[{"q":"How do I open an IC Markets Share Trading account?","a":"To open a Share Trading account, please click on this link and follow the simple online account opening process."},{"q":"Can I select an existing Bank Account for settlement purposes?","a":"Yes. During the application process, there will be an option to nominate a bank account to use for trade settlement purposes. Simply provide this information and the relevant documentation to have this set up once your share trading account is established.

Note: the nominated bank account is required to be in the same name as your share trading account."},{"q":"What types of accounts can I open?","a":"There are various types of Share Trading accounts that you can open, depending on your requirements. These include:

• Individual account: This type of account is for a single applicant.
• Joint account: A joint account can be opened by two or more applicants who can trade jointly.
• Corporate account: If you want to open an account for a company, you can choose a corporate account.
• Trust account: A trust account is suitable for those who want to open an account under a trust, such as a family trust or an account for a minor.
• SMSF account: If you want to open an account under your Self-Managed Super Fund, you can opt for an SMSF account.

"},{"q":"Can I open a Share Trading account for my child under 18 years of age?","a":"Yes. An account can be opened for a child under the parent or guardian’s name.

For example, John Citizen has a 3-year-old child named Phillip Citizen. John, being the adult, will act as the trustee until Phillip turns 18. The account will be set up in the following manner:

MR JOHN CITIZEN
PHILLIP CITIZEN A/C
50 CARRINGTON STREET
SYDNEY NSW 2000

Upon reaching the age of 18, Phillip Citizen can assume ownership of the shares, and the shares can be transferred to his name."},{"q":"Can I link my existing Margin Lending facility to my IC Markets Share Trading account?","a":"No. We currently do not support DVP settlement, which is required to settle a Margin Lending account. For more details, please contact our office on +61 (0) 2 8000 7848 or shares@icmarkets.com.au."},{"q":"How long does it take to process my application?","a":"Opening your share trading account involves several components. If your application is verified electronically, please keep the following timeline in mind:

In case you requested a HIN transfer, the process may take up to 72 hours.

You will be notified via email as soon as your account is ready to be used!"},{"q":"Is there a fee to open a Share Trading account with IC Markets?","a":"No. It is free to open a Share Trading account with us. Simply click here to start the process."},{"q":"My application could not be verified electronically, what is the next process?","a":"If you haven't already uploaded the required documents, please check your email inbox, including the Spam folder, for an email from us requesting these documents. Once we receive the necessary documents, our IC Markets Accounts team will review your application."},{"q":"How do I fund my share trading account?","a":"Your share trading account is linked to your Share Wallet, which is established as part of the application process. Simply deposit funds from your nominated bank account, and once cleared the available balance will be credited into your Share Wallet and available to conduct trades on the trading platform the following day."},{"q":"Can I use any bank account?","a":"No. Your nominated bank account is required to be in the same name as your share trading account.

For example:

• Share trading account name - MR JOHN CITIZEN
• Bank account name - MR JOHN CITIZEN

