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FAQs
Margin Lending Learning Centre - Frequently Asked Questions
- Is a Margin Lending Facility and a Margin Loan the same thing?
- What can I use as security against my Margin Lending Facility?
- What is an Acceptable Securities List?
- When I borrow funds, what can I use them for?
- Can I have more than one Margin Lending Facility?
- How do I lodge my shares as security?
- Can I sell the shares I lodge with you as security?
- How do I buy and sell shares through my Margin Lending Facility?
- How do I buy and sell managed fund investments through my Margin Lending Facility?
- How long does it take to have my Margin Lending Facility approved?
- How soon can I start trading?
- How can I access my Margin Lending Facility?
- Can I get a loan drawdown?
- How does St.George Margin Lending manage stock ownership?
- What is a margin call?
- How do I know I am in a margin call?
- How can you provide or update your contact details to receive electronic notices?
- How can you provide or update your contact details to receive electronic notices?
- How can I rectify a margin call position on my margin loan?
- What is the buffer?
- How is the buffer amount determined?
- How can I find out my buffer amount?
- How will I know when I’m ‘in buffer’?
- How will I know when I’m in margin call?
- How will I know when I have exceeded my borrowing limit?
- Can I purchase more security using a loan when I am in buffer?
- When will a trade of stock/funds affect my buffer amount?
- Will I be notified when I am in buffer?
- How can I obtain more information about my buffer?
- Do fees & charges apply when I use Internet Account Access?
- How secure is Internet Account Access?
- Is my account information 'real time'?
- Does my financial adviser automatically have Internet Account Access to my account?
- What is a CMA?
- What are the benefits of a CMA?
- What is the cost of setting up the CMA?
- Under what name is the CMA set up?
- Do I need to provide a TFN or ABN? What are the implications if I don’t?
- Is there a minimum balance required to be maintained?
- How do I deposit funds into my CMA?
- When is my deposit reflected in the CMA?
- Is there an overdraft facility on my CMA?
- Where can I check my CMA details?
- Do I earn interest on my CMA balance?
- How do I transfer funds between the CMA and my margin loan?
- Can I change the option of transferring funds between the CMA and my margin loan?
- When are funds transferred between the CMA and my margin loan?
- How do I access the money in the CMA?
- What fees do I need to pay on the CMA?
- Do I receive statements for the CMA? How often?
- Why is a CMA set up with a Savings Gearing Loan?
- Why is a CMA set up with a Protected Loan?
Margin Lending
Q. Is a Margin Lending Facility and a Margin Loan the same thing?
A. No. The term Margin Lending Facility refers to your actual account structure i.e. the combination of your security and loan(s) which you manage as an investment vehicle. A Margin Loan is simply the dollar value that you can borrow using your existing shares, managed funds or cash as security.
Q. What can I use as security against my Margin Lending Facility?
A. You can use cash, shares, managed funds or master trusts which are included on the St.George Margin Lending Acceptable Securities List.
Q. What is an Acceptable Securities List?
A. This is a list containing a range of securities - shares, managed funds and master trusts - that St.George Margin Lending will accept as collateral, or security, against your Margin Lending Facility.
Q. When I borrow funds, what can I use them for?
A. You can use the funds you borrow to increase your investments in shares or managed funds or for business purposes, such as purchasing new equipment or expansion.
Q. Can I have more than one Margin Lending Facility?
A. Yes. However you need to provide separate security for each Margin Lending Facility.
Q. How do I lodge my shares as security?
A. If your existing holdings are Issuer Sponsored we require copies of your latest Issuer Sponsored Holding Statements with a request to convert these shares onto your account. If your existing holdings are currently Broker Sponsored please request your broker to transfer your shares to our CHESS sponsorship, or complete the share transfer form on our website.
Q. Can I sell the shares I lodge with you as security?
A. You may always sell any of the shares in your portfolio including those you originally lodged as security. As your broker will deliver the proceeds of the sale directly to us, the sale funds will automatically pay down your loan balance.
