Wikilix
Contract reading

What InteractiveBrokers legally published, but does not want you to read

Every clause below is published by InteractiveBrokers itself, on its own website, today. The finding is not that the text exists. It is the distance between what a client is shown and what a client agreed to. Read from its own documents on .

Contracting entity: Interactive Brokers Hong Kong Limited

client moneysole discretioncustodyhidden feemarginmarketing gapwithdrawalsdeemed acceptancedispute windowjurisdiction

Interactive Brokers is among the most heavily regulated brokers we have read, and it writes its contracts in plain English. The hard edges are in the margin and custody rules. IBUK can hold your cash in a bank account needing up to 95 days of notice, and your positions can be sold with no warning and no margin call. Your shares can be lent out while you hold them, and your money sits in the United States, outside UK client money protection.

Back to InteractiveBrokers

Contract risk

Harder than average
5.5/10

Where this contract sitsHow far this contract goes, overall. Under 2 is nothing beyond the ordinary; 6 to 9 means several clauses put money you have already earned at risk; 9 and above reads as designed to make payout refusable.

0510
CriticalClauses that can cost you money you have already earned or deposited, or that remove your ability to challenge it.
2
FlaggedEvery clause worth knowing about, at all three severities. Ordinary terms that every broker has are not counted.
18
DocumentsHow many of the broker's own legal files this reading is based on. Each one was downloaded and hashed on the date shown.
35
ContradictionsPlaces where a promise the broker makes in public is not kept by the clause that governs it.
3

How the 18 break downThe same flagged clauses, split by how much each one can cost you. Severity is our reading of the clause, not the broker's label.

Critical2
Warning13
Notice3

section 41 of 64is where the deepest clause sits, 64% of the way into the document it is in

The numbers in this contractFigures taken from this broker's own clauses, so the labels differ from broker to broker. The four in the panel above are the same on every report.

1 of these 4 figures comes from a clause we rate critical, which means it can take your money or your profit rather than only delay it.

Critical95 daysWithdrawal limit. Jump to the clause this comes from.Your cash can sit behind 95 days of notice$500000In the contract. Jump to the clause this comes from.An FCA firm arranges, a US firm holds your money1 working daysTime to complain. Jump to the clause this comes from.One business day to say a confirmation is wrong30 daysAccount limit. Jump to the clause this comes from.The contract can change, and staying is your consent

What the documents say

18 clauses worth knowing about, worst first, each quoted from InteractiveBrokers's own files

01

IBUK can keep your cash in a bank account that needs up to 95 days of notice before the bank will release it. The Terms say your money may not be available immediately.

Why this matters

If many clients ask for their money at the same time, yours can be the request that waits. IBUK says it watches its cash flow so you are paid on time, but the notice period is what sits behind your balance.

Exhibit 1CriticalHarder than usual95 days

Your money may be held in a client bank account with up to 95 days' notice for withdrawals. This means it may not be available immediately, especially during periods of high withdrawals. However, we monitor cash flow regularly to ensure that you have timely access to your client money.
Clause C1.1.2 in IBUK General Terms of Business
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Where it sits: section 29 of 64 in the IBUK General Terms of Business, 45% of the way through.

Set against a regulated standard: FCA (UK)

Firms the FCA licenses must hold retail client money so that it can be returned promptly, and must tell you where it is held. IBUK discloses the arrangement it uses: the bank account holding your cash can require up to 95 days of notice before the money comes out.

InteractiveBrokers is not licensed by this regulator, so this is a comparison of practice, not a finding of any breach.

02

IBUK and IBLLC can sell the positions in your account with no advance notice. You do not choose what goes, or in what order. IBLLC adds that it generally will not send you a margin call first.

Why this matters

A fall in your account value can be met by a sale you only learn about afterwards, at whatever price the market gives that moment. You get no chance to add cash first, and no say in which holding is sold.

Exhibit 2CriticalHarder than usual

Your assets (including open positions) can be liquidated, in any manner and through any dealer, without advance notice to you. However, you will be notified if liquidation of your assets does happen.
Clause D2.2 in IBUK General Terms of Business
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Where it sits: section 36 of 64 in the IBUK General Terms of Business, 56% of the way through.

