Transfer Deposit, you are responsible for initiating the wire transfer with your bank. Funds will not be deposited into your account until you initiate the transfer.

The second group of funding methods listed on the left side of this page are actual fund transfers. When you select one of these methods (ACH, ACATS, and so on), you are instructing us to contact your bank or broker to initiate an actual transfer of funds.

Administrator Marketplace Questionnaire

Administrator Marketplace Questionnaire

The information you enter on this page is displayed in our Administrator Marketplace, where Advisor, Hedge Fund and Proprietary Trading Group accounts shop for and select third-party administrators for reporting and other account management functions.

Complete the questionnaire, then click Save and Continue.:

Certifications –Type your certifications in this field. You can enter more than one certification. For example, CPA, CFA.
Education –Type your education background in this field. For example, Harvard MBA.
Years in Business – Enter the number of years that you have been in business. This field is required.
Number of Clients – Enter the number of clients you are currently servicing. This field is required.
Services Provided – Select the services that you provide from the drop-down. This field is required.
Fees - Describe your fee structure, including amounts, frequency and currency. For example, 1000 USD Monthly. This field is required.

About Trading Permissions

Trading permissions define the investment products you can trade in your account and the countries in which you can trade them. The products that you can select are listed at the top of this page and are based on your answers on the Trading Qualifications page of this application. For example, if you selected only Stocks on the Trading Qualifications page, you will not be able to select Options trading permissions on this page.

Important

Once your account has been activated, you can sign up to trade additional products and countries in Account Management.

How to Use This Page

Selecting trading permissions is easy. Simply click the check boxes next to each product or products you wish to trade and the country or countries in which to trade them:

Click the Global check box to request permission for all products in all countries.
Click the check box in the Check All column request permission to trade all products in a specific country.
Click the check box in the Check All row below the product names to request permission to trade a specific product in all countries.

Remember, you can only select trading permissions for the products listed at the top of this page, and you can always select additional products and countries after your account has been activated.

Non-Professional Subscriber

A Non-professional Subscriber is any natural person* whom a market data vendor has determined qualifies as a Non-professional Subscriber and who is not:

Registered or qualified with: the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, any state securities agency, any securities exchange or association, or any commodities or futures contract market or association, nor engaged as an "investment advisor" as that term is defined in Section 201(11) of the Investment Advisor's Act of 1940 (whether or not registered or qualified under that Act), nor employed by a bank or another organization that is exempt from registration under Federal and/or state securities laws to perform functions that would require him or her to be so registered or qualified if he or she were to perform such functions for an organization not so exempt.

* The definition of a natural person excludes corporations, trusts, organizations, institutions and partnership accounts.

Professional Subscriber

A Professional Subscriber is any person who does not qualify as a Non-Professional Subscriber. Professional Subscribers must have their names and addresses submitted to all applicable securities exchanges. Professional Subscribers are charged a higher rate for market data than Non-Professional Subscribers.

Non-Professional subscribers can get either delayed or real-time market data

Delayed market data is free. Market data is typically delayed by at least 20 minutes, although actual delay times are set by individual exchanges, not by us.

How to Use This Page

We provide real-time streaming market data for free or at the price we are charged by an exchange. To subscribe to market data, click the check box next to each market data subscription you wish to receive. All fees are per month. Be sure to select market data subscriptions on all tabs (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Global and Quote Booster) before continuing to the next page.

Delayed Market Data

We provide free delayed market data as available for any product listed on an exchange to which you do not subscribe. Delayed market data is managed in our trading platform, and ticker lines that use delayed data are highlighted in yellow for emphasis.

Quote Boosters

Increase your allowance of simultaneous quotes windows by purchasing monthly Quote Booster packs. Each booster pack provides 100 simultaneous Level I quotes.

Pricing Structures for Stocks, ETFs and Warrants

We offer two pricing structures to calculate commissions in the US, Canada, Europe and Hong Kong:

Fixed- You will be charged a fixed amount per share, which includes commissions and all exchange and regulatory fees. In addition, SEC Section 31 transaction fees are charged for US stock, ETFs and warrant sell orders.
Tiered- You will be charged a smaller, volume-based commission that does not include exchange, regulatory or other third-party fees. You will be charged separately on a pass-through basis for those fees. In cases where an exchange provides a rebate, we pass some or all of the savings directly back to you.

If you trade in large volumes or tend to add liquidity, generally you will benefit from our Cost-Plus structure.

You can change your Pricing Structure in Account Management after your account has been activated.

Pricing Structures for Futures and Futures Options

We offer the following pricing structures for US and non-US futures and futures options:

Fixed
- US Markets: You will be charged a fixed rate low brokerage commission plus exchange, regulatory and clearing fees. No carrying fee is charged for positions held overnight.
- Non-US Markets:: You will be charged a single fixed rate per contract or percent of trade value, including all commissions, exchange, regulatory, clearing and carrying fees.
Tiered- Our Tiered pricing structures are the same for both US and non-US futures and futures options markets. You will be charged commissions which are reduced if you exceed specific volume thresholds. These commissions do not include exchange, regulatory and other third-party fees, for which you will be charged separately on a pass-through basis. You will also be charged a carrying fee on positions held overnight.

If you trade in large volumes or tend to add liquidity, generally you will benefit from our Cost-Plus structure.

You can change your Pricing Structure in Account Management after your account has been activated.

Important

If you choose the Fixed structure for futures in US markets, you will also receive the Fixed structure for non-US markets.

Pricing Structures for Stocks, ETFs and Warrants

Pricing Structures for Futures and Futures Options

Changing Information

Changing Information

From this page, you can change the information you've already entered in this application by clicking the appropriate step in the Application Progress bar, then clicking the desired page from the drop-down menu.

Important

If you return to any completed step in your application and make changes, you will have to review all subsequent completed application steps.

If you return to any completed step in your application and do not make changes, you can click a number on the Navigation Bar to return to the most recently completed step in the application.

About the Secure Login System

About the Secure Login System

The Secure Login system is designed to provide enhanced security to your account by requiring entry of a random alphanumeric code along with your username and password at each login. As both knowledge of your username/password and physical possession of the security device are required to login to your account, participation in the Secure Login System virtually eliminates the possibility of anyone other than you accessing your account.

Joint Customer Types

If you select Joint as the customer type, select one of the following Joint customer types:

Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship - A form of ownership in which two or more parties have equal interests in the account and in which title to the entire account goes to the survivor(s) upon the death of one of the account holders. This process avoids court probate of the property, but may have some tax consequences which should be reviewed with a tax advisor prior to opening the account.
Community Property - Applicable to residents of Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. Community Property is property received by a husband and wife during the marriage, except inheritances and specific gifts to one of the spouses. This form of ownership is recognized only in certain states which have community property laws and each spouse has an undivided one-half interest in the account. Upon the death of one spouse, the community property in the account generally passes to the other spouse with certain exceptions, including Texas, Nevada and New Mexico.
Tenants in Common - A form of ownership by two or more persons in which each person has an undivided interest in the account even though the percentage of interests may not be equal. Unlike joint tenants, there is no right of survivorship if one of the account holders dies. Upon the death of one tenant in common, a probate proceeding (court-supervised administration of the estate of the deceased) must be held to transfer the ownership interest in the account. This type of joint account requires that you enter ownership percentages in the account application.
Tenancy by the Entirety - A type of joint account permitted in certain states and available to people in a legally recognized marriage or civil union. It allows spouses to own property together as a single legal entity. Under a Tenancy by the Entirety, creditors of an individual spouse may not attach and sell the interest of a debtor spouse; only creditors of the couple may attach and sell the interest in the property owned by Tenancy by the Entirety. The difference between a Tenancy by the Entirety and a Joint Tenancy or Tenancy in Common is that a Tenant by the Entirety may not sell or give away his interest in the property without the consent of the other tenant.

