What are market restrictions and why do trades get rejected?
Market restrictions are additional rules around how or when a market can be traded. They’re usually driven by events such as corporate actions, legislation changes or are applied as a precautionary measure for risk factor changes.
Such restrictions may either be implemented on a temporary or permanent basis. We indicate if a market is restricted through stock status symbols, deal ticket messages and in the ‘info’ tab of the deal ticket as illustrated below:
1. Market status symbols – found next to the name of the stock:
2. Deal ticket messages – located beneath the ‘sell’ and ‘buy’ buttons:
3. Market info section– in the ‘info’ section of the deal ticket:
General market restriction or trade rejection messages
‘This market is now closed’
This usually occurs when trying to place a trade outside of the market’s trading hours and means new positions can’t be opened currently.
We suggest you check if any bank holidays are affecting the market, as well as looking at the deal ticket to see the market’s trading hours and any other notes. You can also try using a different account type such as a spread betting or CFD account if you’re trying to open a position with a share dealing account – and vice versa.
Closing only’ or ‘you can only place an order to close on this market’
If you currently hold an open position in a market with this restriction applied, you’re only able to close this position – as we’ll not be accepting new positions in this market. This may be a temporary restriction, or a permanent one. There are a few underlying reasons as to why a market may be restricted in this manner:
- The minimum market capitalisation requirement is not met: the stock’s market capitalisation may be too low, resulting in insufficient liquidity for us to support leveraged trading
- Our broker’s margin requirement is too high: the stock is currently too capital intensive for IG to support leveraged trading
- Our risk holding limits are breached: if our net long or short exposure to the specific stock is over our internal risk limits, we’ll be unable to support leveraged trading
- The forward contract is close to expiration: if you’re trying to open a forward contract position, you’d need to consider trading the next available contract(s)
- Guaranteed stops are unavailable: some markets, during certain periods, don’t support guaranteed stops. In such a case, you would need to consider using a normal stop-loss
We suggest looking at the ‘info’ section of the deal ticket for any relevant information. We also recommend researching the stock to see if it has been suspended or a corporate action event has taken place. Click here to find out more about corporate actions.
‘You do not have enough funds in your account. Please deposit funds or reduce the size’
Ensure you have sufficient funds in your account to place your trade as well as maintain a sufficient cash balance for any other charges or fees. Click on your account type below for more information on our charges or fees:
If you’re trading with a spread bet or CFD account, you’ll need to ensure you have sufficient funds to cover your margin requirements as well as pay for any overnight funding applicable. Click here to learn more about margins
‘Sorry, we need some more documentation from you before we can switch on US trading. You’ll find the right forms and further instructions on our website. Just search for “add US stocks”’
If you‘re trying to trade a US stock or a US-incorporated stock listed outside the US, you’ll need to fill in the applicable W8 or W9 US tax form to declare your tax residency.
If you’re an existing individual client, you’ll need to complete an online W-8BEN form before you’ll be able to trade US stocks. Using your web browser, simply login to My IG and navigate to 'dealing US stock' in the 'settings' tab. You’ll be able to trade US stock straight after completion of the online form.
Click here for more information on W9 and W9 forms, as well as procedure for joint accounts, corporate accounts and US citizens.
‘Order type invalid’
‘All Session’ US shares are specific shares we offer to facilitate pre- and post-market trading. If you’d like a trade to be executed pre- or post-market, you’ll need to choose the ‘day (All sessions)’ expiry. If you select ‘day’ as the expiry, the order conditions will only be considered during the main market hours. Other order types will be rejected if placed pre- or post-market hours.
Spread bet and CFD specific market restrictions and error messages
‘This market may not be sold to open due to stock borrowing restrictions in the underlying market. Please see our help portal for an explanation'
This usually occurs when we’re unable to secure sufficient inventory to allow new short positions to be opened with your spread bet or CFD account. In this case, the stock would be considered ‘unborrowable’. However, if you have an existing long/buy position, you may be able to open a short position equal to, or less than, the size of your long position.
Click here to learn more about unborrowable stocks.
Share dealing and ISA specific market restrictions and error messages
‘This is a complex instrument and is currently not eligible to be traded on your account. Please call your normal dealing number for more information’
Some ETFs (exchange traded funds) are labelled as complex instruments when leverage is used – leverage results in higher risk from magnified profits and losses. The use of leverage isn’t suitable for beginner investors.
For example, the ETF ProShares UltraPro QQQ (TQQ.O) tracks the NASDAQ and uses a leverage factor of 2. This means, all else equal, if the NASDAQ increases by 10%, the ETF should also increase by 20% – and vice versa.
If you wish to trade these instruments, please contact our help desk so we can conduct a quick questionnaire to assess your trading experience and your ability to take on higher risks.
‘You are trying to sell more than you currently own. Please check working orders and try again’
This error message occurs when you’re trying to close a position at the current market price while already having a working order of the same stock in place. You’ll need to check your working orders in the ‘orders’ tab of your trading platform and delete the appropriate order.
‘This order takes you over the minimum/maximum size for this market’
Minimum considerations are usually £90, $90 or €90 or equivalent. Maximum considerations for sterling trades are usually capped at £25,000 for ‘on exchange’ orders and £50,000 for ‘at quote’ orders.
If you wish to regularly trade sizes beyond our maximum considerations, please inform us of your requirements as your commission structure for GBP trades will need to be adjusted to a 5-basis point (0.05%). If you don’t wish for your commission structure to be changed, then you’ll need to break up your order into smaller trades. Click here to find out more about the standard commission structure.
‘Only available for trading on leverage’
Several reasons may cause this restriction message. The most common is trading cannabis stock. We currently aren’t facilitating cannabis stock trading through a share dealing or ISA account – thus trades on these stocks will always be rejected. If you wish to trade cannabis-related stocks you’d need to use a spread bet or CFD account. If you only have a share dealing account, you may add a spread bet or CFD account from your My IG dashboard.
‘Exchange check failed’
A common cause for receiving this error message is when using an ‘at quote’ order type and the quote given is outside of the market’s spread. This causes preliminary checks to fail and the order to automatically be rejected. We have this in place to adhere to our best execution policies. After receiving this error message, you can either try to request a new quote or use an ‘on exchange’ order type. If the issue persists, please don’t hesitate to call our helpdesk.
