I contacted a writer for Canadian Business, the major business magazine here and asked them to look into the difficulty that IB was having in attempting to enter Canada. Here's the result: http://www.canadianbusiness.com/xta...hvalue=Investing&gsection=&tpl2=section_frame He wrote this just before the IDA gave the ok to IB. Hope there is a follow up so IB gets more publicity.
Thanks for the update...It truly is amazing - the amount of feet dragging that has gone on before the IB announcement. Still haven't heard about BT....but I guess they'll soon be allowed entry into Ontario...
Will our new accounts be in Canadian funds or US funds, or will we have the option? If they are forced to stay in CDN currency, then every time we trade a U.S. stock we will get dinged on the foreign exchange spread on the purchase AND sale.
When you have an account with those big 5's brokerages, you can have USD specific account, so I think IB can have USD account for Cdn. But who knows what the restrictions are ? Those imposed on IB will make sure it is not that competitive, we will see
Interactive Brokers Canada Inc. To Begin Accepting Customers June 1 May 16, 2002, Greenwich, CT --- Starting June 1, residents of Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec may open accounts with Interactive Brokers Canada Inc. www.interactivebrokers.ca, providing these Canadian investors access to the electronic brokerage firm's low cost, high-speed execution services. "Many Canadian investors will soon have a low cost alternative for trading stocks, options and futures. For only $1.00 US, investors can trade 100 shares of US stocks. This is a small fraction of what other Canadian brokers charge," said Tim O'Meara, Director of Interactive Brokers Canada Inc. "Besides low commissions, customers will also benefit from our direct access technology. No middlemen. Customers' orders are routed directly from their Trader Workstation to the electronic market center of their choice." On May 14, 2002, the Investments Dealers Association of Canada admitted Interactive Brokers Canada. to its membership. Beginning June 1, Canadian investors who are residents of Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, or Quebec will have the opportunity to trade US stocks, US equity options and commodity futures and futures options traded on electronic exchanges around the world. It is expected that residents of Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia Prince Edward Island, and Saskatchewan will be able to open accounts with Interactive Brokers Canada in the near future. Canadian stocks and derivatives are not currently available, but the firm plans to eventually offer these products. At this time, Canadian customers must fund their accounts in US dollars. Interactive Brokers Canada's retail commission schedule is as follows: Stocks are $0.01 US per share with a $1.00 US minimum, (after 500 shares in the same order the cost drops to $0.005 US per share), options are $1.00 US per contract and futures are $2.40 US per contract. Interactive Brokers Canada, a global electronic brokerage firm and member of the Interactive Brokers Group LLC (IBG), will provide execution and clearing services for stock, options, futures, currencies and VWAPs. IBG is comprised of electronic brokerage and proprietary trading firms, including Timber Hill, a leading market maker. IBG executes trades on more than 40 exchanges and ECNs in 16 countries. Customers may route their orders to a particular market center, or use the firm's intelligent high-speed Best Execution order routing system. IBG's total consolidated capital as of year-end 2001 was $931.7 million, placing IBG number 31 out of 100 on Institutional Investor's ranking of largest Wall Street firms. IBG's daily trading volume regularly exceeds 200,000 trades. The Group employs approximately 430 traders, programmers and support staff located in offices and exchanges throughout the world.
Maybe all those letters and emails I wrote were worthwhile after all. Now to get serious about leearning to trade the e-minis.
I don't think any Canadian broker will be able to compete with IB, if they don't improve their commission structure and trading platform. Here's a list of Canadian brokers and a broker comparison table. Fohat
Curious to see what the brokers on Fohat's list are going to do...It's about @#$%$#@ time that they stop gouging us.... Thanks Fohat for the links...