About Trustees

The trustee is the person or entity that manages the property and assets and makes decisions under the terms of the trust. A trustee can be an individual or an entity such as a corporation. Entity trustees cannot sign or trade for your account, but an employee of the entity trustee can sign and trade.

How to Use This Page

You must add at least one trustee who can sign for your account and one trustee who can trade for your account. A single individual trustee can sign and trade. An entity trustee cannot sign or trade for your account but an employee of the entity trustee can be the person who signs and trades for your account.

Click the Add Individual Trustee or Add Entity Trustee button to add a trustee, then enter the information for the trustee. For Individual Trustees, indicate whether or not the person can sign for your account and trade for your account. For Entity Trustees, you will also be prompted to enter information about an employee of the entity and whether or not the employee can sign and trade for your account.

As you add trustees, they will be listed in the Registered Trustees section of the page. Click the red X to remove a registered trustee.

About Beneficiaries

The beneficiary is the person or entity that receives money or other benefits from the trust. You must add at least one beneficiary (either an individual or an entity) and enter the percent of ownership for each beneficiary.

How to Use This Page

You must add at least one beneficiary and no more than five beneficiaries. A beneficiary can be either an individual or an entity. The total percent of ownership of all registered beneficiaries must equal 100%.

Click the Add Individual Beneficiary or Add Entity Beneficiary button to add a beneficiary, then enter the information for the beneficiary, including the percent of ownership.

As you add beneficiaries, they will be listed in the Registered Beneficiaries section of the page. You can change the percent of ownership for any registered beneficiaries on this page. Click the red X to remove a registered beneficiary.

About Settlors/Grantors

The settlor or grantor of the trust is the person or entity that deposits assets or property into the trust for the benefit of the beneficiary. A settlor or grantor is NOT the attorney or administrator who simply drafted the trust documents (the drafter does not have to be listed).

How to Use This Page

You must add at least one settlor/grantor and no more than five settlors/grantors. A settlor/grantor can be either an individual or an entity.

Click the Add Individual Settlor/Grantor or Add Entity Settlor/Grantor button to add a settlor/grantor, then enter the information for the settlor/grantor.

As you add settlors/grantors, they will be listed in the Registered Settlors/Grantors section of the page. Click the red X to remove a registered settlor/grantor.

IRA Customer Types

If you select IRA as the customer type, select one of the IRA customer types listed below. Note that IRA accounts are available to US residents only.

Traditional - A retirement savings plan that allows an individual taxpayer to contribute earnings until they are withdrawn. Contributions are subject to annual limits depending on the age of the account owner and may or may not be deductible depending on the individual's circumstances. Earnings accumulate tax-deferred until distributed to the account owner, at which time the earnings are subject to tax upon withdrawal. A spouse may contribute to a separate account subject to the same limits. Withdrawals made prior to age 59 1/2 are subject to a 10% penalty unless certain special circumstances apply. Distributions must begin by the account owner's required beginning date (RBD), which is April 1 following the year that the account owner turns age 70 1/2.
Traditional Inherited - An IRA account you may set up as the beneficiary of a Traditional IRA that you inherited from a spouse or other IRA account owner who has died, to receive a transfer of beneficiary IRA assets.
Traditional Rollover - A traditional IRA account that receives assets directly from an employer-sponsored plan such as a 401(K) or pension plan within 60 days of distribution from the plan. As long as no other assets are contributed to the Traditional Rollover IRA, the monies may be rolled over into a new employer's plan. A traditional rollover IRA is commonly used if you are changing jobs or retiring.
Roth - A retirement savings plan that allows an individual taxpayer to contribute earnings, subject to certain income limits. Earnings accumulate tax-free and contributions are nondeductible. Unlike Traditional IRAs, a Roth IRA account owner may continue to contribute after age 70 1/2 if they he or she has earned income. Withdrawals prior to age 59 1/2 are subject to a 10% penalty unless special circumstances apply. There are no age requirements that determine when an account owner must begin taking distributions. Contributions are subject to annual limits depending on the age of the account owner.
Roth Inherited - An IRA account you may set up as the beneficiary of a Roth IRA that you inherited from a spouse or other IRA account owner who has died, to receive a transfer of beneficiary IRA assets.
Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) - A tax-deferred retirement plan for small businesses and self-employed individuals in which an employee can set aside a percentage of pre-tax income into the plan. An annual contribution that an employer makes to an employee's SEP-IRA is subject to certain limits. The same limits apply to contributions made to a self-employed individual's SEP-IRA. There is 100% vesting of all plan contributions. Distributions generally follow the same rules that apply to IRAs.
SEP Inherited - An IRA account you may set up as the beneficiary of a SEP IRA that you inherited from a spouse or other IRA account owner who has died, to receive a transfer of beneficiary IRA assets.

Spousal or Common law partner RSP

A "spousal or common-law partner RSP" is a type of RSP that allows your spouse or common law partner to contribute to your RSP and receive the benefit of the tax deductions for such contributions.

Please note that a "common-law partner" is a person who is not a person to whom you are legally married, with whom you are living in a conjugal relationship, and to whom at least one of the following situations applies: a) has been living with you in a conjugal relationship and this current relationship has lasted at least 12 continuous months (which includes any period you were separated for less than 90 days because of a breakdown in the relationship); b) is the parent of your child by birth or adoption; or c) has custody and control of your child and your child is wholly dependent on that person for support.

Custodial Types

The Uniform Gifts to Minor Act (UGMA) and Uniform Transfers to Minor Act (UTMA) are types of custodial accounts that are set up by an adult on behalf of a minor. An adult is designated as the custodian to manage the account for the benefit of the minor until the child reaches the age specified in the statute. When the child reaches the relevant age the custodianship ends and the child receives sole control of all the assets in the account.

Age of Termination

The age at which a minor assumes control over the assets in a Custodial (UGMA/UTMA) account. For UGMA accounts, the age of termination is generally 18 but can vary from state to state. For UTMA accounts, the age of termination is generally 21, but can vary from state to state and may be as high as 25 in some states. When the minor reaches the age of termination, he or she can access the assets in the account and can convert the account to a regular individual account.

CFDs and Metals

Select one of these options:

Stocks, Options, Futures, Forex, Bonds – If you select this option, you will be able to request trading permissions for any of the products listed, but you will NOT be allowed to trade CFDs and Metals. After your account has been approved and opened, you will be able to request trading permissions for CFDs and metals.
CFDs and Metals only – If you select this option, you will be limited to trading only CFDs and metals. If you think you might want to trade products other than CFDs and metals, we recommend that you select the Stocks, Options, Futures, Forex, Bonds option, and then request trading permission for CFDs and metals after your account has been approved and opened.

About IRA Beneficiaries

The beneficiary is the person(s) or entity(ies) that receives the assets of the IRA upon the death of the owner. If an entity is listed as the IRA beneficiary and an account owner dies before minimum distributions are required, the IRA will be subject to specific IRS regulations concerning distributions. In the event a named primary beneficiary becomes ineligible (i.e., due to death), the surviving primary beneficiaries or the contingent beneficiaries will receive the assets. If there are no remaining primary beneficiaries, assets will be allocated to surviving contingent beneficiaries. If no designated or primary or contingent beneficiaries survive or there are no designated beneficiaries, the beneficiary will be your estate.

