You are here: Manage Account > Settings > Configure Account > Excess Funds Sweep

Excess Funds Sweep

Your Interactive Brokers Account is authorized to trade both securities products and commodities/futures products and therefore consists of two underlying accounts or account segments: a securities account governed by rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a futures account governed by rules of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). As part of the service, you have authorized us to automatically transfer funds as necessary between your securities account and your futures account in order to satisfy margin requirements in either account.

Use the Excess Funds Sweep page to configure how you want us to handle the transfer of your excess funds between the two segments of your account. You can choose to sweep the funds to either the securities account or the commodities account, or choose not to sweep funds at all.

Note the following:

All customer deposits are initially received into your securities account and will remain in that account unless you choose to sweep excess funds to your commodities account.
If you are identified as a securities pattern day trader, then we strongly recommend that you choose to sweep excess funds into your securities account.
Regardless of your choice, we will generally keep a small buffer of excess margin funds in each account in order to prevent excessive transfers back and forth as your margined securities and futures positions fluctuate in value.
This feature is not available in IB-India and IB-UKL accounts.

To set your excess funds sweep method

Click Manage Account > Settings > Configure Account > Excess Funds Sweep.

Read the important information on the page, then select a sweep method by clicking one of the radio buttons.

Do not sweep excess funds
Sweep excess funds into my securities account
Sweep excess funds into my commodities account

Click Continue. Your setting is saved immediately.