What is collateral and how do I set it up?

With an IG professional account you can use up to 95% of the shares in your share dealing account’s value to cover margin requirements on your spread bets or CFDs – instead of cash.

Your shareholdings will remain intact and retain their full value, as you use a percentage of their worth as collateral to fund short-term trades. You can generally use 75% - 95% of the value of your shareholdings as collateral, depending on the liquidity of the shares. The values associated with each share can be found on our regularly updated shares list.

To set up collateral shares, you'll need a professional account with at least one share dealing account and one margin account (spread betting or CFD). You can then link a margin account to your share dealing account as follows:

1. Log in to your My IG dashboard using your web browser
2. Click on 'live accounts'
3. Click on 'set up collateral'
4. Follow the on screen prompts

Once linked you can use a percentage of the value of your share portfolio as collateral to cover the margin on your spread bets or CFDs – depending on your portfolio.

Please note any running losses will need to be covered by the available cash in your margin account.

Could I lose my shares?

If you aren’t able to deposit additional funds to cover a losing spread bet or CFD trade on a retail account, we will close the spread bet or CFD trade(s) and notify you. While negative balance protection is a regulatory requirement for retail traders, professional clients don’t have access to negative balance protection on CFD and spread bet accounts.

Please ensure you have enough cash in your spread betting or CFD account – or transferable cash – to cover any losses you may incur.

Can I use an ISA for collateral?

ISA accounts can’t be used for collateral. Our collateral service is limited to the value of shares held in an IG share dealing account.