Commission Markups

Instructions

Brokers have the ability to charge their clients for services rendered based on a fee-per-trade unit for each asset class (e.g. stocks, options, etc.), exchange and currency. The trade unit is determined by the unit Interactive Brokers uses for its commissions charges and can be on a per share, per contract, or % of trade value basis. To specify the commission markups, please take the steps outlined below.

  1. Click Menu in the top left corner > Administration & Tools > Fees & Invoicing > Fees
  2. The display selector will open on the right hand side.
    • To sort the list by any column heading, click the arrow next to that heading.

    Image of the select account panel in portal.

  3. Select an account you'd like to charge a markup to.
  4. Select if you'd like to use a Client Fee Template

  5. Select the Fee Strategy from the drop-down menu

    Image of the select fee strategy panel in portal.

  6. Select the Fee Per Trade Unit check box and select the products you would like to charge a markup on.

    After selecting the product listed in the below screenshot, an additional pop-up menu may appear allowing you to select the Currency, Exchange, and Product (Ticker Symbol).

    Note: When making the selections for Currency, Exchanges, and Product, please be aware that the Products field supersedes the Exchange field, while the Exchange field supersedes the Currency field.

    Image of the fee per trade unit option in portal.

    Note: When charging a markup on FX products, the commission is based on the second currency in the FX pair. For example, if a client trades in EUR.USD, the markup is based on the USD and not the EUR.

  7. Press Continue

  8. Configure the specific trade unit fees. For more information on this, please click here.

    Image of the configure the specific trade unit fees panel in portal.

    Note: You may select your Unit to be based on Shares or Percent. If percent was selected in the Unit column, then the % of notional trade value will be used as the trade unit instead of shares. For example, a broker enters 0.15 into the Absolute Markup column for USD stocks and selects % units. This indicates the broker would like to markup 0.15% of the trade value on top of IBKR’s commissions.
    The minimum column will still be entered as a dollar amount when the Unit is based on a percent.
    The Fee # and Volume columns are per trade tier (not per month).

  9. Press Continue to review and Save.

The following general rules apply to broker client fee schedules:

  • If a broker has not created a fee schedule for an individual account, then the default client fee template will automatically apply to that account.
  • If a broker has not created any fee schedule at all, either a client fee template or fee schedules for individual accounts, then our standard commissions will be charged with no markup for the broker.
  • Broker client markups are limited to 15 times our standard commissions.
  • No fee per trade will be applied if the client calls us to close a trade.
  • The Absolute Markup column is a specific amount that will be added on top of IBKR commission.
  • Brokers can also specify fees per trade for specific products and exchanges but only in the global fees schedule.

  • For Forex fee per trade unit, the mark-up is calculated on the second currency of an FX pair. For example, if a client trades in EUR.USD, the markup is based on the USD and not the EUR.

  • The unit for certain currencies and products may only be available as a percentage unit.

  • Differing commission schedules may impact the markups. For example, if a broker has Pro Tiered configured while the client has Pro Fixed, the broker will receive a monthly aggregate volume discount reached by their client trades. Each client will still pay fixed commissions. For more information on commission schedules, please click here.

Note: Changes to the Fee Per Trade Unit on a client account do not require client approval. The changes are auto approved and take affect on the following business day.

Introducing Broker client markups are limited to 15 times IBKR's highest tiered rate + external fees. In the case of US stocks, the highest tiered rate would be 0.0035 USD per share. USD-denominated bonds are subject to a separate cap on mark-ups. US option mark-ups are limited to 10% of trade value. 25% of debit interest markups over 1% will be collected by IBKR. These limits are subject to change, and specific products may have an additional limit in place. No markups will be applied if a client calls IBKR to close a position.

 

Additional Resources

Learn About Broker Commission Markup at IBKR Campus

Visit the IBKR Broker Portal Website

Navigate to Client Fees