Where a retail offer is available, retail investors can typically apply for shares through a designated platform or intermediary (such as IBKR). Generally, this means the investor must already have a brokerage account with the intermediary or open one prior to applying for the IPO shares…

IBKR's Role in an IPO

In the context of an IPO, IBKR generally acts as a financial intermediary, meaning it provides the platform through which eligible investors can register their interest, submit subscription orders and, if shares are allocated to them, receive those shares into their IBKR account(s)…

This will depend on the terms and conditions set out in the offer documentation for the particular IPO. In some cases, you may be permitted to increase, decrease, or cancel your request, up until a specified deadline (for example, the close of the bookbuilding period). In other cases, often depending on when you have submitted your request, this may not be permitted and changes may no longer be possible…

After the IPO process concludes and shares have been distributed, an email will be sent confirming the number of shares allocated to your account, if any.

The confirmed allocation will also appear in:…

An Initial Public Offering (IPO), commonly known as an IPO, is the process by which a privately owned company offers its shares to the public for the first time. Before an IPO, a company's shares are typically held by its founders, early investors, and employees. After an IPO, members of the public, including retail investors, can buy and sell the company's shares on a stock exchange…

If you are considering investing in a particular IPO, the prospectus and any other approved offer documentation are the primary source of information and should be read in full. If you are unsure whether a particular investment is suitable for you, you should seek advice from an independent financial adviser…

Yes, you must have sufficient funds in your account to cover the full cost of the shares you are indicating an interest in acquiring, based on the maximum price in the offer price range (or such other price as may be specified in the offer documentation). When you submit your indication of interest, these funds will be set aside in your account. You will not be able to use them for other purposes until the allocation process is complete. Please allow for an extra buffer in the account to cover any foreign exchange, should the price be in a currency which is not the currency of your account…

An IPO generally progresses through several distinct phases, which are broadly summarised below

IPO Timeline and Key Stages…

This is not a decision made by IBKR. It reflects the choices made by the company launching the IPO and its advisers about which countries to include in the offering.

If the IPO is not available to you because a prospectus has not been approved by the regulator in your country of residence or passported by the same regulator, you will not be able to submit an indication of interest for that particular offering…

As with any investment in shares, investing in an IPO carries risks. These are generally broadly disclosed in the prospectus and in any additional offering documents prepared by the company launching the IPO. Before applying for shares in an IPO, please ensure you have considered each of the following risk factors, in addition to those disclosed in the prospectus:…

Shares received through a US IPO are not eligible for margin for at least the first 30 days after the shares begin trading in the secondary market…

Once a prospectus has been approved by the  competent authority of one EU member state, it may be ‘passported’ to other EU member states so that the securities in respect of which the EU Prospectus was approved can be offered in those other member states using the same prospectus (subject to complying with any translation requirements).  This also means that retail investors across the EU benefit from the same disclosure standards and investor protections…

Yes. An IPO is not guaranteed to complete, and the terms of the offer — including the price — may change before any shares are allocated to you and admitted to trading. Equally, the IPO may continue to take place in one country but not in another, or in one market but not in another, and this is outside our control. If this happens, you will not be able to claim compensation for any missed investment opportunities or for the period during which your funds were held pending the outcome of the offer…

There is no guarantee that you will receive any shares, or that you will receive the full number of shares you have requested. In popular IPOs, demand often exceeds the number of shares available (a situation known as "oversubscription"). When this happens, the bookrunners will scale back allocations, meaning each investor may receive only a proportion of the shares they applied for — or, in some cases, none at all…

Companies pursue Initial Public Offering (IPOs) for a variety of reasons, including raising capital to fund growth, providing early investors with an opportunity to realise the value of their investment, and increasing the company's public profile…