A primary IRA beneficiary is the account owner's first choice to be the individual or entity that receives the assets of the IRA upon the death of the owner. A contingent beneficiary is the person or entity who receives the IRA assets if there are no living primary beneficiaries.

How to Use This Page

You must add at least one IRA beneficiary and no more than six beneficiaries. A beneficiary can be either an individual or an entity.

Click the Add Individual Beneficiary or Add Entity Beneficiary button to add a beneficiary, then enter the information for the beneficiary, including the percent of ownership.

As you add beneficiaries, they will be listed in the Registered Beneficiaries section of the page. Designate each beneficiary as Primary or Contingent. Contingent beneficiaries are not required, and you can add or change beneficiaries at any time after your account has been activated. The total percent of ownership of all registered primary beneficiaries must equal 100%, and the total percent of ownership of all contingent beneficiaries must equal 100%. You can change the percent of ownership for any registered beneficiaries on this page. Click the red X to remove a registered IRA beneficiary.

Entity Beneficiary Types

If you choose to add an Entity Beneficiary, you must also select the Entity Beneficiary Type. There are three types of entity IRA beneficiaries:

Estate
Trust
Charity

If you select Charity, provide the specific name of the charity you wish to benefit. If you want to benefit a specific local service agency, indicate in the Name of Charity field that you want the local agency, not the national organization. For example: "Greenwich, CT Boys and Girls Club of America" not just "Boys and Girls Club of America."

Customer Types

Select one of the following customer types:

Partnership - An account in the name of a partnership, managed on the partnership's behalf by the partnership's general partners, officers or authorized traders.
Corporation - An account in the name of a corporation, managed on the corporation's behalf by the corporation's officers or authorized traders.
Limited Liability Corporation - An account in the name of a limited liability company (LLC), managed on the LLC's behalf by its managers, managing members, officers or authorized traders.
Unincorporated Business - An account in the name of an unincorporated business, managed on the business' behalf by the business officers or authorized traders.

Description of the Business

The description of your business should be as specific as possible. General descriptions such as "investment," "trading," "import/export" or "general business" will require additional inquiry that may delay your application.

Principal Place Of Business

This is the principal location of the firm where its officers and employees work and where day-to-day operations are conducted. If the organization was created in an offshore jurisdiction or uses the services of a registered agent, and no actual officers or employees are located at the offshore or registered agent address, do NOT list this address as the firm's principal place of business. Rather, you should list the address from which operations are conducted and where officers are physically located.

Revocable trust or otherwise considered a grantor trust

A trust that can be altered or terminated during the grantor's lifetime. This type of trust is considered part of the grantor's estate and subject to taxation. The property held in a revocable trust is passed on to the beneficiaries only after the grantor's death; the revocable trust then becomes irrevocable.

Testamentary Trust

A trust created within a will and does not take effect until the death of the grantor.

Regulated Retirement Trust

A trust established for an employee benefit plan established under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

Irrevocable trust

A trust that cannot be changed or canceled without the beneficiary's consent once it is set up. After you place property into an irrevocable trust, you cannot retrieve the property; it now belongs to the trust. Property placed in an irrevocable trust is no longer part of your estate; the property typically isn't included in your estate's value when determining if you owe estate taxes.

Revocable trust

is a type of trust where the provisions of the trust (or even the entire trust) can be altered, amended or revoked by the grantor/settlor. It is also called a Revocable Living Trust or Revocable Inter Vivos Trust, which means the revocable trust is created during the settlor's or grantor's lifetime.

Testamentary trust

(sometimes referred to as a trust under Will) is a trust which arises upon the death of an individual, and which is specified in the individual's Last Will and Testament.

Irrevocable living or inter vivos trust

is a trust that cannot be terminated and its terms cannot be amended or revised by the settlor/grantor. The trust is commonly referred to as "living" or "inter vivos" because the trust goes into effect during the settlor's/grantor's life. Additionally, you should select "irrevocable living or inter vivos trust" if the trust was a revocable trust during the settlor/grantor's lifetime but the settlor/grantor has since died so that the trust is no longer revocable.

Regulated retirement plan trust

is a trust that is established in connection with a retirement plan that is regulated by applicable law (e.g., superannuation).

Simple Trust

A simple trust is, very generally, a trust (i) the terms of which demand that all income of the trust must be distributed currently (i.e., the trustee can have no discretion to make (or withhold) income distributions), (ii) that does not provide for any charitable distributions and (ii) the trustee of which does not actually distribute any amounts during the year other than its required income.

Complex Trust

A complex trust is any trust that is neither a grantor trust nor a simple trust.

Grantor Trust

A grantor trust, very generally, is a tax classification for a trust whereby the grantor/settlor (or someone other than the grantor) is treated as the "owner" of the trust for US income tax purposes because such person retains certain interests in the trust or certain powers over the trust, as set forth in Sections 671-679 of the Internal Revenue Code. A grantor trust is most often a revocable living trust but can be an irrevocable inter vivos trust. It is never a testamentary trust.

You are strongly encouraged to consult your tax advisor. Interactive Brokers LLC does not provide tax advice and you should not interpret any of the foregoing as tax advice.

About Authorized Persons

About Authorized Persons

The Authorized Person is the person who is authorized to complete this application and sign Customer Agreements on behalf of the Proprietary Trading Group. You can select one or more of the following titles for the Authorized Person whose information you enter on this page:

Controlling Officer
Owner
Compliance Officer:
Other Officer

If you select any single title or combination of titles that does not include Controlling Officer, you will be asked to enter identification information about the person.

About Registered Owners

We require certain information about the directors, officers, principals, shareholders, members, manager, partners, owners or other individuals or entities that have a 10% ownership in its account applicants (we call these "10% owners").

First we ask you to indicate whether there are any 10% owners in your organization. If you there are, we will ask you to register them on the next page of this application.

How to Add Registered Owners

If you indicated that there individuals or entities that have an ownership interest of 10% or more, then you must add at least one and no more than ten individual or entity owners. The total percent ownership cannot be greater than 100%.

Click the Add Individual or Owner or Add Entity Owner button to add a registered owner, then enter the information for the owner, including the percent of ownership.

As you add owners, they will be listed on the bottom half of the page along with their percent ownership. Click the red X to remove a registered owner.

Security Officers

Security Officers are designated employees who can assign access rights to and authorize functions in Account Management. The owner of the account (the account applicant) is automatically assigned the role of Security Officer but can select additional Security Officers depending on how many layers of security an organization requires.

Click the Add Security Officer button, then enter identifying information about the person and grant the Security Officer access rights to Account Management functions such as reporting, funding and account configuration. A Security Officer is given his her own username and password to log into Account Management once your account has been activated.

How to Assign Access Rights to a Security Officer

Enter information about the Security Officer, including name, username and password, email address and relationship to your organization.

Grant access rights to Account Management functions in the Access Rights section of the page. Functions are organized into access groups, which correspond to the menus in Account Management. Click each access group to expand that section, then click the check box next to each function that you want the Security Officer to be able to access. To grant access to all functions in an access group, click the check box next the access group name.

Note that Security Officers are automatically given access rights to all Security and Access Rights functions and the Change Email Address function in the Manage Account access group.

Authorizer Type

Some functions allow you to set the Security Officer as an authorizer. An authorizer is a designated person who must approve certain Account Management requests before they can be completed. For example, you can specify that fund withdrawals, fund transfers, position transfers, and changes to your account's financial information first be approved by an authorizer before they can be completed.

