Interactive Brokers Leverage: Complete Guide by Account and Market

Interactive Brokers offers its clients maximum leverage of 1:30. In trading, using Interactive Brokers leverage is a necessary step in managing your capital. It lets you increase your exposure to a financial market while tying up only part of your budget.

Leverage by Account Type

Leverage varies depending on the type of account you want to use. Interactive Brokers gives you access to leverage ratios that are among the highest available. To avoid as much risk as possible, you can use leverage according to the type of account you have. It can range from 1:1 up to 1000:1. Thanks to stock market leverage, users can also trade flexibly. What’s more, they can use the same margin requirements.

Here is the trading leverage by account type.

If this topic interests you, also read “xStation Leverage” and “The Best 1000x Leverage”.

Leverage by Regulator and by Market

Below is a table showing the markets and the regulators

As you can see, Interactive Brokers leverage differs from one market to another. You will need to be careful when choosing the leverage you want. Here is our Interactive Brokers review.

CySEC – Cyprus

For traders who choose European regulation, Interactive Brokers leverage set by CySEC is as follows:

• 1:20 for gold
• 1:30 for major currency pairs
• 1:20 for other currency pairs
• 1:20 for major stock indices
• 1:10 for other stock indices
• 1:10 for commodities other than gold
• 1:5 for other instruments such as shares

ASIC – Australia

Under the restrictions imposed by ASIC, the Australian regulator, Interactive Brokers leverage for this market is as follows:

• 1:20 for gold
• 1:15 for stock indices
• 1:10 for commodities other than gold
• 1:5 for other instruments such as shares
• 1:20 for all currency pairs

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IFSC – Belize

Under the rules of the IFSC, the Belize regulator, the broker is allowed to raise its leverage to 1:888. Here are a few details, however:

• 1:50 for the currency pairs USDRUB, EURRUB, USDCNH, USDHKD, USDDKK, GBPDKK, EURHKD, EURDKK
• 1:100 for EURTRY and USDTRY
• 1:400 for CHF currency pairs
• 1:400 for metals such as silver

DFSA – Dubai

For the market regulated by the DFSA, leverage for retail traders is limited as follows:

• 1:50 for major currency pairs
• 1:20 for other currency pairs
• 1:50 for gold
• 1:50 for major stock indices
• 1:20 for commodities other than gold
• 1:5 for other instruments such as shares and bonds

For professional clients, the limits are:

• 1:400 for all major currency pairs
• 1:100 for gold
• 1:10 for major stock indices
• 1:10 for commodities other than gold
• 1:5 for other instruments, namely bonds and shares

FCA – UK

Under the FCA limits, leverage is as follows:

• 1:30 for major currency pairs
• 1:20 for other currency pairs
• 1:20 for gold
• 1:20 for major stock indices
• 1:10 for other stock indices
• 1:10 for commodities other than gold
• 1:5 for other instruments such as shares

Interactive Brokers Leverage Compared with Other Brokers

Interactive Brokers offers some of the best leverage on the financial markets. To help you choose easily, here is a comparison table of the leverage offered by different brokers.

	Broker	Maximum Leverage Offered
	Interactive Brokers	This broker offers maximum leverage of 1:30
	Vantage FX	The maximum leverage offered by this broker is 1:500
	Axi	You get maximum leverage of 1:400 on AxiTrader
	Admiral Markets	The highest leverage on Admiral Markets is 1:30
	Libertex	This broker offers leverage of 1:30
	FXPrimus	Leverage at this broker can go up to 1:500.

The Risks of Leverage

Under normal conditions, a trader using Interactive Brokers leverage could make substantial profits. However, it carries significant risks that you need to watch out for. With Interactive Brokers leverage, if you do not know how to manage your risk properly, you will instead be heading for large financial losses.
You therefore need to be careful. Let’s take an example. If Interactive Brokers lets you use leverage of 1:100, it means among other things that you can trade a position worth $100,000 with $1,000 of capital. In this case, your investment capacity is 100 times higher than before leverage. Some brokers offer leverage of 1:500. With these brokers, you can take a position worth 500 times your initial budget, i.e. invest $500,000 with an account showing a value of $1,000.

How to Change Your Leverage

You can change your Interactive Brokers leverage whenever you think it is necessary. Changing your leverage effectively can help you avoid losses. This is usually done on your personal account settings page, which you can reach from the dashboard of the platform you use. If needed, you can search for the “Leverage” option in your account settings. Once you have found it, all you have to do is choose the “Change leverage” option.
Note that you cannot ask to change your Interactive Brokers leverage at any time. This can only be done once every 24 hours. In addition, you must make sure that no orders are pending. More precisely, you cannot touch your Interactive Brokers leverage while you have open trading positions. You may also end up on a trading platform with specific rules. Some base their approval of a leverage change on the amount of equity you have.

The maximum multipliers on an account can also depend on the trading platform you use. On some sites, for example, maximum leverage can reach 500. You should also take into account the instrument you want to trade to know what leverage is possible. MT4, for example, offers the following maximum leverage:

• 100 for equity above 50,001 USD
• 200 for equity between 5,001 and 50,000 USD
• 500 for equity between 100 and 5,000 USD

Have you already used leverage in your trading? Share your experience with the community in the comments!