You are here: Settings > Account Settings > Trading Permissions

Trading Permissions

Trading permissions specify the products you can trade where you can trade them. You modify existing trade permissions or subscribe to new permissions on the Trading Permissions screen. When specifying permissions, you will be asked to sign any risk disclosures required by local regulatory authority.

On the Trading Permissions screen, you can:

Join trading programs:
Stock Yield Enhancement Program - This program offers participating accounts the opportunity to earn additional income from fully paid shares by allowing us to borrow those shares from you in exchange for cash collateral, and then lend the shares to traders who want to sell them short and are willing pay interest borrow them. Note that if you leave this program, you must wait 90 days before you can re-enroll in the program.
Pre-Borrow Program - Portfolio Margin customers can sign up for this program, which lets you pre-borrow stocks for short sales in Trader Workstation instead of waiting three days until the settlement date. Note that we will charge you the indicative borrow rate for each day up to the settlement date beginning with the trade date, and you can find this rate on your daily Activity Statement.
For more information on both of these programs, see the Securities Financing page on our website.
Request trading permissions:
Trading permissions are organized by product and then by country.
Use the drop-downs at the top of the section to select which countries and products you want to see, or view all countries and products.
Request trading permissions in all countries and products with a single click.
In many cases, you will be asked to modify your financial information, including net income, investment objectives and trading experience. Different products require different combinations of income, objectives and experience requirements. For detailed information about these requirements, see the Trading Requirements page on our website.
Request limited options trading permissions: If you want to trade options but do not have enough experience, you can select Limited Option Trading on the Trading Permission screen. Limited option trading is available with any investment objective that you select on the Configure Financial Information screen. Limited option trading lets you trade these option strategies:
Long Call or Put
Covered Calls
Short Naked Put: Only if covered by cash
Call Spread: Only European-style cash-settled
Put Spread: Only European-style cash-settled
Long Butterfly: Only European-style cash settled
Iron Condor: Only European-style cash settled
Long Call and Put

To configure trading permissions

Click Settings > Account Settings.
If you manage or maintain multiple accounts, the Account Selector opens. Search for and select the account whose trading permissions you want to change.

The Account Settings screen opens. The Trading Experience & Permissions panel displays your current trading permissions.

In the Trading Experience & Permissions panel, click the Configure (gear) icon.

The Trading Permissions screen opens.

In the Trading Programs section of the page, sign up for a trading program by selecting the box next to it. If you do not have a Portfolio Margin account, you will not see the Pre-Borrow Program.
Leave a program by deselecting the box next to it.

The Trading Permissions section of the page lists all of the products you can trade and the countries in which you can trade them. Currently approved products are shown with a check mark next to them.

For example, the following image shows an account with stocks and options trading permissions in the United States.

Use the filter drop-downs at the top of the section to change the countries and products that are displayed:

Select a specific country to display (for example, United States), or select All Regions to display all countries.
Select a specific product to display (for example, stocks), or select All Products to display all products.
Click Select All to request trading permissions for all products in all available countries.

To request specific products to trade in specific countries, click each country in each product section to place a check mark next to them.

For example, the following image shows a request for stock trading permissions in the United States and several European countries.

Click CONTINUE.

The Configure Financial Information page opens.

Modify the information on this screen as required and then click CONTINUE.

Update your income and net worth by selecting the appropriate range of values from the drop-downs.
Update source of additional income by clicking YES and then completing all fields for the source of income. Click the + Add button to add more sources of income.
Select the box next to each applicable investment objective. Remember, different products require different investment objectives.
For each product you want to trade, select years of experience, number of trades per year and knowledge level from the drop-downs.

Some products require specific investment experience, which you can also modify on this page.

Depending on the products that you have requested permission to trade, you are prompted to sign risk disclosures and/or agreements, as required by law. Read each disclosure and agreement and indicate your agreement by typing your name in the Signature field. Click CONTINUE after signing each disclosure or agreement.
Review your changes on the next screen and then click CONTINUE.

Trading permission upgrade requests received by 11:00 AM ET on a business day will be reviewed by the next business day under normal circumstances.