Is cash no longer fully insured in an IB account ?

Def is in Hong Kong so probably still asleep.

 

There are other IB voices on this board other than def. And we know they monitor this board for negativity against their firm.

So....

 

Can anyone think of a reason why they would do this besides SIPC or some authority telling them to?

 

CFTC ?

 

Here's the original "account protection" wording in case anyone was wondering - bold text was removed sometime in the last few days.

"Customer securities accounts at Interactive Brokers are protected under SIPC up to $500,000 (with a cash sublimit of $250,000) and under Interactive Brokers' excess SIPC policy with Lloyd's of London insurers for up to an additional $30 million (with a cash sublimit of $900,000). Your stocks, options, warrants, debt instruments, and cash -- denominated in all currencies -- are covered by this protection. Futures, options on futures, and single stock futures are not covered , but available cash will be swept from your futures account to your securities account periodically to take advantage of SIPC and excess SIPC coverage to the greatest extent possible."

 

I am seeing the same thing in my MBTrading/Pension account. It is a one way move of my cash to a segregated futures account from my universal account. This policy change started for me on 12-14-11.

 

I didn't realize they swept funds from commodities to securities as well.

 

Maybe it is the SIPC that's tightening up then.

They're facing an SEC lawsuit over Stanford claims and MF Global might be stressing their reserves.

From:

http://www.businessweek.com/news/20...e-trustee-outlines-customer-claims-rules.html

"SIPC, which protects securities customers and not commodities customers, is authorized to borrow as much as $2.5 billion through the Securities and Exchange Commission should its funds be inadequate to carry out demands, according to court papers."

 

Thanks, this is good to know.

I just talked with IB customer service, and the rep confirmed that the policy has changed and that the reps don't know any more than what has been posted here. He "guessed" that the change had something to do with the situation regarding MF Global. Out of curiosity, he called Funds & Banking (while I waited) to find out if I can specify withdrawals from the commodity account. The answer was "no". As far as I can tell, the only way to get funds from commodities to securities is via transfer, and they won't do that daily anymore (for now). The rep didn't know when we would hear more.

 

Yes, they swept the excess unneeded cash back to my securities account each night the same as my IB account. This change nullifies one of the reasons for having accounts at IB and MBTrading.