  • Worse together with Exhibit 7The sale can happen without warning, and if it leaves the account below zero the shortfall becomes a debt you are chased for.
03

IBLLC can take a daily Exposure Fee from your account even when you meet every margin requirement. The amount comes out of its own stress tests, so you cannot work out in advance what holding a position will cost you.

Why this matters

The fee is taken from your cash, and if that leaves you short of margin your positions can be sold to cover it. IBKR says only a small number of accounts with unusually risky positions ever pay it.

Exhibit 3WarningRarely seen

We may charge a daily "Exposure Fee" if your account is deemed to be at high risk of going into deficit. This fee can be charged even if your account complies with the Margin Requirements.
Clause F9.1 in IBUK and IBLLC Client Agreement
Downloaded from the broker's site on Open the reference

Our readingMost retail agreements charge for trading, borrowing and account services. A daily charge generated by the broker's own stress model, applied to an account that breaches no margin rule, is a different mechanism: the trigger and the amount are both internal to the firm.

  • Worse together with Exhibit 2A charge you cannot predict is taken from your cash, and the margin shortfall it creates can be met by selling your positions without notice.
04

Interactive Brokers LLC holds your cash and shares, generally outside the United Kingdom. The FCA's client money and custody rules do not apply to it, so what protects your balance is US law.

Why this matters

If the firm holding your money fails, your claim is a US claim. SIPC covers up to US$500,000 of securities and cash combined, and the UK compensation scheme reaches only IBUK's arranging work.

Exhibit 4WarningHarder than usual$500000

IBLLC will generally hold or deposit your money, securities or other assets outside of the United Kingdom. This means that UK laws and regulations, including the FCA's client money and custody rules, will generally not apply to IBLLC or other financial institutions holding your money or assets.
Clause C1.5 in IBUK and IBLLC Client Agreement
Downloaded from the broker's site on Open the reference
Set against a regulated standard: FCA (UK)

Firms the FCA licenses normally hold retail client money and assets under the FCA's client money and custody rules, with the UK compensation scheme behind them. These Terms place custody with IBLLC in the United States instead, and say the UK rules will generally not apply to it.

InteractiveBrokers is not licensed by this regulator, so this is a comparison of practice, not a finding of any breach.

  • Worse together with Exhibit 5The assets are held under US rules, and those are the rules that let them be lent out to third parties.
05

Once you borrow on margin, IBLLC can lend the shares in your account to its other customers or to other institutions, with no notice to you. It can lend up to 140% of what you owe.

Why this matters

The votes on lent shares pass to whoever borrowed them until they come back. What returns to you may differ in type, quality or value from what you put in, and dividends can arrive as a payment in place of the real one, which changes your tax.

Exhibit 5WarningStandard wording140%

This generally means that IBLLC may choose to lend securities from your account valued at up to 140% of the sum of your margin loan and any derivatives margin funded by IBLLC on your behalf.
Clause F8.3 in IBUK and IBLLC Client Agreement
Downloaded from the broker's site on Open the reference

What it costsOn a $10,000 margin loan, IBLLC can lend out shares from your account worth up to $14,000.

Set against a regulated standard: FCA (UK)

Firms the FCA licenses may use a retail client's securities only under an agreement that spells out the terms, with the risks explained. IBLLC holds these assets under US rules instead, which allow it to lend securities worth up to 140% of what you owe.

InteractiveBrokers is not licensed by this regulator, so this is a comparison of practice, not a finding of any breach.

06

Interactive Brokers Hong Kong Limited tells Chinese readers on its own homepage that there are no order fees, platform fees or custody fees. Its English fee page charges a per-order fee to cancel or modify an order, and USD 30.00 to close a position by telephone.

Why this matters

Read the Chinese page and not the English one, and you have priced your trading without the cost of changing your mind. Cancelling or amending an order is chargeable, and so is asking a person to close a position for you.

