Required Minimums
Balance
The following minimums are required to open an account 1:
Category Required Deposit
Individual Accounts (unless listed below) USD
10,000
(or non-USD equivalent) Trading Group Masters USD10,000
(or non-USD equivalent)Broker Masters USD
10,000
(or non-USD equivalent)Indian residents 2 trading with an IB India account INR deposits only, equivalent to USD
2,000
Indian residents 2 trading with an IBLLC-US account USD5,000
(or non-USD equivalent)IRAs 3 USD
5,000
(or non-USD equivalent)Individuals age 25 or younger USD
3,000
(or non-USD equivalent) Advisor and Broker Clients USD5,000
(or non-USD equivalent)Notes:
◦ To Trade a margin account you must maintain at least USD 2,000 or non-USD equivalent. For details on margin requirements, see the Margin page.
◦ Pattern Day Traders have higher minimum requirements, which are defined in the Day Trading section of margin requirements.
1. Accounts that show no balance will be closed. To reactivate an account that has been closed for having no balance, a new account deposit of USD 10,000 or non-USD equivalent is required.
2. Indian resident is an individual who resides in India for more than 182 days per year.
3. Because of contribution limits, IRA accounts will only be required to deposit USD 5,000 in order to open a new account. In addition, US Regulators require USD 25,000 (or non-USD equivalent) to Day Trade stocks and options.
As IB caters to active professional traders and investors, we require that each account generate a minimum of commissions per month. Accounts generating commissions less than the minimum as stated below in any given month will be assessed the difference as a monthly activity fee (Activity Fee = Minimum Required Monthly Commission – Actual Monthly Commission). Please note that the monthly activity fee is based on commissions only, and does not include fees related to third-party assessments such as market data subscriptions or order modification/cancellation fees.
In addition to monthly fee minimums, we pass through market data fees from the exchanges for any real-time market data service in which a customer subscribes. Customers choosing to subscribe to US non-professional real-time market data will have the USD 10 (or non-USD equivalent) monthly market data subscription fee waived if they spend USD 30 (or USD equivalent) or more in commission for the month.
Account Structure Monthly Activity Fee 1 Waiver
Single Accounts, Individuals and Small Businesses
unless any of the below criteria exist:
Monthly Activity Fee = 0 if
monthly commissions are equal to at least USD 10.
If monthly commissions are less than USD 10,
Standard Activity Fee= USD 10 – commissions.
Example:
Monthly commissions = USD 6
Standard Activity Fee = USD 10 – USD 6 Standard Activity Fee = USD 4
The first three full calendar months
or
Accounts whose Net Liquidation Value >= USD 100,000 (or non-USD equivalent)
Average Equity Balance is less than USD 2,000 2 or
Monthly Activity Fee = 0 if
monthly commissions are equal to at least USD 20. If monthly commissions are less than USD 20, Activity Fee = USD 20 – commissions.
Example:
Monthly commissions = USD 11 Activity Fee = USD 20 – USD 11 Activity Fee = USD 9
Not applicable.
A balance is maintained in a closed account
Customer is age 25 or under
Monthly Activity Fee = 0 if
monthly commissions are equal to at least USD 3. If monthly commissions are less than USD 3, Activity Fee = USD 3 – commissions.
Example:
Monthly commissions = USD 1.25
Activity Fee = USD 3 – USD 1.25 Activity Fee = USD
The first three full calendar months
or
Accounts whose Net Liquidation Value >= USD 100,000 (or non-USD equivalent)
Multi-client Accounts including Advisors, Separate Trading Limit, Linked Accounts, Friends and Family, Family Office
Exception: Hedge Fund Advisor Master 2
Monthly Activity Fee = 0 if
consolidated monthly commissions are at least equal to (number of accounts 3 x 10).
Example: Advisor has 12 sub accounts, number of Accounts = 13
Monthly consolidated commissions minimum requirement is 13 x 10 = USD 130
If the monthly consolidated commissions are less than the required minimum, an activity fee is charged on an account-by-account basis using the Standard Activity Fee calculation described above. 4, 5
If after performing the consolidated calculation, it is determined that fee must be charged on an account-by-account basis, then the following waivers will be applied to each account: The first three full calendar months
or
Accounts whose Net Liquidation Value >= USD 100,000 (or non-USD equivalent)
Brokers Monthly Activity Fee = 0 if
consolidated monthly commissions are equal to at least USD 2,000.*
If monthly commissions are less than USD 2,000, Activity Fee = USD 2,000 – commissions.
*We require an initial deposit of 10,000 USD to be applied against your first five months’ minimum commissions. At the end of the five month period, your total commissions are subtracted from the 10,000 deposit to reach the required commissions minimum.
Example: Your total commissions over the first five months = USD 6,400. Minimum commissions required for months 1 – 5 are:
10,000 – 6,400 = USD 3,600
N/A
1. The non-USD equivalent for all USD values is also acceptable.
2. This special low balance fee applies to the Hedge Fund Advisor Master account, and to all other accounts except the Advisor Master, which will be charged the Standard Activity Fee.
3. Advisor and Separate Trading Limit accounts are included in the consolidated calculation. Broker Master accounts are not included in the consolidated calculation.
4. Example 1: Advisor Account
Master account commissions = USD 0 sub account A commissions = USD 500 sub account B commissions = USD 0 sub account C commissions = USD 0
Consolidated monthly commissions = USD 500
Required Minimum Commissions = Number of accounts x 10, or 4 x 10 = USD 40 USD 500 is greater than USD 40 so no activity fee is charged.
Example 2: Broker Master Account
Master account commissions = USD 0 sub account A commissions = USD 10 sub account B commissions = USD 5 sub account C commissions = USD 5
Consolidated monthly commissions = USD 20
Required Minimum Commissions = Number of accounts x 10, or 3 x 10 = USD 30
USD 20 is less than USD 30. so activity fee is charged per-account using the Standard Activity Fee formula of USD 10 – commissions:
Master Account: USD 10 – 0 = USD 10 sub account A: USD 10 - USD 10 = 0 sub account B: USD 10 - USD 5 = USD 5 sub account C: USD 10 - USD 5 = USD 5 Activity Fee = USD 20
account-by-account basis using the Standard Activity Fee described above.
Special Connections
Customers requiring any of the below connections are subject to the following connection minimums:
VPN
TWS API CTCI
USD
150.00
per month minimum VPN Not Supported via API USD150.00
per month minimum + USD700.00
one-time setup feeInternet (Gateway Client for CTCI)
TWS API CTCI
USD
10.00
per month minimum (USD3.00
for age 25 and under)USD
10.00
per month minimum (USD3.00
for age 25 and under)USD
100.00
per month minimum + USD500.00
one-time setup feeExtranet (Radianz, TNS, Savvis)
TWS API CTCI
USD
500.00
per month minimum USD500.00
per month minimumUSD
1,500.00
per month minimum for first line; USD1,000.00
per month minimum for any subsequent line(s)Dedicated Leased Line (Verizon, AT&T, etc)
TWS API CTCI
USD
500.00
per month minimum USD500.00
per month minimumUSD
1,500.00
per month minimum for first line; USD1,000.00
per month minimum for any subsequent line(s)Notes:
◦ Minimum fees may also be satisfied in a non-USD equivalent.