There are two levels of authorizers: Primary and Secondary. These levels of authorization let you match your organization's approval process to our Account Management system. A Primary Authorizer is the highest level of approval while a Secondary Authorizer is the next level of approval. For example, your CEO might be the Primary Authorizer and the CIO might be the Secondary Authorizer in your organization.

Settlement Instructions

This page lets you create optional settlement instructions, which are standing instructions that you can use for recurring transfers of stocks, options and futures. You do not have to create any settlement instructions now; you can create them in Account Management after your account has been activated.

You are seeing this page because you selected Prime and/or Execution Institutional Services on the Base Currency and Account Support page earlier in this application.

How to Add a Settlement Instruction

You are not required to create settlement instructions at this time. If you want to create a settlement instructions, click the Add button for the desired asset class (Stocks, Options or Futures), then complete the form that appears. Completed settlement instructions will be listed on this page.

There are different types of settlement instructions:

For stocks: Stock settlement instructions called Delivery vs. Payment (DVP) and Receive vs. Payment (RVP) are used to deliver US stocks from one Depository Trust Account (DTC) to another in exchange for payment. DVP is from us to another broker, RVP is from another broker to us. When you enter the instruction information, you can select DTCID (Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation), or NSCC (National Securities Clearing Corporation) as the type.
For options: Select CMTA (Clearing Member Trade Agreement) as the type. CMTA is the securities options and US single stock futures equivalent of DVP/RVP and are cleared through the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC).
For futures: Select GUS as the type. GUS is used for giving up futures and futures options trades.

Important

Be sure to select the Customer Type for your account on this page because you cannot change it later.

Click below for more information.

Customer Types

Customer Types

Select one of the following customer types in a Financial Advisor Account Application:

Individual - An account owned and used by a single trader or investor.
Partnership - An account in the name of a partnership, managed on the partnership's behalf by the partnership's general partners, officers or authorized traders.
Corporation - An account in the name of a corporation, managed on the corporation's behalf by the corporation's officers or authorized traders.
Limited Liability Corporation - An account in the name of a limited liability company (LLC), managed on the LLC's behalf by its managers, managing members, officers or authorized traders.
Unincorporated Business - An account in the name of an unincorporated business, managed on the business' behalf by the business officers or authorized traders.

General Information

To be a Professional Advisor, you must qualify to trade Securities Products, Commodity Products, and/or Forex Contracts. On this page, you must select at least one qualification and you can select more than one qualification.

Securities Qualification

Select this check box if you are qualified to trade Securities Products, then select the radio button for your specific qualification. For example, if you are a Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) in the United States, select US Registered.

Note that available selections are based on your country of legal residence.

Commodity (Futures) Qualification

Select this check box if you are qualified to trade Commodity Products (futures), then select the radio button for your specific qualification. For example, if you are registered with the National Futures Association (NFA), select US Registered.

Note that available selections are based on your country of legal residence.

Forex Qualification

Select this check box if you are qualified to trade Forex contracts, then select the radio button for your specific qualification.

Note that available selections are based on your country of legal residence.

Foreign Bank

A foreign bank is a bank that is organized under non-U.S. law and is located outside the United States. Foreign banks include, but are not limited to: the offices, branches, and agencies of commercial banks or trust companies, private banks, national banks, thrift institutions, credit unions and other organizations chartered under banking laws and supervised by the banking supervisors of any state.

Securities Broker or Dealer

Securities brokers or dealers include, but are not limited to, organizations that:

are members of a securities exchange, securities market or clearing house;
underwrite securities or otherwise help to bring new issues to market;
formally act as market makers either on an exchange, trading system or otherwise;
hold themselves out as promoting liquidity to the market;
are looked to as a source of liquidity to market professionals or the public;
advertise or otherwise let others know that they are in the business of buying and selling securities.

FCM or Futures Broker

Futures Commissions Merchants (FCMs) or futures brokers include, but are not limited to, organizations that solicit or accept orders to purchase or sell futures or commodity option contracts or that accept money, securities or property to margin, guarantee or secure solicited or accepted futures trades or contracts.

Money Transmitter

Money transmitters include, but are not limited to, organizations that are in the business of accepting currency or funds denominated in currency and transmitting the currency, funds or value thereof through a financial agency, financial institution, the Federal Reserve Bank or an electronic funds network or are otherwise engaged in the business of transferring funds.

SEC-registered investment company

An SEC-registered investment company is a mutual fund or other investment company that is registered with the SEC.

General Information

Use this page to tell us how you intend to fund your new account. We cannot process your application until you complete the instructions on this page. All new account must deposit the required minimum in equity (cash or stock).

Select a funding method in one of the two categories listed, then enter the required details about the deposit. If you are not sure which method to choose at this time, select Wire Transfer, then enter and amount equal to the account minimum and enter "Bank" in the Bank Name field.

Choosing a Funding Methods

There are two categories of funding methods available on this page:

Notify us of a deposit that you initiate - If you choose a funding method in this category (Wire Transfer, Bank ACH Transfer from your bank, Check, Online Bill Payment or Free of Payment), you are only notifying us of your intention to transfer the funds into your new account. No funds are moved. You must contact your bank to initiate the actual transfer of funds.
Instruct us to contact your bank or broker to transfer funds and/or assets - If you select a funding method in this category (Automatic Bank ACH Transfer, ACATS, etc.), the funds and/or assets are actually moved into your new account.

Abbreviated Name for Web Link

Abbreviated Name for Web Link

You will ask your employees to complete an application at www.interactivebrokers.com/employeetrack/index.php?e=XYZ

where XYZ is the Abbreviated Name for your Web Link.
For example, this can be the full or abbreviated name of your company.

Enter letters and numbers only (A-Z and 0-9), with no spaces.

Single Fund

A Single Fund account consists of a single fund with multiple users.

A Single Fund account can have multiple Separate Trading Limit (STL) sub accounts.

A Single Fund account cannot upgrade to a Multiple Funds account. If you have a single fund with plans to open additional funds in the future, you should open a Multiple Funds account instead.

Multiple Funds

A Multiple Funds account consists of one or more funds managed by an Investment Manager. A Multiple Funds account also includes the following features:

Each Fund account can be owned by a separate legal entity and is credit-managed separately.
Execute trades for multiple Funds in an Allocation Account and assign trades before the end of the day to specific cleared Fund Accounts.
Access pre-trade allocation tools in our trading platform that let you allocate block trades to multiple client accounts with a single mouse click.

If you choose Multiple Funds, you will be presented with multiple applications: the first application is for the Fund Investment Manager, and each subsequent application is for each fund.

Allocation Account

Open an Allocation Account is an account for trade executions that allows for end of day give-up of trades to accounts at third-party prime brokers.

Legal Structure

Select the legal structure of your Fund Investment Manager. Click below for more information.

Legal Structure Types

Select one of the following legal structure types:

Partnership - An account in the name of a partnership, managed on the partnership's behalf by the partnership's general partners, officers or authorized traders.
Corporation - An account in the name of a corporation, managed on the corporation's behalf by the corporation's officers or authorized traders.
Limited Liability Corporation - An account in the name of a limited liability company (LLC), managed on the LLC's behalf by its managers, managing members, officers or authorized traders.
Unincorporated Business - An account in the name of an unincorporated business, managed on the business' behalf by the business officers or authorized traders.