Q. How do I buy and sell shares through my Margin Lending Facility?
A. You can buy and sell shares through the broker of your choice. You will need to advise them that your trades are to be settled through your Margin Lending facility and that a copy of the contract note must also be sent to St.George Margin Lending so we can settle them on your behalf.
Q. How do I buy and sell managed fund investments through my Margin Lending Facility?
A. Complete the application form included in the managed fund prospectus and return it to St.George Margin Lending for processing. To sell a managed fund investment, you need to complete and return a Managed fund redemption Request.
Q. How long does it take to have my Margin Lending Facility approved?
A. For an individual applicant, approval will take 24-48 hours. A company or trust applicant should allow up to 5 working days.
Q. How soon can I start trading?
A. Before you can start trading St.George Margin Lending needs to have any security you are offering lodged and confirmed. Shares generally take between 2 and 5 working days. Managed funds take between 5-10 working days, as these need to be transferred into our nominee name. Cash security is available as soon as the funds are cleared.
Q. How can I access my Margin Lending Facility?
A. You can access your St.George Margin Lending Facility a number of ways:
- By phone. Simply call 1300 304 065 (+61 2 9236 3130), or fax: 1300 179 540 (Within Australia) or +61 2 9995 8292 8am-6pm, AEST, Monday to Friday
- Contacting our adviser.
Q. Can I get a loan drawdown?
A. Yes, you can get a loan advance. Simply put the request in writing or complete the Drawdown Request form on our website and fax it to your personal Account Manager .
Q. How does St.George Margin Lending manage stock ownership?
A. St.George Margin Lending has never been, nor is currently a stock lender. All stock lodged with St.George Margin Lending as security for a margin loan is held under your own Holder Identification Number (HIN) with the Bank's nominee company, "Value Nominees Pty Limited", being the CHESS sponsor for the stock until such times as the loan is repaid. Voting and income rights continue with you unless there is an event of default by the client.
Margin Calls
Q. What is a margin call?
A. A margin call occurs when falls in the value of your security cause your current loan balance to exceed your borrowing limit plus your buffer. If this occurs you must repay part of your loan at the time and on the day we indicate you must rectify the margin call (normally by 2pm Sydney time on the next business day after your loan has moved into a margin call – sometimes you need to act sooner).
Important Information: Please ensure that you notify us of any action taken in relation to a margin call prior to the time indicated for you to rectify the margin call (normally by 2pm Sydney time on the next business day after your loan has moved into a margin call –sometimes you need to act sooner). You can do this by:
- Calling 1300 304 065 8am–6pm Monday to Friday and speaking with one of our Account Managers or;
- E-mailing us at including details of your account name and number and what action you have taken to restore your position
- 1300 179 540 (Within Australia) or +61 2 9995 8292 including details of your account name and number and what action you have taken to restore your position
Q. How do I know I am in a margin call?
A. It is your responsibility to regularly monitor your account and manage your facility position. You can do so by logging on to your margin lending Internet Account Access. In the event of a margin call, we will also try to contact you either by phone, email, SMS or ordinary mail. It is important your contact details are always kept up to date.
To assist you in managing your margin loan, St.George provides an electronic notices service. If we have your mobile telephone number and/or email address on file, we will attempt to notify you via email and/or free SMS when your loan balance exceeds 50% of your buffer or your loan goes into a margin call.
If we do not have your mobile telephone number and/or email address on file, St.George will attempt to notify you via telephone on the contact number you have provided.
Please note we cannot currently accept international mobile numbers for SMS notices.
How can you provide or update your contact details to receive electronic notices?
