Important note
Customers residing in the USA, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Israel are not permitted to trade CFDs issued by IB UK. Australian resident clients can trade CFDs issued by Interactive Brokers Australia PTY LTD. Clients located in Japan can trade CFDs issued by IB Securities Japan (IBSJ). Singapore resident clients can trade all CFDs except those based on underlying assets traded in Singapore.
MARGIN REQUIREMENTS FOR SHARES CFDS
The section below explains the margin requirements for equity CFDs at CapTrader, but these may be subject to change depending on the regulations of regional regulators.
Margin requirements for equity CFDs: retail clients
| Stock CFDs | Initial margin | Minimum margin |
|---|---|---|
| Standard IBKR margin requirement | 1.25 x minimum deposit | Risk-based calculation as described below (minimum 10%) |
| ESMA minimum (more info) | 20% | 50% of the initial margin |
| Applied margin requirement | Max. (IBKR Initial Committee, ESMA Initial Committee) | Max. (IBKR minimum margin, ESMA minimum margin) |
Margin Requirements for Stock CFDs: Professional Clients
| Initial margin | Minimum margin | |
|---|---|---|
| Professional clients | 1.25 * Minimum margin | Risk-based calculation as described below (minimum 10%) |
Are you a private customer ("Retail Client") and would like to be converted to a professional customer? Then please log in to the account management (Client Portal) and follow the path > Settings > Account settings > MiFID client category (Gear).
Initial and Minimum Margin Requirements for Equity CFDs
A risk-based margin requirement is determined individually for each CFD based on the observed historical volatility of the underlying stock. More specifically, five historical standard deviations based on 30 days of historical price data are calculated to determine the standard minimum margin, subject to a minimum margin of 10% (excluding correlation-based offsets). The resulting margin requirements are applied position by position (per position). In most cases, a minimum margin requirement of 20% is applied.
In certain cases, IB may, at its sole discretion, apply special margin rates to individual CFDs that are higher than the rates determined using the standard methodology.
The following in-house margin requirements may apply in addition to the standard margin requirements:
- Charges for large positions: If you hold a position that exceeds 0.5% of the market capitalization of the stock, a large position fee will be charged. The margin requirement increases linearly to 100% when the share of market capitalization increases from 0.5% to 2%.
- Costs for short positions for low-priced stocks: An additional fee is charged for short positions in CFDs on stocks with a market capitalization of less than USD 500 million. The margin requirement increases linearly from 30% to 100% when the market capitalization decreases from USD 500 million to USD 250 million. For market capitalization between USD 250 million and USD 100 million, the margin requirement is 100%, subject to a minimum fee of USD 2.50.
Concentration minimum
In cases where a portfolio consists of a small number of CFD positions or if the two largest positions have a dominant weight, a concentration fee will be applied instead of the standard minimum margin requirement described above.
IB performs a stress test on the portfolio by inducing a drawdown equal to 30% on the two largest positions and 5% on the remaining positions. The total loss is used as the minimum margin requirement if it is greater than the standard requirement.
The initial deposit is composed of the minimum deposit + 10%.
Margin: Examples for stock CFDs
MARGIN REQUIREMENTS FOR INDEX-CFDS
The section below explains the margin requirements for index CFDs on CapTrader, but these may be subject to change depending on the regulations of regional regulators.
Margin requirements for index CFDs: Retail clients
| Index CFDs | Initial margin | Minimum margin |
|---|---|---|
| Standard IBKR margin requirement | 1.25 x minimum deposit | As for the related future (minimum 5% or 5 standard deviations). An intraday reduction of 50% is applied (details below). |
| ESMA minimum (more info) | 5% for major indices* 10% for other indices | 50% of the initial margin |
| Applied margin requirement | Max. (IBKR Initial Committee, ESMA Initial Committee) | Max. (IBKR minimum margin, ESMA minimum margin) |
Note
* Significant indices are: IBUS500, IBUS30, IBUST100, IBGB100, IBEU50, IBDE30, IBFR40, IBJP225 and IBAU200.
How do I find the minimum deposit in the TWS?
You can see the margin requirements in the order preview (before you release the order with "Overwrite and submit").
The example image shows the requirements for an IBDE30 CFD.
Margin requirements for index CFDs: Professional clients
Are you a private customer ("Retail Client") and would like to be converted to a professional customer? Then please log in to the account management (Client Portal) and follow the path > Settings > Account settings > MiFID client category (Gear).
Intraday and overnight minimum margin requirements
The following minimum margin requirements apply to index CFDs:
- The overnight minimum deposit for the connected future, adjusted according to size.
- Subject to a total minimum of 5% or 5 historical standard deviations - the higher value applies.
- The resulting requirement is reduced by 50% during the liquid trading hours of the linked future. The full application of the margin requirement begins 15 minutes before the end of liquid trading hours.
Margin: Examples of index CFDs
MARGIN REQUIREMENTS FOR FOREX CFDS
Margin requirements for Forex CFDs are determined for each currency pair per contract, without taking into account other Forex balances held in the account, including Spot FX. The section below explains the margin requirements for Forex CFDs at CapTrader, but these may be subject to change depending on the regulations of regional regulators.
Margin requirements for Forex CFDs: retail clients
| Forex CFDs | Initial margin | Minimum margin |
|---|---|---|
| Standard IBKR margin requirement | 1.25 x minimum deposit | As shown in the table below |
| ESMA minimum (more info) | 3,33% for major currency pairs* 5% for other currency pairs | 50% of the initial margin |
| Applied margin requirement | Max. (IBKR Initial Committee, ESMA Initial Committee) | Max. (IBKR minimum margin, ESMA initial margin) |
Note
* Significant currency pairs are all combinations consisting of the following currencies: USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, CAD and CHF. Other combinations are for example: AUD.USD, SGD.CNH.
Margin requirements for Forex CFDs: Professional clients
Are you a private customer ("Retail Client") and would like to be converted to a professional customer? Then please log in to the account management (Client Portal) and follow the path > Settings > Account settings > MiFID client category (Gear).
Overview: Margin for Forex CFDs
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