Principal Place Of Business

Principal Place Of Business

Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN)

Enter your TIN in the field above, and select the appropriate TIN type. The TIN provided must match the name given on the ""Name"" line to avoid backup withholding. For individuals, this is your social security number (SSN). However, for a resident alien, sole proprietor, or disregarded entity, see the Part I instructions on page 3 of the W-9. For other entities, it is your employer identification number (EIN). If you do not have a number, see How to get a TIN on page 3.
Note: If the account is in more than one name, see the chart on page 4 for guidelines on whose number to enter.

General Information

On this page of the application, you select your account type; enter the total net assets of the fund; and select products you want to trade, entering your investment experience for each.

Investment Experience

Responsible Principal

Responsible Principal

The responsible principal is the responsible party of your organization. The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) defines "responsible party" as follows:

For entities with shares or interests traded on a public exchange, or which are registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, "responsible party" is (a) the principal officer, if the business is a corporation, (b) a general partner, if a partnership, (c) the owner of an entity that is disregarded as separate from its owner (disregarded entities owned by a corporation enter the corporation's name and EIN), or (d) a grantor, owner, or trustor if a trust.
For all other entities, "responsible party" is the person who has a level of control over, or entitlement to, the funds or assets in the entity that, as a practical matter, enables the individual, directly or indirectly, to control, manage or direct the entity and the disposition of its funds and assets. The ability to fund the entity or the entitlement to the property of the entity alone, however, without any corresponding authority to control, manage, or direct the entity (such as in the case of a minor child beneficiary), does not cause the individual to be a responsible party.

About Associated Funds

On this page of the application, you add funds to be associated with your account, entering the name and business address of each fund.

How to Use This Page

Click Add a Fund, then enter the name of associated fund and the address of the principal place of business of the fund. To add more than one fund, click Add a Fund and enter the required information for each fund. All of the funds you add will appear on the same page.

To remove a fund from the page, click Remove.

Click Continue when you are finished adding associated funds.

About Authorized Persons

About Authorized Persons

The Authorized Person is the person who is authorized to complete this application and sign Customer Agreements on behalf of your organization. He or she must also be an authorized trader in your account.

You can select one or more of the following titles for the Authorized Person whose information you enter on this page:

Controlling Officer
Treasurer
Secretary
Owner
Compliance Officer:

You will be asked to enter brief identification information about each person associated with the titles you select.

General Information

On this page of the application, you select an account type; enter your financial information, including net worth and liquid net worth; and select products you want to trade, entering your investment experience for each.

Account Types

Investment

For individual or organization investors, this account requires a minimum deposit of 2,000 AUD and a minimum liquid net worth of 20,000 AUD. Investment accounts are not available to SMSF trustees. Investment accounts do not allow trading on margin or short selling, but do allow limited options trading, unleveraged spot Forex trading, and access to some low leverage derivatives.

Trading

Similar to an Investment Account but with fewer constraints on leverage, this account is designed as a starter account for active traders. For individual or organization investors, this account requires a minimum deposit of 10,000 AUD, and a minimum liquid net worth of either 100,000 AUD or 20,000 AUD plus 50,000 AUD minimum income. Trading accounts are not available to SMSF trustees.

Trading accounts do not allow borrowing on margin, though covered short selling is permitted as is, trading of different option strategies and unleveraged spot Forex trading. Clients with Trading accounts are able to take greater risk but must be able to finance it themselves.

Account Types

Cash

Shorting of stock is not allowed.
Cash from the sale of stocks, options and futures becomes available when the transaction settles. For example, US stock - three days, German stock - two days, US options - one day.
Intraday futures margin benefits (50% of regular margin requirements during the day, on certain exchanges), are not supported.
Limited purchase and sale of options are allowed.
The account may trade in multiple currencies, but must have the settled cash balance to enter trades.
Existing cash account holders can upgrade to a multi-currency cash account through Account Management.
Cash accounts may be upgraded to Margin accounts.

Reg. T Margin - Self Directed IRA Third Party Custodian Account

Cannot borrow cash i.e. have a debit balance or short stocks. Purchase and sale proceeds available immediately.

Account Types

Cash

Shorting of stock is not allowed.
Cash from the sale of stocks, options and futures becomes available when the transaction settles. For example, US stock - three days, German stock - two days, US options - one day.
Intraday futures margin benefits (50% of regular margin requirements during the day, on certain exchanges), are not supported.
Limited purchase and sale of options are allowed.
The account may trade in multiple currencies, but must have the settled cash balance to enter trades.
Existing cash account holders can upgrade to a multi-currency cash account through Account Management.
Cash accounts may be upgraded to Margin accounts.

Reg. T Margin - Pension/Pension

Cannot borrow cash i.e. have a debit balance or short stocks. Purchase and sale proceeds available immediately.

Marketwatch Research

Browser based basic news and fundamentals.

Coverage of market-moving events

Briefing in Play - Detailed analysis of market-moving events.
Briefing in Play Plus - Strategies for growth stocks, ETFs, IPOs and more.
Briefing Trader - Profitable trading calls with specific entry and exit points.

Video Help

Wire Transfers

ACH Credit

ACH Debit

Checks

Funding Your Account

In this part of your account application, you tell us how you intend to fund your account. This step is optional; once your account has been approved, you can log into Account Management and fund your account from there.

You can fund your account with one or more fund transfers, one or more position transfers, or any combination of fund transfers and position transfers. Some types of transfers are "deposit notifications" only. For these methods (Wire, ACH Initiated At Your Bank, Canadian EFT, Bill Payment) your selections on this page simply notify us of your intention to deposit funds using the selected deposit method; funds are not actually moved until you instruct your bank to move them.

After you make an initial deposit or position transfer, you can go back and make additional fund deposits or position transfers before you submit your completed account application.

Deposit Methods

Here is a list of available deposit methods for funding your account. Not all deposit methods are available for all locations.

ACH Initiated By Bank - Automated Clearing House deposit. Provide IB with a notification of the amount you wish to transfer via ACH and then contact your bank and provide them with a print out of the notification form in order to initiate a transfer. Your notification to IB under this method only serves to match your deposit to your account upon arrival and does not result in the transfer of funds. The transfer of funds will only be initiated once you provide your bank the IB destination account details included on the notification form.
ACH - Automated Clearing House deposit. Your transfer request will automatically be processed through a message sent to your bank by IB. Prior to using this method, you will need to create a standing instruction through Funds Management which authorizes IB and your bank to electronically transfer funds between the two accounts then verify a series of test transactions issued to your bank account several days later to establish the link. Once established, this transfer method can be used for future deposit and withdrawal requests.
Bill Payment - A check or electronic fund transfer that originates from an online payment service provided by your Infinancial institution. For US checks, you add us to your personal payee list and your bank mails a check for you. For electronic fund transfers, you select us from your bank's list of merchants and your bank sends an electronic payment. Electronic fund transfers are credited to your account immediately. US checks will be credited to your account after seven business days.
Canadian Bill Payment - An electronic fund transfer available for CAD currency deposits from a CAD currency account held in your name that originates from an online payment service provided by your financial institution located in Canada. Complete a deposit notification, then submit your bill payment on your bank's online payment service. Bill payments submitted through your online bank payment system before 18:00 EST are generally received by us within three business days and are immediately credited upon receipt.
Canadian Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) - EFT is available for USD or CAD currency deposits (for CA entity accounts) from a USD or CAD currency account held in your name at a bank located in Canada that allows EFT transactions. We limit EFT deposits to $100,000 over seven business days. EFT requests received by 09:30 ET, will be credited to your account after four business days under normal circumstances.
Check - Paper and mail based deposit of funds. Write your account number on the check. Specific check instructions, including the printing of the deposit form, and addresses will be displayed during the deposit notification process. The address for sending your check will be printed on the deposit form. Please note that Canadian customers cannot fund their accounts with checks or bank drafts. The time it takes for a check to arrive depends on the speed of the mail. Under normal circumstances we deposit funds to your account on the same business day of check arrival. Funds are credited to the account after a seven business day credit hold, with the exception of Bank Checks which are credited immediately. Only Bank, Bill Payment and Personal checks for US Dollars are accepted.
Wire - Same day electronic movement of funds through the fed wire system. You must contact your bank to initiate a wire and include your account name and number on the wire. Specific wire instructions and addresses will be displayed during the deposit process. Wire deposits arrive immediately to four business days, depending on your bank. Non-U.S. banks are generally at the longer end of the range. Credit to account is immediate upon arrival.