Exhibit 6WarningHarder than usual$30

Unless otherwise specified, the per-order fee applies to both order cancellations and modifications.
Clause Cancel/Modify Orders in Other Fees (Interactive Brokers Hong Kong Limited)
Downloaded from the broker's site on Open the reference
Our own capture of interactivebrokers.com.hk, taken on Oct 17, 2026The claim, on Simplified Chinese home page of Interactive Brokers Hong Kong LimitedVisit this page on the broker's siteDownload the full size image file
Our own capture of interactivebrokers.com.hk, taken on Oct 17, 2026What the contract says, clause Cancel/Modify OrdersVisit this page on the broker's siteDownload the full size image file

Two Interactive Brokers charges priced by numbers only the firm can see

A daily Exposure Fee can be taken from an Interactive Brokers account that meets every margin requirement, and the amount comes from the firm's own stress tests. IBKR publishes how that fee works but not what it costs. A second charge, the Margin Financing Charge, is set by subtracting the rate IBKR earns on its own deposits, a figure no client can look up.

Costs you cannot calculate1 clause flagged

IBKR can add a Margin Financing Charge to your overnight margin balances each month. Its rate is worked out by subtracting the rate IBKR earns on its own deposits, a figure published nowhere.

Why this matters

You cannot check this charge or forecast it, because one side of the sum is private to the firm. It builds up monthly, in the currency of the contract you traded.

Exhibit 12WarningRarely seen

Interactive Brokers may apply a Margin Financing Charge. This is a monthly charge in the currency of the traded contract that accrues on overnight margin balances for those contracts.
Clause Margin Financing Charge in Margin Requirements (Interactive Brokers Hong Kong Limited)
Downloaded from the broker's site on Open the reference

Our readingThe rate is defined by subtracting a number only Interactive Brokers can measure: the effective rate it earns on its own margin and liquidity buffer deposits. A client cannot reproduce the calculation from anything published.

  • Worse together with Exhibit 3Both charges sit on the same page and both are priced off figures the firm holds privately, so neither can be budgeted for.

Your cash can sit behind 95 days of notice, and fractional shares cannot leave

Up to 95 days of notice can apply to the bank account where Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Limited holds your cash, and the Terms say the money may not be available immediately. IBUK says it watches its cash flow so clients are paid on time. Fractional shares are a separate exit problem: they cannot be transferred to another broker, so moving your account can mean selling them first.

Access to your cash1 clause flagged

Fractional shares in your account cannot be transferred out. To move your account elsewhere you may have to sell them, and IBUK wants every position closed or transferred before it will close the account.

Why this matters

Leaving becomes a sale you did not plan, at that day's price, and it can create a tax bill. This limit is normal across the industry, but it is still part of the cost of leaving.

Exhibit 14WarningStandard wording

However, Fractional Shares cannot be transferred to another broker. If you wish to transfer Fractional Shares to another broker you may need to liquidate (i.e., sell) them.
Clause B3.3 in IBUK General Terms of Business
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Where it sits: section 21 of 64 in the IBUK General Terms of Business, 33% of the way through.

Interactive Brokers can sell your positions first and tell you afterwards

Interactive Brokers needs no advance notice to sell the positions in your account, and IBLLC says it generally will not send a margin call first. You do not choose what is sold or in what order. If the sale leaves the account below zero you must repay the shortfall, and IBUK can pass that debt to a collection agent.

Control over your positions3 clauses flagged

If a forced sale leaves your account below zero, you must repay the difference to IBUK. You also agree to pay its costs of getting the money back, including legal fees and collection agent fees.

Why this matters

Your loss is not capped at the money you put in. IBUK can hand the debt to a collection agent or to another company in its group, so the claim can outlive the account itself.

Exhibit 7WarningHarder than usual

If your assets are liquidated and your overall account balance is negative, you must repay the shortfall. We are not responsible for any losses you may have from this.
Clause D2.5 in IBUK General Terms of Business
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Where it sits: section 26 of 64 in the IBUK General Terms of Business, 41% of the way through.

Set against a regulated standard: FCA (UK), ESMA (EU)

Firms the FCA licenses must cap a retail client's loss on a contract for difference at the money in that account. These General Terms of Business cover shares, bonds and funds, where no such cap applies, and IBUK can pursue you for the shortfall.

InteractiveBrokers is not licensed by these regulators, so this is a comparison of practice, not a finding of any breach.