"},{"q":"When can I withdraw the funds from the sale of my shares?","a":"The sell trade settlement will take place two business days after the trade date, also referred to as T+2 Settlement. During this time, the net amount from the trade will be processed and credited to your Share Wallet, with the transaction typically occurring after 5pm Sydney time. Once the amount is available in your Share Wallet, you can choose to withdraw it to your nominated bank account."},{"q":"Does IC Markets offer investment advice?","a":"IC Markets does not provide personal advice. The advice provided by IC Markets is general in nature and does not take into consideration the specific personal objectives, financial situation, or needs of any individual. It is important for investors to consider their own circumstances and seek independent financial advice before making any investment decisions."},{"q":"What are Issuer Sponsored Holdings?","a":"Issuer Sponsored holdings are those held directly with the Share Registry and not through a CHESS participant. These holdings are identified by a Security Reference Number (SRN) that usually starts with an 'I'. You can find your SRN on a holding statement or by contacting the company's share registry."},{"q":"What is a share registry?","a":"A share registry is a contracted organization responsible for recording shareholding details, managing specific corporate events and issuing statements. One of the most commonly known share registries is Computershare, which serves listed companies including ANZ, BHP, Flight Centre and NAB, among others."},{"q":"Where can I find the contact details of share registries?","a":"To locate the share registry of a listed company, navigate to the ASX website and enter the ASX code or the company name (e.g. FLT or Flight Centre) in the search bar. Typically, the Share Registry information is located at the bottom of the page."},{"q":"What is CHESS?","a":"CHESS (Clearing House Electronic Sub register System), is an automated system owned and operated by the ASX. CHESS plays a vital role in clearing and settling trades and keeping the shareholding registry details updated. With CHESS, sponsored accounts are assigned a unique HIN (Holder Identification Number) where all share investments are securely held."},{"q":"What is a HIN?","a":"The HIN (Holder Identification Number) is a confidential and distinctive identifier assigned by CHESS to an account and its registered holdings. Your HIN begins with the letter 'X' and can be found on a CHESS statement. An example of a HIN is X00123456789."},{"q":"What is a ‘Corporate Action’?","a":"Corporate Actions are decisions and events carried out by a company to bring material changes to its organization and stakeholders. Examples of corporate actions include rights issues, share splits, acquisitions and dividends."},{"q":"What is a Dividend?","a":"A dividend is a portion of a company's earnings that is distributed to investors as a reward for investing in the company."},{"q":"What is a Record date?","a":"The record date is the date on which the share registry closes its database to determine which shareholders are eligible to receive the dividend."},{"q":"What is Ex-Dividend (ex div)?","a":"The ex-dividend date is the day when the entitlement to the dividend is determined and the dividend value is no longer attributed to the share. If you purchase shares on or after the ex-dividend date, you will not be entitled to receive the dividend."},{"q":"What is a Broker PID (Participant Identification Number)?","a":"The PID (Participant Identification Number) serves as an identifier for all settlement participants involved in the transfer of a HIN or shareholdings from one broker to another. It is a necessary requirement to facilitate the transfer process."},{"q":"What is the PID for IC Markets?","a":"FinClear is the settlement participant for IC Markets and uses PID (Participant Identification Number) 3556."},{"q":"Where do my dividend payments go?","a":"You can nominate your preferred bank account for receiving dividend payments through various methods:

• During the application process, you can nominate your bank account for dividend payments.
• You can complete a Direct Debit and Credit Authority form to nominate your bank account.
• You can contact the share registry directly to provide your bank details.
• If the share registry does not have your bank details, they will default to issuing a cheque for your dividend payment.

"},{"q":"Can I buy Exchange Traded Funds using your platform?","a":"No, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are not currently available to trade on our share trading platform."},{"q":"What is a Bid price?","a":"A 'Bid' refers to the level of demand for a particular security. The best bid price is the highest price that an investor is willing to pay."},{"q":"What is an Ask / Offer price?","a":"An 'Ask' or 'Offer' refers to the level of supply for a particular security. The best ask or offer price is the lowest price at which an investor is willing to sell."},{"q":"What is a Price step?","a":"Price steps refer to the natural interval movements of an ASX security's price. The price steps vary among ASX securities and are dependent on the price range at which they are traded."},{"q":"What does a Market to Limit order mean?","a":"A Market-to-Limit order is executed as a market order at the prevailing best price. If the order is not entirely filled, the outstanding portion is placed as a limit order at the price at which the filled portion was executed."},{"q":"Why are my “Market to limit orders” getting rejected?","a":"During auction phases such as Pre-open and Pre CSPA (Closing Single Price Auction), you can only place limit orders instead of Market to Limit orders. Once the market opens, you may place Market to Limit orders."},{"q":"Is there a minimum value for buying shares?","a":"The minimum value for purchasing shares, excluding brokerage fees, is $500, which is also known as the minimum marketable parcel rule. However, there is no minimum requirement to place a sell order."},{"q":"What is the maximum order value I can place on a single order?","a":"The maximum order value per order is set to $100,000. If you want to place an order greater than $100,000, you can do so by placing multiple orders.

For example, if you want to place an order in CBA worth $225,000, you would need to place three orders: two orders for $100,000 each, and one order for $25,000. The relevant brokerage fees will apply accordingly."},{"q":"Why can’t I place orders too far away from the current market price?","a":"To maintain an orderly market, orders should be placed at or close to current market prices. Although it is possible to place orders that are up to 50% away from the market price, there is no guarantee that such orders will not be canceled if the price fluctuates significantly."},{"q":"What order types are available?","a":"The platform offers two order types:

• Limit order: An instruction to buy or sell a stock at a specified price.
• Market-to-Limit order: A market order that gets executed immediately at the best available price, and if partially filled, the remaining quantity is converted into a limit order at the price of the executed portion.

