Interactive Brokers (NASDAQ: IBKR), an automated global electronic broker, is set to enhance the number of offered markets. As part of its latest update, the platform will provide its clients access to shares trading on Nasdaq Copenhagen (CPH) and the Prague Stock Exchange (PSE). As well as that, eligible Nasdaq Copenhagen shares will be available for fractional trading.
Interactive Brokers Adds New European Exchanges
Interactive Brokers serves a diverse clientele spanning more than 200 countries and territories. Currently, it is offering access to over 150 markets worldwide. With the introduction of Danish and Czech stocks, clients have even more investment options.
“Clients seeking to diversify and take advantage of new trading opportunities across geographies in Europe and around the world, can now add Danish and Czech stocks to their portfolios while benefiting from Interactive Brokers’ low costs and the ability to trade products across asset classes from a single unified platform,” Milan Galik, the Chief Executive Officer of Interactive Brokers, commented.
According to Galik, the addition of the two new markets from the Old Continent reinforces the company’s commitment to providing clients with a wide range of investment products.
Regarding trading costs, commission on Danish stocks ranges from 0.015% to 0.05% of the trade value, with a DKK 10.00 minimum per order for tiered pricing based on monthly volume. Fixed pricing has a 0.05% of trade value with a DKK 49.00 minimum per order. As for Czech stocks, the fixed commission is set at 0.15% of the trade value with a CZK 70 minimum per order.
Currently, Interactive Brokers offers stocks and ETFs from 20 European countries, including Germany, the UK, Poland, France, Hungary, Spain and Sweden.
Interactive Brokers Expands Fractional Share Offering
Additionally, clients can fund and trade accounts in up to 26 currencies, including the Danish Krone (DKK) and Czech Koruna (CZK). In the case of Danish stocks, investors were given the option to purchase only fractions of whole shares. The broker first introduced this option before the pandemic, while it has been available in the European market for a year.
“Interactive Brokers was the first big broker to introduce fractional trading in US shares and it’s been very popular with our clients,” Steve Sanders, the EVP of Marketing and Product Development at Interactive Brokers commented in May 2022. “Adding European fractional shares gives investors the opportunity to trade across markets in a more affordable way, in addition to the benefit of investing in more stocks to help clients achieve diversified portfolios.”
Interactive Brokers has been offering fractional shares since November 2019. It was one of the first major retail brokers in the US, right after Charles Schwab, to make such a move. The brokerage opened a new office in Ireland last year to strengthen its local presence.
New Products and Rising Number of Clients
The popular American electronic trading platform recently reported month-over-month (MoM) single-digit growth in its daily average revenue trades (DARTs) and client accounts. While DARTs grew 5% to 1.86 million, the platform’s client accounts rose 2% to 2.26 million in May.
The rising number of clients and DARTs was possible due to the offering which is constantly developing, including the recent launch of crypto trading services in Hong Kong. The addition of digital assets occurred along with growing interest among the broker’s clients.
In February 2023, IBKR presented a brand new instrument dubbed the Stock Yield Enhancement Program (SYEP) Derivatives for traders and investors from Australia. It offers the opportunity to loan stock shares in exchange for cash collateral deposits that mirror the potential earnings from lending out shares.
