Accounts maintained with IBUK are subject to the PDT rule as the accounts are introduced to and carried by IBLLC, a U.S. broker. Accounts migrated to IBIE will not be introduced to IBLLC, so they will not be subject to the PDT rule. This is not unique to IBIE as for instance accounts with IB Japan are also exempt from the PDT rule for the same reasons.
What concerns me the most is that I´ve got a notification from IB saying that due to the transfer from IBUK to IBKR's new European broker due to Brexit, margin requirements for a given portfolio can vary by IBKR broker due to a variety of factors, including exchange, regulatory and house minimums Based upon this review, in my case they project that my margin requirement will increase by almost double (!!) Anyone else have received such notification? I´ve checked with my closer counterparts and so far none of them have received this kind of new margin requirements notification.
I didn't, but I'm being transferred to IBIE, and there appears to be a slight difference between IBIE/IBLUX and IBCE as regards the margin loan rules https://ibkr.info/article/3550 https://ibkr.info/article/3587
I am being transferred to IBIE as well, and couldn´t find any explicit reference to any change in margin requirements (vs "old" account in IBUK) in those docs
Weird. Maybe the Bank or Ireland is imposing stricter requirements on the risk profiles for IBIE's clients' accounts
According to this table almost nothing changes: https://ibkr.info/article/3560 (it doesn't explicitly say the margin per stock stays the same (compared to LLC) but one would expect this because of the other similarities)
The scariest thing in the transition from IBUK to IBIE is the reduced capital protection provided by the Irish Compensation Plan: just 20k€. So if you have 1M capital and IB goes bust (very unlikely but possible) you'll be compensated with up to 20K.
I think you may have greatly misunderstood the level of protection for IBUK accounts. You should be aware that in the case of IBUK (and IB LLC) FDIC insurance covers up to $500K in US securities (with a sublimit of $250K for cash specifically used for the purchase or sale of securities), however FDIC insurance may not apply to securities held in margin accounts. Also commodities incl. futures, options, and futures options are not covered by FDIC insurance nor is the cash pledged for commodities position margins. So basically unless you trade in a cash account FDIC insurance coverage may not apply. Non-US cash and securities held in the UK portion of the account are covered by the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme at an amount up to £50K, not £100K or €100K