IBUK can change these Terms, and carrying on using the account counts as your acceptance. A rise in the interest it charges you can be announced up to 30 days after it has already taken effect.

Why this matters

Your margin rate can be higher for weeks before anyone tells you. Among the reasons IBUK lists for changing the contract is following its own policies on competitiveness, market share and profitability.

Exhibit 10WarningHarder than usual30 days

Changes to the interest rates we charge or pay, where we have a valid reason for the change.
Clause E2.3 in IBUK General Terms of Business
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Buried at section 41 of 64 in the IBUK General Terms of Business, 64% of the way through.

Cash on the commodities side of your account earns no interest and sits outside SIPC protection. You can pick which side holds your spare cash, but IBLLC can override that choice and move it.

Why this matters

Money moved into the commodities segment stops earning and stops being covered, without you doing anything. If IBLLC went bankrupt, you would get a share of what is left in proportion to other clients, not your own traceable property.

Exhibit 13WarningHarder than usual

assets held in the Commodities Segment are not eligible for the SIPC insurance protection available to assets in the Securities Segment
Clause H1.4.1 in IBUK and IBLLC Client Agreement
Downloaded from the broker's site on Open the reference

One business day to say an Interactive Brokers confirmation is wrong

One business day is all these Terms give you to tell Interactive Brokers that a trade confirmation is wrong or that you never placed the order. After that, IBUK says corrections may not be possible. Even where the mistake is the firm's own, the Terms rule out any claim for the profit you would have made.

Challenging a trade2 clauses flagged

You get one business day to tell IBUK that a trade confirmation is wrong, missing, or for an order you never placed. After that, the Terms say corrections may not be possible.

Why this matters

Miss a day of email while travelling and the window can close on a trade you did not make. Until you report it, you can be held responsible for anything done with your login.

Exhibit 8WarningHarder than usual1 working days

You must tell us as soon as possible, but within one business day, if:
Clause B7.5 in IBUK General Terms of Business
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Where it sits: section 27 of 64 in the IBUK General Terms of Business, 42% of the way through.

Set against a regulated standard: FCA (UK)

Firms the FCA licenses must let a retail client take a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, normally within six months of the firm's final answer, and IBUK names that route. This clause is a different duty: telling IBUK about a wrong confirmation inside one business day, after which the Terms say corrections may not be possible.

InteractiveBrokers is not licensed by this regulator, so this is a comparison of practice, not a finding of any breach.

  • Worse together with Exhibit 9The window to report an error is one day, and the clause on liability then rules out the profit you would have made from it.

The Terms rule out any claim by you for lost profits, lost opportunity or business losses. The clause gives its own example: a trading error that is the firm's responsibility still leaves you unable to claim the profit you would have made.

Why this matters

You can be put back for a direct loss and still carry the cost of the position you never got to open. IBUK does keep its liability for death, personal injury, fraud and fraudulent misrepresentation.

Exhibit 9WarningStandard wording

For example, even if you suffer a loss due to a trading error that is our responsibility, you cannot claim lost profits on positions you claim you would have opened in the event the error had not occurred.
Clause E1.5 in IBUK and IBLLC Client Agreement
Downloaded from the broker's site on Open the reference

Your shares can be lent out, and Interactive Brokers can take the other side

Securities worth up to 140% of your margin loan can be lent by IBLLC to third parties with no notice to you, and the votes attached to them pass to the borrower until they come back. Interactive Brokers LLC says in its own regulatory disclosure that it does not trade against customer orders. The client agreement has you agree it can trade with you for its own account and profit on those trades.

Whose side of the trade1 clause flagged

Interactive Brokers LLC states in its own regulatory disclosure that it does not trade against customer orders. The client agreement has you agree that IBUK and IBLLC can trade with you for their own account and profit on those trades.

Why this matters

When the firm is on the other side of your trade, its gain can be your cost. The conflicts summary for IBUK says it does not trade on its own account, which leaves you holding two different answers to the same question.