Amount - Required Minimums

We have established minimum amounts that are required to open an account.

Required minimums vary by account structure. For example, Individual accounts require 10,000 USD or the non-USD equivalent to open an account.

Bank Information

Information you enter about a financial institution used in deposit notifications and/or withdrawals is saved in our system as a set of named instructions called Bank Information. Although some of the information we ask you to enter about your bank when you fund your account is listed as optional, we recommend that you enter all of this information because once it is saved, you will be able reuse it for future fund transfers from the same financial institution.

Fields:

Sending Institution - The name of the financial institution from which your funds will be transferred.
Routing Number - This is the unique routing or transit code used to identify your bank in the United States. An ABA (American Bankers Association) code is usually the first nine numbers in the bottom row of numbers on any check in the US.
SWIFT/BIC - SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) is an internationally recognized identification code used for funding transfers by banks around the world. SWIFT codes typically have 8 or 11 alphanumeric characters. BIC (Bank Identifier Code) is another name for the same code. An 8-digit code refers to the primary office of the bank, which an 11-digit code refers to a branch office.
Account Number - The account number of the account from which you are transferring funds.
Type of instruction - For ACH Initiated by Us deposits, select the type of instruction. This bank information will be saved in our system and you will be able to use it for future fund transfers:

ACH Debit & Credit - This type of instruction can be used for both future deposits and withdrawals between us and your bank.
ACH Credit Only - This type of instruction can be used for future withdrawals from your account to your bank.

Instruction Name - The name under which this set of bank information will be saved in our system. When you want to make additional deposits to your IB account, you will be given the opportunity to select previously saved bank information by its Instruction Name.

Position Transfer Methods

Here is a list of available position transfer methods for funding your account:

ACATS - ACATS (Automated Customer Account Transfer Service) is the US Broker to Broker position transfer system. ACATS transfers let you transfer all or some of your assets from a third-party broker to your account. Expect from four to eight business days depending on your third-party broker.
ATON - ATON (Account Transfer on Notification) is the Canadian broker equivalent of ACATS. Only Canadian and US stocks and options may be transferred between Canadian Brokers. Expect four to eight business days depending on your third-party broker.
Asian Position Transfer - Asian stocks, warrants and ETFs may be transferred to us on a manual basis for Hong Kong, Australia or Japan. If you select this method of transferring positions into your account, be sure to follow the instructions that appear on the screen.
European Position Transfer - European stock warrants, options, and futures may be transferred to us on a manual basis for Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK. If you select this method of transferring positions into your account, be sure to follow the instructions that appear on the screen.
Free of Payment - Delivery of long US stock positions, US Warrant positions, and Corporate and Municipal Bond positions from another US bank or broker that is member of the Depository Trust Company (DTC). Transfers are generally completed within 3-5 business days, but this depends on your third-party broker. FOP notices are valid for five business days before expiring. Once the notice has expired IB will not accept the shares.
US Futures - The transfer of US futures into your account. If you select this method of transferring positions into your account, be sure to follow the instructions that appear on the screen.

Delivering Institution Details

This section describes the financial institution that will be moving funds to your account. These fields appear only if you decide to use previously saved bank information.

Fields:

Which saved information would you like to use? - Information you enter about a financial institution used to fund your account is saved in our system as a set of named instructions called Bank Information. The "Which saved information would you like to use?" field appears if you have already added a deposit to your new account and wish to made an additional deposit. The bank information from your previous deposit notification has been saved in our system and you can select it from the drop-down menu. If you want to add a deposit from a different financial institution, select Initial Funding from the drop-down menu.
Sending Institution - The name of the financial institution from which your funds will be transferred.
ABA Routing Number - This is the unique routing or transit code used to identify your bank in the United States. An ABA (American Bankers Association) code is usually the first nine numbers in the bottom row of numbers on any check in the US.
SWIFT/BIC Code - SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) is an internationally recognized identification code used for funding transfers by banks around the world. SWIFT codes typically have 8 or 11 alphanumeric characters. BIC (Bank Identifier Code) is another name for the same code. An 8-digit code refers to the primary office of the bank, which an 11-digit code refers to a branch office.
Account Number - The account number of the account from which you are transferring funds.

FATCA guidance - Am I a US tax resident?

FATCA guidance - Am I a US tax resident?

The US Internal Revenue Service considers the following individuals to be US citizens and US resident aliens:

a person who is a US citizen (regardless of where you live or whether you are a dual citizen or a tax resident of another country), or
a person that possess a US permanent resident card (US Citizenship and Immigration Services Form I-551) – commonly known as a green card, or
a person who meets the "substantial presence test" of US Treas. Reg. § 301.7701(b)-1(c) - generally being physically present in the United States for 31 days during the current year and 183 days over a three year including the current year and the two prior years. For purposes of counting days, days present in the United States in the current year are counted one for one (1:1), days present in the United States in previous year are counted one for three (1:3) and days from two prior years are counted one to six (1:6).

FATCA guidance - Am I a US tax resident?

FATCA guidance - Am I a US tax resident?

The US Internal Revenue Service considers the following individuals to be US citizens and US resident aliens:

a person who is a US citizen (regardless of where you live or whether you are a dual citizen or a tax resident of another country), or
a person that possess a US permanent resident card (US Citizenship and Immigration Services Form I-551) – commonly known as a green card, or
a person who meets the "substantial presence test" of US Treas. Reg. § 301.7701(b)-1(c) - generally being physically present in the United States for 31 days during the current year and 183 days over a three year including the current year and the two prior years. For purposes of counting days, days present in the United States in the current year are counted one for one (1:1), days present in the United States in previous year are counted one for three (1:3) and days from two prior years are counted one to six (1:6).

Name of individual who is the beneficial owner

Enter your name.

Country of citizenship

Enter your country of citizenship. If you are a dual citizen, enter the country where you are both a citizen and a resident at the time you complete this form. If you are not a resident in any country in which you have citizenship, enter the country where you were most recently a resident. However, if you are a United States citizen, you should not complete this form even if you hold citizenship in another jurisdiction. Instead, provide Form W-9.

Permanent residence address (street, apt. or suite no., or rural route). Do not use a P.O. box or in-care-of address.

Your permanent residence address is the address in the country where you claim to be a resident for purposes of that country's income tax. If you are completing Form W-8BEN to claim a reduced rate of withholding under an income tax treaty, you must determine your residency in the manner required by the treaty. Do not show the address of a financial institution, a post office box, or an address used solely for mailing purposes. If you do not have a tax residence in any country, your permanent residence is where you normally reside. If you reside in a country that does not use street addresses, you may enter a descriptive address on line 3. The address must accurately indicate your permanent residence in the manner used in your jurisdiction.

