Increase your exposure and potential profits, with up to 3.3x leverage on individual stocks and ETFs.
Use cash or securities on your account as collateral for a margin loan.
Pay just HKD 40 to trade HK stocks – the same rates you receive on our standard trading account.
Increase your buying power in stocks and ETFs listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and US exchanges.
You can trade with up to 3.3x leverage, depending on the stocks or ETFs you choose to trade. Each stock and ETF has a risk rating of 1 to 6, with a specific collateral value attached to each rating group. A rating 1 stock, for example, has a collateral value of 70%.
| Stock’s and ETF’s risk rating | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collateral value haircut (equivalent to margin requirement) | 30% | 30% | 30% | 30% | 50% | 100% |
| Collateral value | 70% | 70% | 70% | 70% | 50% | 0% |
| Implied leverage | 3.3x | 3.3x | 3.3x | 3.3x | 2.0x | n.a |
| VIP | Platinum | Classic | |
| HKD | 1M HIBOR + 2.70% | 1M HIBOR + 4.00% | 1M HIBOR + 4.90% |
| USD | 1M LIBOR + 2.32% | 1M LIBOR + 3.20% | 1M LIBOR + 4.70% |
We offer three levels of pricing depending on your account tier.
| Exchange | VIP | Platinum | Classic |
 NYSE | 0.007 USD/share (Min. USD 3) | 0.0085 USD/share (Min. USD 7) | 0.01 USD/share (Min. USD 10) |
| Nasdaq (XETRA) | 0.007 USD/share (Min. USD 3) | 0.0085 USD/share (Min. USD 7) | 0.01 USD/share (Min. USD 10) |
 HKEX | 0.08% (Min. HKD 40) | 0.08% (Min. HKD 40) | 0.08% (Min. HKD 40) |
Once you’ve created and funded your margin lending account, placing a trade is easy. Please note that you will receive multiple sub-accounts in different currencies.
In the trade ticket, simply select ‘margin lending’ account before placing your order. You can see the impact of the trade on your collateral utilisation at the bottom of the ticket.
Under ‘Trading Conditions’, you can find key information about the stock or ETF you want to trade, including its risk rating, collateral value and maximum collateral amount.
In the ‘Account Details’ section, you can see information about your margin lending account, including your loan and collateral utilisation.
Imagine you deposited USD 10,000 on your Margin Lending account and plan to buy 1,000 shares in the US listed Stock ABC, priced at USD 25/share.
Stock ABC has a risk rating 1, with an initial collateral value of 63% and maintenance collateral value of 70% (haircut = 30%). This means you’ll need to put up 37% of the transaction value as collateral (cash or positions) to open the position. This will give you an effective leverage of up to 2.70x your capital at the time of opening.
After the trade, your net cash balance will change from USD 10,000 to minus USD 15,000, since you have now borrowed USD 15,000 to finance the position value of USD 25,000.
After the trade you will have utilised 86% of your account’s maintenance collateral value. That means you’ll have USD 750 left as unused initial collateral to open new positions worth up to USD 2,027 (assuming a risk rating 1 stock with 63% initial collateral value).
| Pre Trade | Post Trade | ||
 |  | ||
| Position details - Stock ABC | Position details - Stock ABC | ||
| # shares | - | # shares | 1,000.00 |
| Share Price | - | Share Price (USD) | 25.00 |
| Market Value | - | Market Value (USD) | 25,000.00 |
| Risk Rating | - | Risk Rating | 1.00 |
| Initial Collateral Value (%) | - | Initial Collateral Value (%) | 63% |
| Maintenance Collateral Value (%) | - | Maintenance Collateral Value (%) | 70% |
| Haircut (Maintenance Margin Req., %) | - | Haircut (Maintenance Margin Req., %) | 30% |
Please note that the above example does not take transactional costs (commissions etc) and financing costs (interest) when holding the position overnight into account.
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