Study Notes:
IBKR offers institutional accounts such as advisors, brokers, Hedge Fund managers, and proprietary trading accounts the ability to appoint authorizers to approve requests as an additional level of security for administrative functions. For example, the CFO can approve all withdrawals and position transfer requests that are initially submitted by junior level employees.
How to configure authorizers?
Authorizers are managed within the Account Portal under the Head & Shoulders icon and then Settings. Click the User Access Rights button at the top of the page and locate the Authorizers box towards the bottom.
Authorizers can be configured for:
- Incoming and outgoing position transfers
- Modifying banking information
- Withdrawal requests, and
- Internal fund transfers between IBKR accounts.
To view the current authorizers for a specific function, click the View Authorizer(s) link to display a popup showing all current authorizers required for the function, and which users are authorizers.
There are two levels of authorizers: Primary and Secondary. A Primary Authorizer is the highest level of approval while a Secondary Authorizer is the next level of approval. There are also Dual Authorizers, who can serve as both Primary and Secondary Authorizer.
For example, the company might require additional layers of security for funding withdrawals. In this case the CEO and CIO are added as users to the account, and the CEO will operate as the Primary Authorizer and the CIO as the Secondary Authorizer.
Click the configure gear icon to manage the number of authorizers required for the specific function. Use the drop-down menus to select how many primary or secondary authorizers are needed. When ready, click Continue to review the changes before clicking Continue once more.
How are individual users permissioned to be authorizers?
Security Officers can manage which individuals are listed as Authorizers by navigating to the Users box on the Users & Access Rights page. If the desired individual has an existing username, the access rights can be configured by selecting the Pencil edit icon and clicking Continue until the Funding Access page is reached. If the access right for the desired function is checked off, the drop-down menu for authorizer type will appear and the security officer can select from:
- No Authorization Rights
- Primary Authorizer, or
- Secondary Authorizer.
Once the desired changes are made, click Continue to review the changes and select Continue once more to submit the changes. The individual will now be listed as an active authorizer for the selected functions.
Additional Security Officer Approvals
In addition to funding tasks, there can be additional individuals required to approve any new users added to the account or approve any changes to the access rights for existing users.
To change the number of Security Officer Approvals required for these changes, download the form withing the Additional Security Officer Approvals panel and follow the instructions on the form.
How do Authorizers approve the submitted requests?
When a request has been submitted that needs an authorizer’s approval, the authorizer can login to their portal and view and approve the request under the Notification bell icon and select Pending Items.
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If you have a general question, it may already be covered in our FAQs. If you have an account-specific question or concern, please reach out to Client Services.