What are IG's shares and ETFs CFD product details?

We offer all the constituent shares of the S&P 500 index and the NASDAQ 100 index, as well as sufficiently liquid US shares with a market capitalisation of greater than $500 million.

These contracts are denominated in US dollars, and US dollar interest rates apply. We also offer CFD share trading on the component shares of the TSX60 in Canada; for these shares, trades are denominated in Canadian dollar and Canadian dollar interest rates apply.

We offer constituents of the ASX/S&P 300 index, as well as over 700 other Australian stocks, the JSE Top 40, leading Hong Kong and Japanese shares, and constituents of the Straits Times in Singapore.

Limited Risk transactions are available on certain shares at our discretion.

The limited risk premium for each individual share is given in our share CFDs list (PDF, 500KB) (including UK, US, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Singapore and other world shares). The Limited Risk premium for South African and IOB shares is 1.0%. For all other shares the premium for a Limited Risk transaction is normally 0.3% or 0.7%. (Please note that the Limited Risk premium for all shares may be as much as 3% of the transaction value depending on market conditions and the volatility of the particular share.)

The limited risk premium is charged only if the guaranteed stop loss is triggered. The potential premium is displayed on the deal ticket, and can form part of your margin when you attach the guaranteed stop. Please note that premiums are subject to change, especially going into weekends and during volatile market conditions.

The Margin Percentage for any particular CFD is calculated as a percentage of the current valuation of the transaction. Please see the share CFDs list (PDF, 500KB) for Margin Percentages of specific shares. We reserve the right to alter the Margin rates at any time.

For retail clients, the minimum margin factor for CFDs on all shares is 20% of the share price. Please note that tiered margins apply; this means that more margin may be required for large positions. Please see our margins page for details.

For retail clients, the margin required for 'buying' a share option is the greater of the maximum risk or the underlying equivalent. For 'selling' a share option, the margin required is the same as an equivalent equity position. For Pro clients, the margin required for ‘buying’ a share option is the option premium in the currency of the trade.

The Margin required for a guaranteed stop CFD transaction will be the higher of:

(a) The maximum risk on the trade; or

(b) The minimum margin rate for that product

For Pro clients, minimum margin rates may differ between Pro Level 1 and 2 accounts. Please see our margins page for details.

Subject to risk reviews, the margin rates may differ for individual clients.

There is no minimum opening contract value for CFDs on individual shares.

Trading hours are as follows:

• Australian shares: 10:00-16:00 (Sydney time)
• UK shares (LSE): 08.00-16.30 (London time)
• American shares: Typically 09.30 to 16.00 (New York time).
  For some US shares, we offer extended trading hours from 04.00 to 20.00 (New York time) on Monday to Thursday and 04.00 to 17.00 (New York time) on Friday. For a full list of affected shares please visit our US Extended Hours page.
• European shares: Market hours for the relevant Exchange. Please ask for current details.
• Singapore shares: 09.00-17.00 (Singapore time)
• All other shares: Market hours for the relevant Exchange. Please ask for current details.

For CFDs on individual shares, adjustments to reflect the effect of interest and dividends are calculated daily and posted to the client's account daily.

i) A daily interest adjustment is calculated, as follows, for any position that is kept open through the official close of business:

D = n x C x i / 365

Where:

D = daily interest adjustment
n = number of shares
C = official closing share price
i = applicable annual interest rate

Note: The formula uses a 365-day divisor for UK, Singapore and South African shares and a 360-day divisor for shares in other markets.

The applicable annual interest rate is based on prevailing interest rates and our funding adjustment, usually 2.5% per annum. Interest on long positions is debited from a client's account; on short positions, there may be a credit or a debit.

ii) A dividend adjustment is applied when a share passes its ex-dividend date (including the ex-date of any special dividend) in the underlying stock market. In the case of long positions, the dividend adjustment is credited to the client's account. In the case of short positions, the dividend adjustment is debited from the client's account. In the case of UK shares, the dividend adjustment is equal to the amount of the net dividend. The dividend adjustment for shares in other markets varies depending on local tax arrangements; please ask our dealers for current details.

For CFDs, a cash adjustment may be made to the client's account to reflect the effect of a bonus share issue, scrip or rights issue affecting the underlying share. For Share CFDs in a company which is under offer in a takeover situation, IG may not be able to communicate any wish to subscribe to the takeover offer (i.e. 'assent stock').

Where you open a short share CFD position, you will incur a borrow charge. The borrow charge will be accounted for in a daily cash adjustment applied to the account. The charge varies according to the share, is notified to us by our brokers or agents and includes a 0.5% administration fee. The borrow charge, and the ability to hold a short position, can be changed at short notice. To determine whether a borrow charge applies and if so, what the charge is, call our dealers in advance of trading.  

There are four different types of price feed offered on equity markets across the platform: delayed, derived, level 1 and level 2.

In most cases, the delayed price feed is delayed by 15mins, although in some cases it may be 20 mins. The length of the delay is indicated by a small icon containing the number 15 or 20 next to the update time for that instrument. The delayed price feed is free, and is the default offering across all equity instruments unless a real-time free option is available - such as pricing from multilateral trading facilities (MTFs) or derived prices. Markets that show a delayed price will display a ‘start live data’ button in their deal tickets. Clicking this button will change the visible price to a live price for up to ten price updates, before reverting to a 15 or 20 minute delayed price.

Derived prices are real-time prices created from the underlying exchange price. Derived prices have been adjusted in such a way which makes them non-reverse-engineerable, an exchange requirement which allows IG to distribute real-time data without having to charge clients. The adjustment is purely for display purposes and does not affect the execution of trades placed on markets which display derived prices.

Level 1 data is the real-time feed of the top level of the exchange order book. Level 1 data can only be viewed if non-free data is activated in the ‘data feeds’ section of the platform. A monthly fee is charged if activated.

Level 2 data is the real-time feed of the top five levels of the exchange order book. Level 2 data also requires activation, incurs a higher charge than Level 1 data.

For more information please log in to the platform and go to ‘help and support’ in the top-right corner. In the support portal, enter 'derived prices' in the search box.

Please note, our help and support portal is not available on the new IG Trading Platform. 

If you have an open Limited Risk share CFD position where the underlying share is subject to a rights issue or open offer and the subscription price is (a) in or at the money at the closing price of the underlying share on the last trading day for that share immediately before the ex-date, we will treat the rights issue or open offer as being successful and accordingly increase the size of your CFD position to reflect the effect of the rights issue or open offer or (b) out of the money at the closing price of the underlying share on the last trading day for that share immediately before the ex-date, we will treat the rights issue or open offer as not being successful and accordingly leave your CFD position unchanged. This treatment will apply regardless of whether a rights issue or open offer becomes successful after being out of the money at the closing price of the underlying share on the last trading day for that share immediately before the ex-date or is not successful after being in or at the money at the closing price of the underlying share on the last trading day for that share immediately before the ex-date. Importantly, in both situations, we will alter the level of your stop such that the maximum amount you are risking under this open share CFD position remains the same before and after any adjustment is made for the rights issue or open offer.