Deposit requirements represent the money required to execute an investment strategy in a margin account. Investors are subject to Regulation T or FINRA requirements when borrowing money from their broker-dealer.
Regulation T is a rule within the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 requiring investors to make a specified deposit when borrowing money for investment purposes. You may recall the Federal Reserve controls this rule. In most circumstances, investors must deposit 50% of the overall transaction to comply with Regulation T.
FINRA requires a margin equity (ownership) level of $2,000 to make use of margin loans. Applicable margin regulations require a deposit of the greater of their Regulation T and FINRA requirements. Let’s go through an example to understand this concept better.
An investor opens a new margin account and subsequently executes a purchase of 100 shares of ABC stock at $30. What is their deposit requirement?
Can you figure it out?
(spoiler)
Answer = $2,000
The investor purchases $3,000 of stock (100 shares x $30). They must deposit the greater of 50% or $2,000. A 50% deposit equals $1,500. Therefore, the investor must deposit $2,000 to execute this transaction.
What if an investor purchases less than $2,000? For example, an investor buys stock for a total value of $1,200. Does it make sense to require a deposit of $2,000 if their maximum loss was $1,200 (assuming the stock became worthless)? No - it wouldn’t. Therefore, investors only deposit 100% of the transaction if purchasing less than $2,000. Essentially, their account is treated like a cash account.
Margin initial deposit rules for long accounts can are summarized as follows:
Purchase amount
Deposit amount
$2,000 or less
Entire amount
$2,000 - $4,000
$2,000
$4,000 or more
50% (Regulation T)
Investors owning fully-paid securities (those bought without borrowed funds) can avoid typical deposit requirements. These securities can act as collateral in margin accounts, allowing the investor to borrow funds from the broker-dealer without posting cash. In particular, investors can post 2x the cash deposit requirement in fully-paid marginable* securities. For example, let’s assume an investor wants to purchase $10,000 of stock in their new margin account. The standard Regulation T cash deposit requirement is 50%, or $5,000. Instead of posting cash, the investor can transfer $10,000 of fully-paid securities (2 x $5,000) from another account into the new margin account to meet the Regulation T requirement.
*A marginable security can be purchased on margin or utilized as collateral in a margin account. A list of marginable securities is provided later in this chapter.
Short account margin rules
Deposit rules are different for short positions. When an investor sells short, they can lose more than the initial value of the investment. For example, assume an investor goes short 100 shares of stock at $15. Although the initial short position is only $1,500, the investor could lose unlimited money if the stock price increased considerably. If the stock price went to $50, they would be obligated to spend $5,000 repurchasing it ($50 x 100 shares), resulting in a $3,500 loss ($1,500 short sale - $5,000 repurchase).
Due to the heightened risk of short positions, margin rules always require a minimum deposit equaling the greater of 50% or $2,000. Most importantly - even a small initial short position well below $2,000 requires at least a $2,000 deposit. For example:
An investor opens a new margin account and executes a short sale of 10 shares of ABC stock at $40. What is their deposit requirement?
Although the position is only worth $400 (10 shares x $40), the investor must deposit a total of $2,000. Unlike long positions, short sales always require a deposit of at least $2,000. If the same example above was switched to a long purchase of 10 shares at $40, the investor would only be required to deposit $400.
Marginable securities & accounts
Many securities are marginable, meaning they can be purchased with borrowed funds or act as collateral. Marginable securities include:
*The Federal Reserve provides a list of OTC (unlisted) stocks they deem marginable. As a reminder, unlisted stocks are typically volatile and risky. The Fed generally only approves the “best of the worst,” typically the least volatile securities in this group. Here’s an old example of their marginable OTC stock list.
**Primary market offerings include both initial public offerings (IPOs) and mutual funds. These securities can never be purchased on margin with borrowed funds, but they can act as collateral towards a purchase of another security. For example, assume an investor opens an account and buys mutual fund shares with their own money. After 30 days of holding the position, it is worth $10,000. They could purchase $10,000 of a marginable stock (a completely different security) and not deposit any extra funds.
*In recent years, some broker-dealers have introduced “limited margin retirement accounts”. While most non-margin accounts require investors to wait before using unsettled proceeds (e.g., selling stock and using the proceeds immediately), limited margin accounts permit investors to bypass settlement requirements. Other forms of margin, like borrowing funds to purchase new securities, cannot be used. This concept is generally untested, and you should assume retirement accounts cannot use margin.
Regulation T settlement
Regulation T also relates to settlement for both margin and cash accounts. Although securities maintain various settlement times, Regulation T settlement is always two business days after regular-way settlement. This is the last day the cash for a purchase or the securities for a sale can be delivered (investors pay cash when they buy securities and deliver securities when they sell securities).
If an investor does not deliver the required cash or securities by Regulation T settlement, the broker-dealer maintaining custody of their account must take action. They can reach out to the appropriate self-regulatory organization (usually FINRA) and request an extension for the customer, or can close out the position for the client and freeze their account.
If the firm obtains an extension from an SRO, it gives the customer extra time to fulfill their obligation. For example, if a customer owes $10,000 for a recent security purchase, they’ll get a few extra days to make the $10,000 deposit. Extension requests occur infrequently and are sometimes denied.
The more common process is liquidating a customer’s positions and freezing the account. Again, let’s assume a customer owes $10,000 on a recent security purchase. If the required deposit isn’t made by Regulation T settlement (two days after regular settlement), the firm can liquidate $10,000 of securities in the customer’s account. They’ll keep the $10,000 to pay for the transaction, then freeze the customer’s account.
When a brokerage account is frozen, it’s not entirely useless. A customer with a frozen account can perform transactions only if the funds are immediately available. Before the investor submits a trade, they must have the required cash in their account to pay for the purchase. Accounts remain frozen for 90 days.
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