Exhibit 15WarningHarder than usual

You also agree that we can trade with you for our account, for an Affiliate, or another client, and we can profit on those trades.
Clause E12.5 in IBUK and IBLLC Client Agreement
Downloaded from the broker's site on Open the reference
Our own capture of interactivebrokers.co.uk, taken on Oct 17, 2026The claim, on Summary of the Conflicts of Interest UK Policy, General sectionVisit this page on the broker's siteDownload the full size image file

A small balance left for six years can go to a charity IBUK picks

Six years of inactivity, a balance of £25 or less and 28 days without a reply are all it takes for IBUK to stop treating your money as client money and donate it to a registered charity of its own choice. Interest, fees and charges do not count as activity. On the US side, IBLLC can hand dormant property to the state of Connecticut, and ignoring those letters is itself an event of default.

Dormant accounts1 clause flagged

Leave £25 or less in an IBUK account for six years and it can stop being your money. IBUK writes to you first. If you do not answer within 28 days, it can give the balance to a registered charity of its own choice.

Why this matters

Interest, fees and charges do not count as activity, so an account can fall quiet while the clock runs. On the US side, IBLLC can hand dormant property to the state of Connecticut, and ignoring those letters is itself an event of default.

Exhibit 11WarningStandard wording$25

You agree that we may stop treating your client money balance as client money and donate it to a registered charity of our choice if:
Clause C4.2.1 in IBUK General Terms of Business
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Where it sits: section 33 of 64 in the IBUK General Terms of Business, 52% of the way through.

What happens, and when

The stages this clause runs through, taken from the broker's own document
TriggerWhat the broker may then doClause
Six years without activityYour account counts as inactive. Interest, fees and charges do not count as activity.C4.2.1
IBUK writes to youIBUK tries the most recent contact details it holds for you.C4.2.1
Day 28 after that letterIf you have not replied, IBUK can stop treating the balance as client money.C4.2.1
Balance of £25 or lessIBUK can donate the balance to a registered charity it chooses. The limit is £100 for a professional client.C4.2.1

The Chinese homepage promises no order fees; the fee page charges for cancelling one

Interactive Brokers Hong Kong Limited tells Chinese readers on its own homepage that there are no order fees, platform fees or custody fees. Its English fee page charges a per-order fee for cancelling or modifying an order, and USD 30.00 to close a position by telephone. The Hong Kong client agreement is served as the same single file whatever language you ask for.

Language arbitrage1 clause flagged

Interactive Brokers Hong Kong Limited lists its client agreement on its Chinese legal page with a Chinese language setting attached to the link. The file served is identical in every language, and IBKR's UK and US terms say the English version is the one that applies.

Why this matters

If Chinese is your reading language, the document that governs your account is not served in it. Where translations do exist elsewhere in the group, the English text is the version the firm relies on.

Exhibit 16NoticeStandard wording

Our Agreement with you and all information and notifications will be in English. We will communicate with you in English. For your convenience, some documents are available in multiple languages. If there is a difference between versions, the English version will apply.
Clause A11.1 in IBUK General Terms of Business
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Where it sits: section 17 of 64 in the IBUK General Terms of Business, 27% of the way through.

Which Interactive Brokers company carries your account decides what protects it

Interactive Brokers runs separate licensed companies in Hong Kong, the UK, the US and elsewhere, and the protection your money gets follows whichever one carries your account. IBUK's terms say different terms apply if you deal with more than one of them. At the firm's own download address, a copy of a mandatory US disclosure still carries figures from December 2017.

Who you contract with2 clauses flagged

Interactive Brokers runs separate licensed companies in Hong Kong, the UK, the US and elsewhere, and the protection on your balance follows whichever one carries the account. IBUK states that different terms apply if you deal with more than one of them.

Why this matters

Read the agreement for the company named on your own account, not the group's reputation. A Hong Kong client contracts with Interactive Brokers Hong Kong Limited, and that agreement is a separate document from the UK and US ones quoted here.

Exhibit 17NoticeStandard wording

If you have relationships with multiple entities in the IBKR Group, different terms will apply.
Clause C1.5.1 in IBUK General Terms of Business
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Where it sits: section 32 of 64 in the IBUK General Terms of Business, 50% of the way through.

The firm specific disclosure for Interactive Brokers LLC, served today at IBKR's own download address, gives its figures as of December 2017 and promises annual updates. A newer edition of the same document sits inside the account application instead.

