Problems trading futures in IRA accounts at IB?

What a joke from an account services standpoint. By now you would think IB would at least have its act together enough to communicate something..... (anything) to their IRA customers.

 

I just got a call from the customer support that told me this morning that the issue is temporary. He told me he now things something else is going and I have to speak to a certain person about it to get clarity. I left him a message.

This is not the way to run a business. Sorry for the mis-information this morning. I'm only trying to help by passing on what they tell me.

 

Please continue to pass on what you hear. I can't imagine why IB wouldn't clarify what is going on and contact IRA account holders, or at the very least update their customer service reps so they know what is going on.

It's a little scary frankly, having money tied up at a broker who is this disorganized.

 

Hi Robert... Do you know who you spoke with & what options (Dept.) you took when you called IB? Thanks.

 

Conversation with IB Rep:

Me: IRA Restrictions: Not allowed to trade futures-when did this change and why?

Rep: Yes. This was enacted this past Friday. IB Management has decided that IRA Accounts may no longer trading futures or futures options contracts. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Me: What was the reason for the change?

Rep: Management did not provide us with a specific reason behind the decision.

Me: not a temporary change?

Rep: From my understanding, this is a permanent change.

 

This is what I expect from a government agency not a broker.

 

This poor handling certainly shakes my confidence in IB. It's almost as if they took this abrupt action against their customers to spite some issue that arose with their regulators.

 

While I will withhold final judgement until I get the final explanation it looks pretty bad right now. If it had to happen so be it but why even after the weekend not put out any information?

 

Really pathetic customer communication going on by IB here.

 

Strangely I can still trade futures spreads in my IRA account. At least I entered a limit order on a crude oil (CL) spread this morning and it was filled after 3 minutes.

It will allow me to add quotes for futures spreads, but not for outright futures, though adding a quote line for futures spreads, still adds the corresponding outright legs as separate quote lines. I can then enter an outright futures order, but I haven't done so, so cannot say if it would be filled.