Note: If a US address is entered, a written explanation/reason for the US address will be required.

Mailing address (if different from above)

Enter your mailing address only if it is different from the address you show on line 3.

Note: If a US address is entered, a written explanation/reason for the US address will be required.

US tax identification number (SSN or ITIN)

Enter your US taxpayer idenificaiton number if you have one. It will either be a social security number (SSN) or an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN). A valid US taxpayer identification number will always contain 9 numerical digits.

If you are claiming treaty benefits, you are generally required to provide an ITIN if you do not provide a tax identifying number issued to you by your jurisdiction of tax residence on line 6. However, an ITIN is not required to claim treaty benefits relating to: (i) dividends and interest from stocks and debt obligations that are actively traded; (ii) dividends from any redeemable security issued by an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (mutual fund); (iii) dividends, interest, or royalties from units of beneficial interest in a unit investment trust that are (or were upon issuance) publicly offered and are registered with the SEC under the Securities Act of 1933; and (iv) income related to loans of any of the above securities.

Foreign tax identification number

If you are providing this Form W-8BEN to document yourself with respect to a financial account that you hold at a U.S. office of a financial institution, provide the tax identifying number (TIN) issued to you by your jurisdiction of tax residence unless: you have not been issued a TIN, or the jurisdiction does not issue TINs. If you have not provided your jurisdiction of residence TIN on line 6, provide your date of birth in line 8. Canadian Residents must provide a SIN number.

Reference number(s) (see instructions)

This line may be used by the filer of Form W-8BEN or by the withholding agent to whom it is provided to include any referencing information that is useful to the withholding agent in carrying out its obligations. For example, withholding agents who are required to associate the Form W-8BEN with a particular Form W-8IMY may want to use line 7 for a referencing number or code that will make the association clear. A beneficial owner can use line 7 to include the number of the account for which he or she is providing the form.

Date of birth (MM-DD-YYYY) (see instructions)

Please provide your date of birth. Use the following format to input your information MM-DD-YYYY. For example, if you were born on April 15, 1956, you would enter 04-15-1956.

W-8BEN Line 9

If you are claiming treaty benefits as a resident of a foreign country with which the United States has an income tax treaty for payments subject to withholding, identify the country where you claim to be a resident for income tax treaty purposes. For treaty purposes, a person is a resident of a treaty country if the person is a resident of that country under the terms of the treaty. A list of U.S. tax treaties is available at http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Tax-Treaties.

W-8BEN Line 10

This line must be used only if you are claiming treaty benefits that require that you meet conditions not covered by the representations you make on line 9 and Part III. For example, persons claiming treaty benefits on royalties must complete this line if the treaty contains different withholding rates for different types of royalties. This line is generally not applicable to treaty benefits under an interest or dividends (other than dividends subject to a preferential rate based on ownership) article of a treaty.

Certification

Income from transactions with a broker or a barter exchange is subject to reporting rules and backup withholding unless Form W-8BEN or a substitute form is filed to notify the broker or barter exchange that you are an exempt foreign person. You are an exempt foreign person for a calendar year in which: you are a nonresident alien individual or a foreign corporation, partnership, estate, or trust; you are an individual who has not been, and does not plan to be, present in the United States for a total of 183 days or more during the calendar year; and you are neither engaged, nor plan to be engaged during the year, in a U.S. trade or business that has effectively connected gains from transactions with a broker or barter exchange.

Signature

Form W-8BEN must be signed and dated by the beneficial owner of the amount subject to withholding. If Form W-8BEN is completed by an agent acting under a duly authorized power of attorney for the beneficial owner or account holder, you must provide Interactive Brokers with the power of attorney in proper form or a copy thereof specifically authorizing the agent to represent the principal in making, executing, and presenting the form. Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative, can be used for this purpose. The agent, as well as the beneficial owner or account holder, may incur liability for the penalties provided for an erroneous, false, or fraudulent form. If any information on Form W-8BEN becomes incorrect, you must submit a new form within 30 days unless you are no longer an account holder of Interactive Brokers and you will not receive a future payment with respect to the account.

W-8BEN-E Hybrid Box 4

A hybrid entity is an entity that is treated as fiscally transparent (rather than as a beneficial owner) for purposes of declaring status under the US Internal Revenue Code but is not treated as fiscally transparent by a country with which the United States has an income tax treaty. Hybrid entity status is relevant for claiming treaty benefits.

Limited Option Trading

If you checked the box, you will only be able to trade the following option strategies:

Long Call or Put
Covered Calls
Short Naked Put: Only if covered by cash
Call Spread: Only European style cash settled
Put Spread: Only European style cash settled
Long Butterfly: Only European style cash settled
Iron Condor: Only European style cash settled
Long Call and Put

Tax Identification

If your country does not issue a tax identification number but uses a functional equivalent to file taxes (i.e. national id number or social insurance number), you may update your tax information with that number.

Tax Collection Information

Tax regulations require us to collect information about your tax residency and we may be obligated to share that information with the . Each country has its own rules about what defines tax residency (for example citizenship or the amount of time you spend in a country before you are viewed as a tax resident can vary). We do not provide tax advice and you are encouraged to consult your tax advisor with residency questions.

The US Internal Revenue Service considers the following individuals to be US citizens and US resident aliens:

a person who is a US citizen (regardless of where you live or whether you are a dual citizen or a tax resident of another country), or
a person that possess a US permanent resident card (US Citizenship and Immigration Services Form I-551) – commonly known as a green card, or
a person who meets the "substantial presence test" of US Treas. Reg. § 301.7701(b)-1(c) - generally being physically present in the United States for 31 days during the current year and 183 days over a three year including the current year and the two prior years. For purposes of counting days, days present in the United States in the current year are counted one for one (1:1), days present in the United States in previous year are counted one for three (1:3) and days from two prior years are counted one to six (1:6).

Line 1

This is your name. The beneficial owner is generally the person who is taxable (or would be taxable) on the payment or otherwise is beneficially entitled to the income or assets in the account. A person is not a beneficial owner to the extent that person is receiving the payment as a nominee, agent, custodian, or as a conduit. For example in the case of a parent/child relationship where the parent is acting as a legal guardian, the child is regarded as the beneficial owner. With respect to a jointly held account, each joint holder is treated as a beneficial owner.

Line 2

Line 2 is prepopulated based on information you provided on the account application. If you are a dual citizen, you should enter on the application the country where you are both a citizen and a resident at the time you complete this form. If you are not a resident in any country in which you have citizenship, enter the country where you were most recently a resident. United States is not an acceptable entry on this form. If you indicated United States citizenship, you will be presented with a Form W-9/IRS Certification as part of this application. Please contact customer service immediately if you were not.

You may change any pre-populated information by using the back button and changing the information on the account application.

Line 3

Line 3 is prepopulated based on information you provided on the account application. Your permanent residence address is the address in the country where you claim to be a resident for purposes of that country's income tax. If you are completing this form to claim the benefits of a US income tax treaty, you must determine your residency in the manner required by the treaty. Do not show the address of a financial institution, a post office box, or an address used solely for mailing purposes. If you do not have a tax residence in any country, your permanent residence is where you normally reside.

You may change any pre-populated information by using the back button and changing the information on the account application.

Line 4

Line 4 is prepopulated based on information you provided on the account application. It will only be shown if you entered a mailing address different from your permanent residence address.

You may change any pre-populated information by using the back button and changing the information on the account application.

