Trading Permissions
Trading permissions are required in order to provide customers with all the proper regulatory disclosures and provide customers with the ability to trade. They may be elected at the time of application or upgraded at anytime through Account Management. Upgraded permissions are subject to regulatory review, and any upgrade request received by 11:00 ET on a business day will be reviewed by the next business day under normal circumstances.
Trading permissions are broken down by asset class and country and differ for margin and cash accounts. The following table depicts available trading permissions as well as cash and margin account capabilities.
Note:
- Subscribing to a trading permission is independent of subscribing to market data.
- Margin accounts have the ability to trade in all available countries. Cash accounts may only trade in those countries offering products denominated in the base currency of the cash account.
- Because of SEC restrictions, US legal resident customers are not allowed to trade non-US stock and cash index options.
- IRA accounts can have cash or margin trading permissions, but are never allowed to borrow cash (have a debit balance) as US IRS regulation.
| Margin | Cash | Available Countries | |
| Stocks | Borrowing to support equities trading, shorting of equities, currency conversions, and stock trading in multiple currencies. Margin requirements are computed on a real-time basis, with immediate position liquidation if the minimum maintenance margin requirement is not met. Purchase and sale proceeds are immediately recognized. US securities regulations require at least 25,000 USD in equity to day trade. US IRA accounts are never allowed to borrow cash (have a debit balance). | Must have enough cash in the account to cover the cost of the stock plus commissions. No shorting of stock and trading is only allowed for products denominated in the base currency of the account. Cash from the sale of stocks becomes available 3 business days after the trade date. When authorizing market, relative and VWAP orders, a 5% cash cushion is required to compensate for market movements. |
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| Bonds | Borrowing to support bond trading, and shorting of bonds. Margin requirements are computed on a real-time basis, with immediate position liquidation if the minimum maintenance margin is not met. Purchase and sale proceeds are immediately recognized. | Must have enough cash in the account to cover the cost of the bonds plus commissions. No shorting of bonds is allowed. Cash from the sale of bonds becomes available 3 business days after the trade date. |
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| Stock & Cash Index Options | Buying and selling options on margin, which is determined on a real-time basis with immediate position liquidation if the minimum maintenance margin requirement is not met. For buying options, you must deposit the entire premium plus commissions. For selling options, and other strategy-based combinations, the margin requirements and commissions must be covered. Option market value may never be used for the purpose of borrowing funds. You must have stocks margin trading permissions in order to have options margin trading permissions. US Securities regulations require at least 25,000 USD in equity to day trade. Cash from the purchase and sale of options is immediately recognized. US IRA accounts are never allowed to borrow cash (have a debit balance). | Full payment must be made for all call and put purchases. Covered call writing is allowed, but the underlying stock must be available and is then restricted. Naked put writing is also allowed, but the funds must be available and then are restricted. You must have stock cash trading permissions in order to have options cash trading permissions. Cash from the sale of options becomes available 1 business day after the trade date. |
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| Futures | Purchase and sale of broad based equity index, fixed income and commodity futures contracts on margin. Margin is determined on a real-time basis with immediate position liquidation if the minimum margin requirement is not met. Only cash may be used to meet variation margin requirements. Special 50 % of variation margin benefits are made available during the day on some futures exchanges. | Same as margin. |
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| Futures Options | Purchase and sale of broad based equity index, fixed income and commodity futures contracts on margin. Margin is determined on a real-time basis with immediate position liquidation if the minimum margin requirement is not met. Only cash may be used to meet variation margin requirements. Special 50 % of variation margin benefits are made available during the day on some futures exchanges. Non-US futures options are available to US legal resident customers. You must have futures trading permissions in order to have options on futures trading permissions. | Same as margin. |
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| Single Stock Futures | Purchase and sale of stocks, exchange traded funds and narrow based index futures contracts on margin. Margin is determined on a real-time basis with immediate position liquidation if the minimum margin requirement is not met. In the US, SSFs may be cross margined with stocks and options (IRA accounts can only cross margin SSFs, not stocks and options). |
Same as margin.
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| Forex | Purchase and sale of currencies. Borrowing in one currency to purchase another currency is allowed, but margin haircuts will be applied on a real-time basis. Margin accounts automatically get Forex trading permissions in order to effect trading of products denominated in multiple currencies. US IRA accounts are never allowed to borrow currencies. | Forex trading permissions are not allowed in a cash account. |
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| Warrants | Same as Stocks | Same as margin. |
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