If you've qualified to participate in a rights issue or an open offer, you can manage your elections for each event online in the 'corporate actions' section of My IG by following the steps below:
Log in to My IG
Navigate to the 'live accounts' tab
Select the relevant account from the dropdown menu on the left-hand side
Choose the 'corporate actions' option. Here, you'll find any corporate actions affecting your account. You'll see the stock name, live status and the IG deadline, which is the date by which you'll need to elect for new shares, trade out of them or fund your account
Click on an event to see the actions available to you, plus key information such as subscription prices, ratios and key dates/times. You'll have a range of options to choose from depending on the event and whether the rights are tradable or not
From here, you can choose the action you want to take and follow the on-screen prompts
Possible actions to take on rights issues and open offers:
Elect for new shares
If you select this option, you can then choose the size of the holding you wish to elect for, and the cost to take up the offer will be shown on the calculator (only available for share dealing accounts). The total cost will change depending on the election size (i.e. the number of shares) you manually type into the election box or how much you move the slider back and forth.
When you're happy with your election, click the 'submit' button. A green banner will appear at the top of the screen, confirming your election. You'll then receive written confirmation of your election via your registered email address.
If you change your mind, you can amend your election before the IG deadline. To do so, simply select the relevant event from your dashboard, click on 'edit' to make your changes and then submit as before.
Elect for new shares and oversubscribe
This will only appear as an option if it's possible to oversubscribe for an event. To proceed with the oversubscription, select the relevant option and click on 'continue'.
By selecting the oversubscription option, your basic entitlement will by default be taken up in full and greyed out from editing. You'll need to enter the number of shares for which you'd like to oversubscribe. For share dealing accounts, the calculator will help you work out the costs involved.
It's important to ensure that the basic and excess entitlements are covered by settled cash (ie funds shown as 'available to withdraw') in your account by the IG deadline or the elections may be declined.
Once you've submitted your election, a green banner will appear at the top of the screen, confirming your election. You'll then receive written confirmation of your election via your registered email address.
If you change your mind, you can amend your election before the IG deadline. To do so, simply select the relevant event from your dashboard, click on 'edit' to make your changes and then submit as before.
Trade out rights issue position
Select this option if you want to buy or sell out of a tradable rights issue. Once you've made your selection, click on 'go to IG platform' to trade out of the position during trading hours. You'll need to do this before the IG deadline.
Once you've traded out of your position, the status of the event will change to 'traded out'.
Take no action (IG default)
If you don't want to participate in the event, you can select 'take no action' from the event menu. Note that this is the IG default action, meaning that if you do nothing before the IG deadline, this option will apply automatically.
You can still change your mind at any point for any of these elections, but you have to do so before the IG deadline for that specific event.
Note for short positions on a CFD or spread betting account
Doing nothing could mean having the rights removed around the pay date and potentially having a new short position in the stock booked at the subscription price.
Because you're short, you may have a position that's larger than your original entitlement – for which you'll be liable – booked on to your account at the pay date.