In plain words

On a principal basis, as your counterparty, means the broker takes the other side of your trade itself. Your loss is then the firm’s gain, so it has an interest in how your trade ends.

Why this matters

Open that file and the capital, litigation and counterparty lists you read are nine years old. The current figures are in the copy served with the application form.

Exhibit 18NoticeHarder than usual

Except as otherwise noted below, the information set out is as of December 29, 2017.
Quoted in Interactive Brokers LLC Disclosure Document pursuant to CFTC Rule 1.55(k), p.3
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Where it sits: section 12 of 199 in the Interactive Brokers LLC Disclosure Document pursuant to CFTC Rule 1.55(k), near the start.

Where the marketing and the contract disagree

A promise made in public, set against the clause that governs it

01

The pricing promise is transparency, while the daily fee that can be taken from a fully compliant account is priced by a model the client cannot see or reproduce.

Said in public, in English

Low, transparent pricing across 175+ markets worldwide

IBKR Desktop product page, Why IBKR Desktop list

In the contract · clause F9.2

The charge is based on stress tests and calculated using a proprietary algorithm designed to estimate the risk of an account going into deficit (negative equity) should various hypothetical scenarios occur.

02

The Chinese page tells a Hong Kong reader there are no order fees, while the same company's English fee page charges per order for cancelling or modifying one.

Said in public, in Chinese

低廉的佣金，无额外价差、委托单费用、平台费用、托管费用或账户最低资金要求。

Word for word in English: Low commissions, with no added spreads, order fees, platform fees, custody fees or account minimum funding requirement.

Simplified Chinese home page of Interactive Brokers Hong Kong Limited

We took a picture of this page. It is shown once, with the finding it belongs to. See our capture of interactivebrokers.com.hk

In the contract · clause Cancel/Modify Orders

Unless otherwise specified, the per-order fee applies to both order cancellations and modifications.

We took a picture of this page. It is shown once, with the finding it belongs to. See our capture of interactivebrokers.com.hk

03

The conflicts summary says IBUK does not trade on its own account, while the client agreement, where the word we covers IBUK and IBLLC together, has the client consent to exactly that.

Said in public, in English

IBUK does not engage in proprietary trading or offer investment advice, nor does it engage in corporate finance business, mutual funds or managed investment schemes.

Summary of the Conflicts of Interest UK Policy, General section

We took a picture of this page. It is shown once, with the finding it belongs to. See our capture of interactivebrokers.co.uk

In the contract · clause E12.5

You also agree that we can trade with you for our account, for an Affiliate, or another client, and we can profit on those trades.

The documents this reading is based on

35 files, all published by InteractiveBrokers. Each shows when we read it and a fingerprint of its wording.

WIKILIX keeps the copy of each file it read, and does not republish it: what is published is the fingerprint of its wording. Download the file yourself and hash its text, lowercased with runs of whitespace collapsed, and a matching fingerprint means the wording quoted above is still the wording InteractiveBrokers publishes.

How this reading was done

Every clause above was read out of a document InteractiveBrokers publishes itself

This reading was published on .

Documents
8 of 35downloaded from the broker's site, and 8 read in full
Pages opened
80pages walked to find those documents, footer links included
Marketing pages
11public pages set against what the contract says
Languages
EN vs ZH-HANSthe language it advertises in, against the language it contracts in
Position measured
10clauses whose position was counted: which numbered section of the document holds them, out of how many

Who the contract is with

Interactive Brokers Hong Kong Limited

Interactive Brokers is not one company. A client on the Hong Kong site contracts with Interactive Brokers Hong Kong Limited, regulated by the Securities and Futures Commission, under a client agreement that company publishes separately, which was not available for this review. The agreements we did read belong to two other companies in the same group: Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Limited, authorised by the FCA under firm reference number 208159, and Interactive Brokers LLC in Greenwich, Connecticut, regulated by the SEC and the CFTC. Under the joint agreement IBUK opens the account and takes your orders while IBLLC holds the money and assets, extends margin and decides clearing fees. The protection your balance gets follows the company that carries the account, not the group name on the website.

