The customer has the following options:
- Deposit funds to bring the account's equity up to the SEC required minimum of USD 25,000
- Request a PDT account reset (if available)
If an account is flagged as a Pattern Day Trader intraday, the customer will immediately be prohibited from initiating any new positions. Customers should be able to close any existing positions in their account, but will not be allowed to initiate any new positions.
The customer will have the same options listed above, however, if at any time the Net Liquidation Value figure goes back above the threshold amount ($25,000). Then the account will once again have day trades available.
FINRA regulations state that if an account with less than USD 25,000 is flagged as a day trading account, the account must be frozen to prevent additional trades.
If you choose to perform a PDT Reset, you will be able to trade again 5 business days from the date of the last day trade. If you choose to deposit more funds into your account to bring your securities NLV above USD 25,000, you will be able to trade immediately.
If an account gets re-flagged as a PDT account at any time after a reset, the customer’s only option is to bring the account's equity up to the FINRA required minimum of $25,000.
Additional Information
- The Pattern Day Trader classification and what you can do about it in the IBKR Knowledge Base.
- How do I request a Pattern Day Trader reset?
Accounts that have not yet been migrated to the intraday margin standards are still subject to the Pattern Day Trading (PDT) rules and are not yet subject to Intraday Margin Deficit (IMD) calls. For more information on the FINRA rule change please review the FAQs on IMD.