IBKR offers eligible customers with Portfolio Margin accounts at IBLLC and IBUK and approved “Pre-Borrow” Trading Permissions the ability to borrow U.S. shares in advance of selling such shares short as a "pre borrow" transaction.
To enroll in the Pre-Borrow program:
- Log in to Client Portal
- Click the User menu (head and shoulders icon in the top right corner) followed by Settings
- Under Account Settings find the Trading section
- Click on Trading Permissions
- Scroll to the Trading Programs section and check the box for the "Pre-Borrow Program"
- Click CONTINUE, and fill out any required agreements and disclosures. It may take 1-2 business days for approval.
To request a Pre-Borrow in TWS:
- Right-click the symbol you want to pre-borrow and select Trade followed by Pre-borrow shares for Shorting
- Select SBL@PREBORROW as the Destination
- A pre-borrow order must be a minimum size of 10,000 USD of stock, and you can only modify that quantity which should correspond to the anticipated short sale
- Click Transmit
- Once the pre-borrow order is contracted, the quantity available to short will be shown in the Private Locate field.
Please Note
- Entering a Pre-Borrow order in the TWS Stock Borrow/Loan window is a request made to IBKR and may or may not be fulfilled depending on availability of shares currently in IBKR's inventory.
- A pre-borrow order will have a $20 ticket fee.
Additional Information
- Pre-borrow for shorting in our Users' Guide.