"},{"q":"What is an Auction phase?","a":"The opening auction phase is a period when orders can be entered, but they are not immediately matched as bids and asks orders can overlap. At the end of the auction, an equilibrium price is calculated based on the overlapping bids and offers, and the orders are traded at the matched price. Only limit orders can be placed during this phase."},{"q":"What time does the ASX market open and close?","a":"The normal trading hours for ASX equities are between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM AEST, Monday to Friday."},{"q":"What are Staggered Group opening times?","a":"During the open phase (from 9:59:45 to 10:09:15), securities open in staggered stages based on the starting letter of their ASX code. This allows time for investors to prioritize and place their orders accordingly."},{"q":"When would an order typically get rejected?","a":"An order may get rejected for several reasons, including but not limited to:

• The price entered is outside the acceptable range from the current market price.
• Attempting to sell a stock that is not owned.
• Insufficient funds in your Share Wallet account to place a buy order.
• Buy orders exceeding $100,000 in value
• The order breaches ASIC Market Integrity Rules.

"},{"q":"What markets / products can I trade?","a":"IC Markets offers trading access to ASX listed company shares.

Currently, LICs and ETFs are not currently available to trade on our share trading platform."},{"q":"Are shares that are purchased through IC Markets CHESS sponsored?","a":"Yes. All shares that are bought through IC Markets are CHESS sponsored and registered to your unique HIN."},{"q":"Can I trade in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)?","a":"No, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are not currently available to trade on our share trading platform."},{"q":"Are there any charges for amending or canceling my orders?","a":"You can only amend or cancel unfilled orders during permitted times. Once an order is fully filled, the trade is booked to your account and a contract note is sent to you. Fully filled orders cannot be amended or canceled."},{"q":"How long are my orders valid for?","a":"There are three different order validity options when placing your orders:

• Good till Cancel: unfilled orders will remain active until you cancel them or they get purged by the ASX.
• Good for Day: unfilled orders will be purged by the end of the day.
• Good till Date: unfilled orders will remain active until the specified date or until they get purged by the ASX.

However, it is important to note that the order expiry is subject to ASX & Market Rules. For example, if a security announces a corporate event such as a dividend, orders in the market will be purged, and you will need to re-enter your order if you wish to do so."},{"q":"What is a purged order?","a":"Orders that are placed in the market can be purged (canceled) by the ASX for various reasons, such as when a security announces an ex-dividend date. This allows investors to re-evaluate their order and resubmit if necessary."},{"q":"When does my Buy or Sell trade settle?","a":"

• Buy trades: funds are required to be credited and available in your Share Wallet before you are able to place a buy trade on the trading platform. If you intend to trade, it is essential to allow sufficient time to transfer funds from your nominated bank account into your Share Wallet to cover the amount you plan to trade with.
• Sell trades: the net amount will be processed and credited to your Share Wallet in T+2, with the transaction typically occurring after 5pm Sydney time. Once the funds are available in your Share Wallet, you can choose to withdraw to your nominated bank account.

"},{"q":"What is a Limit order?","a":"A Limit order is an instruction to buy or sell a stock at a specific price or better. A buy limit order can only be executed at the limit price or lower, and a sell limit order can only be executed at the limit price or higher. If the limit order cannot be executed immediately, it will remain active until it can be executed at the specified limit price or better, or otherwise canceled."},{"q":"What is the difference between CFD and Shares?","a":"

The main difference between trading shares and CFDs is that CFDs won’t give you any ownership of the underlying asset whilst trading shares will. For this reason, CFDs are more complex financial products with a higher risk of losing money due to leverage.

Investing is usually for long-term affairs with limited risk and CFD trading is speculating on financial markets, usually a short-term affair and with higher risk.

For IC Shares, the platform used is FinClear, whereas CFDs use MT4, MT5 and cTrader.

"},{"q":"Can I have multiple HINs with different brokers?","a":"Yes. While it's possible to have multiple HINs with different brokers, it's important to note that each broker can only establish one HIN per account type and set of details."},{"q":"How do I transfer my existing HIN held with another Broker over to IC Markets?","a":"During the application process, you can choose to transfer your existing HIN by selecting the 'Transfer my existing HIN' option and providing your current broker's information. We can assist you by pre-filling the HIN transfer form, which you will need to complete, sign, and return to us.

