Short Sale Cost

Short Sale Cost

Calculating the Cost of Borrowing Stock at Interactive Brokers

Two factors contribute to the daily cost/revenues related to short selling of stocks and bonds at IBKR:

  • Borrow Fee
  • Short Sale Proceeds interest you receive from IBKR

Cost to Borrow USD, HKD and EUR Stock Examples1,2

Symbol Name Short Position Value
AAPL
Apple Inc
USD
MUB
iShares National Muni Bond ETF
USD
USD
Symbol Share Price Quantity Collateral Mark Collateral Value Borrow Fee Rate Borrow Fee Amount (Daily) Short Sale Proceeds Interest Rate Short Sale Proceeds Interest Amount (Daily) Net Rebate Rate Interest Accrual (Daily)
AAPL
MUB
Totals and WAVG Rates

Key:

General Collateral stocks are highly liquid securities readily available to borrow and lend in the Securities Lending market. Note: General Collateral stock may become Hard-to-Borrow due to changing market conditions.

Hard-to-Borrows are securities that may not be readily available to transact in the Securities Lending market due to factors such as low liquidity, elevated demand for borrow, heightened volatility or regulatory restrictions.


Interest Paid to You on Short Sale Proceeds Cash Balances3

Accounts with NAV of USD 100,000 (or equivalent) or more are paid interest at the full rate for which they are eligible. Accounts with NAV of less than USD 100,000 (or equivalent) receive interest at rates proportional to the size of the account. There will be no interest paid on the first USD 100,000.

Balance

The interest calculator is based on information that we believe to be accurate and correct, but neither Interactive Brokers LLC nor its affiliates warrant its accuracy or adequacy and it should not be relied upon as such. Neither IBKR nor its affiliates are responsible for any errors or omissions or for results obtained from the use of this calculator.

BM = Benchmark Rate
Currency Tier Rate Paid
USD 0 - 100,000 0%
100,000.01 - 1,000,000 3.580% (BM - 1.25%)
1,000,000.01 - 3,000,000 4.330% (BM - 0.5%)
3,000,000.01 + 4.580% (BM - 0.25%)
AUD 0 - 150,000 0%
150,000.01 + 2.320% (BM - 2.25%)
CAD 0 - 130,000 0%
130,000.01 - 1,300,000 1.956% (BM - 1.75%)
1,300,000.01 - 3,000,000 2.606% (BM - 1.1%)
3,000,000.01 + 2.806% (BM - 0.9%)
CHF 0 - 90,000 0%
90,000.01 + 0.000% (BM - 2.25%)
EUR 0 - 90,000 0%
90,000.01+ 0.906% (BM - 2.25%)
GBP 0 - 80,000 0%
80,000.01+ 2.491% (BM - 2.25%)
HKD 0 - 780,000 0%
780,000.01 2%4,5
JPY All 0%
MXN 0 - 2,000,000 0%
2,000,000.01+ 6.812% (BM - 4%)
SEK 0 - 900,000 0%
900,000.01+ 0.903% (BM - 2.25%)

Disclosures

  1. Any trading symbols displayed are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to portray recommendations or solicitation for a particular course of action, service or product. This information is of a general nature. It does not take your specific needs or circumstances into consideration, so you should look at your own financial position, objectives, and requirements and, if required, seek professional financial advice before making any financial decisions.

    This page does not consider all fees that might be applicable to your transaction and you should not rely on it to assess the total charges you may pay. Borrow fee rates and short sale proceeds are calculated based on settled stock positions. Costs for borrowing certain stocks may be elevated due to supply and demand dynamics in the Securities Lending market. Please note, these dynamics may lead to negative rebate rates if the borrow fee rate exceeds the short proceeds interest earned. Stock borrow fee rates may also vary by program or arrangement. Clients introduced through another broker may pay a different stock borrow fee at the election of the client’s introducing broker. Clients should contact their introducing broker about the rates that will apply to their account. The rates displayed on this page are for illustrative purposes only and are subject to change.

    Past performance is not a reliable guide to future performance, the performance of investments is not guaranteed, and the value of your investments can go down as well as up, so you may get back less than you invest.

  2. Cost to borrow calculations assume NAV is greater than or equal to USD 100K. Accounts with NAV below USD 100K may receive short sale proceeds interest at rates which are proportionally less.
  3. For balances held in JPY or RUB, IBKR may apply an effective negative rate to long balances held. The negative rate applied to accounts holding these currencies is the same regardless of account size. For other currencies in which the effective rate is less than zero, the interest paid is 0%.
  4. Reference Benchmark for HKD applies to margin loans only.
  5. For clients of Interactive Brokers Hong Kong Limited, the rate paid on HKD short credit balances is based on external benchmark reference and bank rates and is subject to a cap of 2.00%.