US tax identification number (SSN or ITIN)

You must provide your US social security number (SSN) or individual taxpayer identification number (TIN) if you have one. To claim certain treaty benefits, you are required to provide a SSN, ITIN or a non-US tax identification number.

Please refer to the instruction to IRS Form W-8BEN for additional information which may be found on the US Internal Revenue Service - www.irs.gov

US Income Tax Treaty

If you are claiming treaty benefits as a resident of a country with which the United States has an income tax treaty for payments identify the country where you claim to be a resident for income tax treaty purposes.
For treaty purposes, a person is a resident of a treaty country if the person is a resident of that country under the terms of the treaty. A list of US tax treaties may be found at http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Tax-Treaties

US Internal Revenue Service Certification

The certifications contained in {0} of this form apply to the information contained in lines {1}. The certifications must be signed and dated by the beneficial owner of the amount subject to witholding (or an agent with legal authority to act on the person's behalf). If the certification is completed by an agent acting under a duly authorized power of attorney for the beneficial owner, you must provide us with the power of attorney specifically authorizing the agent to represent the principal in making, executing and presenting this form. Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative, can be used for this purpose. The agent, as well as the beneficial owner, may incur liability for the penalties provided for an erroneus, false, or fraudulent form. If any information on the form becomes incorrect, you must submit a new form within 30 days.

Income from transactions with a broker or a barter exchange is subject to reporting rules and backup witholding unless you confirm you are an exempt foreign person.

You are an exempt foreign person for a calendar year in which:

You are a nonresident alien individual;
You are an individual who has not been, and does not plan to be present in the United States for a total of 183 days or more during the calendar year; and
You are neither engaged, nor plan to be engaged during the year, in a U.S. trade or business that has effectively connected gains from transactions with a broker or barter exchange.

Where to go for further information

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has developed rules to be used by all governments participating in the CRS (this does not include the United States) and these can be found at www.oecd.org/tax/automatic-exchange

Information about IRS form W-8BEN-E (non-US beneficial owners that are entities) and W-8IMY (non-US intermediaries and flow through entities) and its instructions may be found at www.irs.gov

Please speak with your tax adviser or local tax authority if you have questions about your tax residency or tax status.

Chapter 3

Chapter 3 means Chapter 3 of the US Internal Revenue Code (sections 1441-1464). These are the rules for determining the witholding tax imposed on entities that earn certain types of US source income. You may also find additional information regarding the classification of an entity for US tax purposes at Treasury Regulation Section 301.7701 or from your tax advisor.

US FATCA Classification

Additional information about your US FATCA / Chapter 4 status can be found in the instructions to IRS Form W-8BEN-E or W-8IMY or from your tax advisor.

You should select 'Active Non-Financial Non-US Entity' -> 'Other Active Non-Financial Foregin Entity' if you are a non-US

1. active non-financial entity;
2. government or international agency or organization;
3. nonfinancial group entity;
4. excepted nonfinancial start-up company;
5. excepted nonfinancial entity in liquidation or bankruptcy;
6. excepted territory nonfinancial entity; or
7. registered nonprofit organization;

and

1. are not a passive nonfinancial entity - generally a company that generates less than 50% of its income from passive income and less than 50% of its assets produce or are held to produce passive income.

OECD Common Reporting Status

Additional information about your classification under the OECD Common Reporting Standard can be found at the OECD 'Common Reporting Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information', the associated commentary and domestic guidance. This can be found at www.oecd.org/tax/automatic-exchange. If you have any questions, please contact your tax adviser or domestic tax authority.

A 'nonfinancial entity' is an OTHER ACTIVE NONFINANCIAL ENTITY if it meets any of the following criteria"

1. the income and assets test;
2. government or international agency or organization;
3. holding entity that is a member of a nonfinancial group;
4. start-up company;
5. entity in liquidation or bankruptcy;
6. treasury centers that are members of a nonfinancial group; or
7. registered nonprofit organization;

A nonfinancial entity will meet the income and assets if less than 50% of the entity's gross income for the appropriate reporting period is passive income and less than 50% of the assets held by the entity during the appropriate reporting period are assets that produce or are held for the production of passive income.

The classification rules under the OECD CRS rules may differ from the US FATCA rules.

You should select 'publicly traded corporation or affiliate' if the stock is regularly traded on an established securities market or is related to such a corporation.

Controlling Persons

Controlling Persons for Passive NFFE or Investment Entity Located in a nonparticipating jurisdiction under the OECD CRS Rules

A 'controlling person' is a natural person who exercises control over the entity. This definition corresponds to the term 'beneficial owner' descrbed in Recommendation 10 and the Interpretative Note of Recommendation 10 of the Financial Action Task Force Recommendations (as adopted in February 2012).

In the case of a trust, the Controlling Person(s) are the settlor, trustee, protector (if any), the beneficiaries, or any other natural person exercising ultimate effective control over the trust. The settlor, trustee, protector (if any) and beneficiaries are always controlling persons regardless of whether any of them exercise control over the trust. In the case of an entity, please indentify the controlling persons of the entity. In the case of a legal arrangement other than a trust, controlling person means persons is equivalent positions.

1. the income and assets test;
2. government or international agency or organization;
3. holding entity that is a member of a nonfinancial group;
4. start-up company;
5. entity in liquidation or bankruptcy;
6. treasury centers that are members of a nonfinancial group; or
7. registered nonprofit organization;

The classification rules under the OECD CRS rules may differ from the US FATCA rules.

You should select 'publicly traded corporation or affiliate' if the stock is regularly traded on an established securities market or is related to such a corporation.

Username Rules

Password Rules

Residential Region/Principal Place of Business Operations Region

Country of Legal Residence/Formation

Non-Resident Indians (NRI)

Individual Customer Types

Joint Customer Types

IRA Customer Types

Custodial Types

Customer Types

Display Language and Input Language

Individual Customer Types

Organization Customer Types

Base Currency

How Does Base Currency Affect My Account?

General Information

Registered Person

Affiliated Organization

General Information

Account Types

Net Worth and Liquid Net Worth

Investment Objectives

Investment Experience

Changing Information

About Deposits

Administrator Marketplace Questionnaire

About Trading Permissions

How to Use This Page

Non-Professional Subscriber

Professional Subscriber

Non-Professional subscribers can get either delayed or real-time market data

How to Use This Page

Delayed Market Data

Quote Boosters

Pricing Structures for Stocks, ETFs and Warrants

Pricing Structures for Futures and Futures Options

Changing Information

About the Secure Login System

Joint Customer Types

About Trustees

How to Use This Page

About Beneficiaries

How to Use This Page

About Settlors/Grantors

How to Use This Page

IRA Customer Types

Spousal or Common law partner RSP

Custodial Types

Age of Termination

CFDs and Metals

About IRA Beneficiaries

How to Use This Page

Entity Beneficiary Types

Customer Types

Description of the Business

Principal Place Of Business

Revocable trust or otherwise considered a grantor trust

Testamentary Trust

Regulated Retirement Trust

Irrevocable trust

Revocable trust

Testamentary trust

Irrevocable living or inter vivos trust

Regulated retirement plan trust

Simple Trust

Complex Trust

Grantor Trust

About Authorized Persons

About Registered Owners

How to Add Registered Owners

Security Officers

How to Assign Access Rights to a Security Officer

Authorizer Type

Settlement Instructions

How to Add a Settlement Instruction

Customer Types

General Information

Securities Qualification

Commodity (Futures) Qualification

Forex Qualification