Stay away from IB!!!

abe12345 · Nov 16, 2008

Quote from Kicking:

Give the guy a break . You don't know his situation and are fretting over possible trouble at IB. He's just another customer pissed off at IB's arrogance and lack of respect for their customer's time.
Barring fraud in that customer's account I am sure IB has a reason for doing this ( a good one or an idiotic one) but as all too often just failed to communicate appropriately .

Agreed. Lack of proper communication with their customers and lack of respect for customers' time is a major problem with IB. Interactive Brokers is not very interactive at all.

Option Trader · Nov 16, 2008

Nobody spends all this time knocking other brokers they don't like, only IB. This implies you still use them for some other reasons.

stevegee58 · Nov 16, 2008

A fellow at Oanda had his account frozen about a month ago. He bitched, whined and complained that he had no warning and hadn't done anything wrong. Turned out he'd been up to some shenanigans transferring funds between subaccounts of different currencies using stale quotes. Apparently all his huge profits were due to this and not any actual trading.

He was busted plain and simple and had to give it all back. He was lucky the feds apparently didn't get involved.

Oanda forum thread: "urgent! account locked without a reason"

TraderZones · Nov 16, 2008

Quote from daniel5198:

I wouldn't take this lightly if i were you. I don't need this BS. My lawyer says he has the case to screw them. I have enough problems with them as it is, and I am not going to bother to reply to each and every one of your cynical remarks. I warned you as an act of decency. Do with this whatever the f**k you wish. Just don't say you have never been warned.

you and your lawyer live in Neverland

kiwi_trader · Nov 16, 2008

Personally I think this post says it all. Although I would add that Danny boy is probably responsible for all of his problems --- thank you IB for dealing appropriately with the twats.

Quote from IBj:

IB has zero liquidity issues, not even close.
Our risk management systems are real time and uncompromising. If your account is deficient, we liquidate immediately. Period. It is a core part of our philosophy that we will not endanger one client by allowing others to take excessive risk.

We don't invest or participate in the market segments that have proved so costly to many investors and financial market participants. We own exactly zero CDO, CMO, CDS, or any other flavor of mortgage derivative; zero debt swaps, etc. We use short term FX rolls for treasury purposes and that is the only OTC transaction in our portfolio.

Our business is solid, and steadily growing. We are not doing anything that will compromise our reputation as a safe and conservative broker one iota. Nor will we.

The message you got from the compliance department is certainly related to the details of your specific account or activities therein. When a regulator makes an inquiry to certain activities, it is normal to restrict further activity in the account pending the results of the investigation. It is also common that the regulators prohibit us from discussing the nature of their investigation. I am not saying that is what happened in this case; I am merely providing a use case for situations where accounts can be frozen.

If you feel a FINRA involvement is appropriate, I strongly encourage you to pursue the issue with them.

mrstocker · Nov 16, 2008

Quote from IBj:

The message you got from the compliance department is certainly related to the details of your specific account or activities therein. When a regulator makes an inquiry to certain activities, it is normal to restrict further activity in the account pending the results of the investigation. It is also common that the regulators prohibit us from discussing the nature of their investigation. I am not saying that is what happened in this case; I am merely providing a use case for situations where accounts can be frozen.

For some trading is their livelihood so I think it's important to ask:

Is it IB's policy to freeze the account or federal regulations?
I'm curious how long can your money be frozen w/o any charges being filled?

spindr0 · Nov 16, 2008

You didn't sign up for the IB Reimbursment Program???!!!
With this program (quoted from the IB site): "Interactive Brokers Group will reimburse trading losses for traders we like. These traders must not be a pain in the ass and complain on ET about crap that is not IB's fault..."

I'm sorry, but you are not eligible for the IB Reimbursement Program if you have signed up for the Bush Bailout Stipend.

tman · Nov 16, 2008

I closed a 6 figure account w/IB a few weeks ago. I had a check within 10 calendar days of my request. No problems at all and will do business with them again in the future.

kiwi_trader · Nov 16, 2008

Quote from IBj:

IB has zero liquidity issues, not even close.
Our risk management systems are real time and uncompromising. If your account is deficient, we liquidate immediately. Period. It is a core part of our philosophy that we will not endanger one client by allowing others to take excessive risk.

We don't invest or participate in the market segments that have proved so costly to many investors and financial market participants. We own exactly zero CDO, CMO, CDS, or any other flavor of mortgage derivative; zero debt swaps, etc. We use short term FX rolls for treasury purposes and that is the only OTC transaction in our portfolio.

Our business is solid, and steadily growing. We are not doing anything that will compromise our reputation as a safe and conservative broker one iota. Nor will we.

The message you got from the compliance department is certainly related to the details of your specific account or activities therein. When a regulator makes an inquiry to certain activities, it is normal to restrict further activity in the account pending the results of the investigation. It is also common that the regulators prohibit us from discussing the nature of their investigation. I am not saying that is what happened in this case; I am merely providing a use case for situations where accounts can be frozen.

If you feel a FINRA involvement is appropriate, I strongly encourage you to pursue the issue with them.

Quote from mrstocker:

For some trading is their livelihood so I think it's important to ask:

Is it IB's policy to freeze the account or federal regulations?
I'm curious how long can your money be frozen w/o any charges being filled?

Its the USA. For ever and you'll be lucky not to end up in a nasty little holiday camp in Cuba.

Seriously though. From time to time someone has made a "frozen account" complaint on ET. They all seem to end up smelling like old fish.

We should be thankful that IB is cautious with our money. For those who want to whinge about high margins at present - go somewhere else, I don't want you endangering my money. IB's caution increases our chance of trading tomorrow --- just don't fuck around with your account in a way that will arouse suspicions!

wareco · Nov 16, 2008

Quote from IBj:

IB has zero liquidity issues, not even close.
Our risk management systems are real time and uncompromising. If your account is deficient, we liquidate immediately. Period. It is a core part of our philosophy that we will not endanger one client by allowing others to take excessive risk....

Well, if your risk management is so great then why require $6188 per ES contract for day trading? Do you really think a customer is going to lose more than 120 ES points per contract in a day? Especially considering as you say, if a client is deficient you liquidate immediately.