Once we receive your HIN, we will notify you via email that your share trading account is ready to be used."},{"q":"How long will it take for my HIN to come across to my IC Markets Share Trading account?","a":"After receiving your completed, signed HIN transfer form, the transfer process may take up to 3 business days. However, there could be additional delays because we rely on the counterparty to release your HIN to us.

We will keep you informed of the transfer progress via email and notify you when your HIN has been successfully transferred and your share trading account is ready to use."},{"q":"I already have a HIN with IC Markets but want to transfer my other HIN with another Broker over to IC Markets. What is the process?","a":"Since you already have a HIN with us and can only have one HIN per broker, you can transfer your shareholdings individually over to your IC Markets Share Trading HIN by simply completing our share transfer form."},{"q":"How do I transfer selected shares from my other broker over to IC Markets Share Trading account?","a":"To transfer Individual share holdings, please complete our Stock transfer form and return it to shares@icmarkets.com.au. You’ll be notified by email once the transfer has been completed."},{"q":"How long will it take for my shareholding to come across to my IC Markets Share Trading account?","a":"The transfer process can take around 3 business days once we’ve received your signed, completed form. There may be further delays as we rely on the counterparty to release your shares over to us. You’ll be notified by email once your shares have arrived."},{"q":"How do I sell my Issuer Sponsored holdings through IC Markets?","a":"In order to sell your Issuer shares through IC Markets, you'll need to convert your Issuer sponsored holding to your IC Markets HIN account. This process can be initiated by downloading and completing our Issuer to HIN conversion form. Once we receive your completed form, we'll promptly process your request and notify you via email as soon as your shares are available on your account."},{"q":"How do I find the PID of my existing Broker?","a":"The PID (Participant Identification Number) serves as an identifier for all settlement participants involved in the transfer of a HIN or shareholdings from one broker to another. It is a necessary requirement to facilitate the transfer process. While filling in any transfer form with us, you will see a dropdown menu to help you easily find and select the PID allocated to each broker. You can find a list of common broker PIDs here. For a full list of broker and settlement participants, please visit the ASX website."},{"q":"Are there fees associated with transferring my HIN to IC Markets Share Trading account?","a":"If the registration details for both accounts match, transferring your HIN to IC Markets will not incur any charges. Before initiating this process, it is recommended that you check and confirm that your registration details match."},{"q":"Are there fees associated with transferring Individual Shareholdings to IC Markets?","a":"If the registration details for both accounts match, transferring your individual shareholdings to IC Markets will not incur any charges. Before initiating this process, it is recommended that you check and confirm that your registration details match."},{"q":"What is an Off-Market Transfer (OMT)?","a":"An Off-Market Transfer (OMT) is a transaction where beneficial ownership of a shareholding is transferred from one party to another. An example of an OMT is when you transfer your shareholding as a gift to a friend or family member.

There is a fee of $27.50 (inclusive of GST) per shareholding for an OMT, which will be charged to your share trading account. You need to ensure you have sufficient funds in your Share wallet to process this request.

Please note that it is recommended to seek advice from a tax accountant for any potential tax implications related to OMTs."},{"q":"Do I get my own Individual HIN when I create an IC Markets Share Trading account?","a":"Yes, when you open a share trading account with IC Markets, a new HIN (Holder Identification Number) will be created under your registered name and address, unless you specify to transfer your HIN from another broker. This new HIN will be linked to your share trading account.

To keep a record of this new HIN, the share registry will mail a CHESS statement to your registered address containing your HIN details."},{"q":"How do I update my address details?","a":"Please complete our change of address form and return to shares@icmarkets.com.au."},{"q":"How do I change my email address for receiving trade Confirmations / Contract Notes?","a":"Please send us an email to shares@icmarkets.com.au from your current registered email address and your request will be processed accordingly."},{"q":"Can I add more emails for trade Confirmations / Contract Notes","a":"Please send us an email to shares@icmarkets.com.au from your current registered email address and your request will be processed accordingly."},{"q":"Is my identity secure with SwiftID?","a":"Yes, SwiftID only retains your identity information during the account processing period. Their cybersecurity practices comply with the highest industry standards. For additional information, please refer to the SwiftID website."}]