Business/Organization

A Proprietary Trading Group account is described as a corporation, partnership, limited liability company or unincorporated legal structure. This is a single account holder type of account which holds assets owned by the entity account holder. You may have one or more users who can be configured to have some or all trading and Portal functions. For more information review the Guide to Choosing the Right Account page and the What You Need for the Application page.

To open this type of account, follow the steps below.

  1. Navigate to www.interactivebrokers.com and select the Open Account button in the top right corner followed by Start Application.

    The open account on the IBKR website.

  2. Select the Institutions tab on the left side and input an email address, username, password, and country for this account.

    The open an institution account page.

  3. Select Create Account to navigate to the next page.

  4. Confirm your email address by selecting the blue Confirm button in the top right corner. Select the Business Accounts tab followed by Proprietary Trading Group from the account type drop-down menu.

    Select account type proprietary trading group.

  5. Click Yes or No to the pop-up message below.

  6. If you select Yes, answer Yes or No on the additional pop-up message.

  7. After selecting the account type, enter the Incorporation/Legal Formation (Country and State). Additionally, select "I am the signatory on this account and authorized to review, sign, and submit the application." or "I am starting this application on behalf of the signatory who will later perform the final review, sign and submit the application." Once these have been selected, click Start Application.

    The incorporation/legal formation panel in the application.

  8. The next page of the application is the About Your Organization section. Fill this out then press Continue.

    The about your organization panel in the application.

    Please note, to the extent required by law, we will take appropriate technical and organizational measures to keep your personal information confidential and secure, in accordance with our internal procedures covering storage, disclosure and access. To review our privacy policy, please click here.

  9. On the following page, complete the Account Owner Details section and press Continue.

    The authorized person information

  10. Complete the Tax Classification section and press Continue.

    The tax classification panel in the application.

  11. Complete the Regulatory Information section and press Continue.

    The regulatory information panel int he application.

  12. Complete the Configure Your Trading Account section and press Continue.

    The financial information of your organization.

  13. Complete Certification Regarding Beneficial Owners Of Legal Entity Customers then sign and press Continue.

    The certification regarding beneficial owners of legal entity customers.

  14. Complete the Confirm Your Tax Residence section and press Continue.

    The confirm tax residence panel in the application.

  15. Complete the Information Required for Applicants Affiliated with Publicly Traded Companies section and press Continue.

    The affiliate public symbol designation

  16. Complete the Business Association Disclosure section and press Continue.

    The nature of business declaration

  17. The Account Add-On section will populate on your screen. The Stock Yield Enhancement Program provides extra income on the fully-paid shares of stock held in your account by allowing IBKR to borrow your shares in exchange for collateral (either U.S. Treasuries or cash). IBKR then lends the shares to traders who want to sell them short and are willing to pay a fee to borrow them. To enroll, click the Enroll check-box and press Continue. If you do not want to enroll at this time, leave the check-box blank and click Continue.

  18. Complete the Review & Sign Agreements section and press Continue.

    The review & sign application panel.

  19. The following pop-up may appear on your screen. Click Continue application.

  20. The Status section is the final page. Any additional information or documents needed to complete your application will be marked "REQUIRED" or "Not Yet Received" in red letters. Select the blue buttons to Fund Your Account, Answer Questions, Verify Identity, and Upload Documents.

    The application status page

  21. Once all of these steps have been completed, a member of our team will review the application and documents. When your account has been approved and opened, you will receive an email from Interactive Brokers advising that your account has been activated and you may log in at any time to start trading.

How to Fund Your Account During the Application

Funding your account during the application process is optional. However, doing so will push your application to priority review. Funding your account may done by transferring cash from a bank account, or by transferring securities from your previous custodian. To do so, follow the steps below.

Please note, securities transfer requests are sent to your current custodian only after your IBKR account is approved and opened. Once approved, contact your current custodian to confirm they received the transfer request.

  1. On the final page of the application, click the Fund Your Account button.

  2. A list of transfer methods will populate on your screen. Click your desired option.

  3. Provide your bank details and complete the transfer request.

  4. If you are looking to transfer cash and securities from your previous custodian, select the Transfer Securities button at the bottom of the page.

  5. A list of transfer security methods will populate on your screen. Click your desired option and provide the required custodian details.