Quotations are copied verbatim from the documents named above, with the clause number and the page each one came from. Where a clause is quoted in another language, the original is shown first and the English is a translation.

The plain-language parts, what a clause means for a client, how ordinary it is, and how it reads against a regulated standard, are WIKILIX's analysis and are labelled as such on every card. This is a reading of public documents, not legal advice and not an allegation of wrongdoing.

In fairness, and what we could not check

A reader who knows the edges of the work can trust the middle of it

These agreements are genuinely rewritten for a reader. Each one opens with a Key Terms list, a table showing which Part applies to you, and plain explanations of leverage, margin and settlement before the clauses start. The limitation of liability clause includes its own worked example of what you cannot claim. IBUK names the Financial Ombudsman Service with its website, phone number and email, publishes its complaint numbers every half year, and states the FSCS and SIPC limits in figures. It also says that IBLLC holds your assets outside the United Kingdom and that the FCA's client money rules will not apply, which is the kind of disclosure most brokers bury or omit. The Exposure Fee method is published on the public margin page rather than only in the contract, and the Hong Kong client agreement was revised last month.

This review covers the IBUK General Terms of Business in full, the joint IBUK and IBLLC client agreement up to its closing schedules, and the firm specific disclosure for Interactive Brokers LLC. Nineteen of the thirty documents found are not covered in this review, among them the privacy policy, the cookie policy, the anti-fraud notice, the target market document and six half-yearly complaints publications. Nothing here is taken from the agreement covering IBUK's CFD, forex and metals accounts or from its CFD schedule. Interactive Brokers Hong Kong Limited publishes its own client agreement on its Hong Kong legal page. It is not covered in this review, so every clause quoted here comes from the UK and US agreements rather than the Hong Kong one.

How to check any of this yourself

Every quote above links to the InteractiveBrokers file it came from. This is what to do with it.

Open the three stepsFind the words in the source, work out the fingerprint, and read what a difference does and does not prove.

Open the source and search for the words

Every quote has a link under it. Open the file, or the web page, and search it for the words we quote. The clause number next to the quote tells you where to look.

If the words are not there any more, the source may have changed after we read it. That is worth knowing too. We keep the date we read it, and a code worked out from its wording, so the quote stays checkable.

What a fingerprint is

A fingerprint is a code worked out from what a source says. Change one word and the code changes completely. We keep two codes for every file we read, and the panel on each source shows both.

The first is the code of the exact file we downloaded. The second is the code of its wording alone, with capital letters lowered and runs of spaces collapsed. When the same words are saved as a new file, the first code changes and the second one stays the same.

Only the first code can be worked out on your own computer. Save the file, then run one of these, putting the name of the file you saved where the example is. The panel on each source prints the command with that source's real file name already in it.

macOS or Linux:
  shasum -a 256 the-file-you-saved.pdf

Windows:
  certutil -hashfile the-file-you-saved.pdf SHA256

The two codes are different from each other, and they are not meant to match. Comparing one against the other proves nothing.

What a difference means, and what it does not

A different file code on its own proves nothing. A PDF saved again with a new date inside it is a new file saying exactly the same thing.

A different wording code means the words themselves changed. That is the one that matters, and it is why we keep it.

Even then, a change is not proof of bad faith. Companies update their documents. What this report says is what the document said on the day we read it, and every quote carries that date.

A source that is a web page and not a file has no file to save, so only the code of its wording is shown.

How this report is made

Every clause quoted above comes from a document InteractiveBrokers publishes on its own website, downloaded and hashed on the date shown, with the clause number and page recorded so any reader can check it. We do not allege anything the documents do not say, and we do not judge InteractiveBrokers on anything other than its own published terms and its own public marketing. Where a clause has a qualifier that softens it, the report says so. Last read Oct 17, 2026.

If you represent InteractiveBrokers and a clause has changed, been withdrawn, or is being read out of context, tell us and we will re-read the documents and update this page. Corrections from the broker are welcome and are published with the reading they change. Contact us.

This is a reading of a contract, not legal advice and not a ruling on InteractiveBrokers. Whether its licence is real and current is a separate check on the broker profile.

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