A. Contact our dedicated Account Management Team on 1300 304 065 between 8am and 6pm (Sydney Time) Monday – Friday.
Q. How can you provide or update your contact details to receive electronic notices?
A. Contact our dedicated Account Management Team on 1300 304 065 between 8am and 6pm (Sydney Time) Monday – Friday.
Q. How can I rectify a margin call position on my margin loan?
A. . If your loan goes into a margin call, you will normally be required to rectify the margin call by 2pm Sydney time the next business day after your loan goes into margin call.- sometimes you need to act sooner
You will need to restore your amount outstanding to your borrowing limit or below in accordance with your facility terms. Unless your facility terms provide otherwise, it will not be acceptable to return the loan balance into the buffer.
A margin call may be remedied by either one or a combination of the following:
- Making a direct deposit into your linked Cash Management Account (CMA); or
- Depositing cash into our account:
Bank: St.George Bank - A Division of Westpac Banking Corporation
BSB: 332-096
Account: 599000006
Account Name: St.George Margin Lending
Important - Reference: You must include your Client Reference Number; or - Contributing additional acceptable security; or
- Selling the required amount of security to place the account back into order.
Buffer
Q. What is the buffer?
A. The Buffer is the amount by which your borrowing limit can be exceeded before you are required to satisfy a margin call.
Q. How is the buffer amount determined?
A. The buffer amount is calculated as a percentage (generally between 0 and 10%) of the market value of each acceptable security within your portfolio. These values are totalled together to make your buffer amount. There is no buffer for cash, or for securities that St.George Margin Lending does not lend against (ie 0% gearing). See the example below:
| Security | Gearing ratio of security | Market Value of holdings in portfolio | Borrowing Limit | Buffer % ^ | Buffer amount |
| WBC | 75% | $50,000 | $37,500 | 10% | $5000 |
| RIO | 75% | $15,000 | $11,250 | 10% | $1500 |
| WES | 75% | $20,000 | $15,000 | 10% | $2000 |
| ADG | 0% | $10,000 | $0 | 0% | $0 |
| Cash | 100% | $30,000 | $30,000 | 0% | $0 |
| Total | $125,000 | $93,750 | 6.8% | $8500 |
Q. How can I find out my buffer amount?
A. Your buffer amount is displayed on the Account Summary page when you log on to view your account using Internet Account Access. You can access Internet Account Access through our website www.stgeorgemarginlending.com.au. If you have not yet signed up for Internet Account Access or have forgotten your login details, contact our Account Management Team on 1300 304 065 from 8am – 6pm (Sydney time) Monday to Friday.
Q. How will I know when I’m ‘in buffer’?
A. You are in buffer when your total loan is more than your borrowing limit, but less than your borrowing limit and your buffer combined.
For example:
| Borrowing Limit | $70,000 | |
| Buffer | $5,000 | |
| Total Loans Outstanding | $73,000 (ie more than $70,000 but less than combined sum of $75,000) | |
| Available Funds | -$ 3,000 |
Your available funds will be negative as usually St.George Margin Lending will not allow you to purchase securities or withdraw cash when you are in buffer. You should take this as a warning that your account is close to a margin call and you need to take steps to ensure you can bring your account out of margin call if required. For more information about satisfying a margin call see the Margin Call Frequently Asked Questions.
Q. How will I know when I’m in margin call?
A. Once your total loan exceeds your borrowing limit and your buffer combined, you are in margin call. You will still be considered to be in margin call if your loan goes back into buffer after a margin call until you satisfy the entire margin call amount.
For example:
| Borrowing Limit | $70,000 | |
| Buffer | $5,000 | |
| Total Loans Outstanding | $76,000 (ie more than combined sum of $75,000) | |
| Available Funds | -$6,000 |
In this example the equivalent amount of cash to be deposited to satisfy a margin call is $6,000, or the negative available funds amount. Once you are in margin call it is not enough to repay anything less than the equivalent of $6,000 in cash as the account would still be considered to be in margin call. For more information about satisfying a margin call see the Frequently Asked Questions about margin calls.
Q. How will I know when I have exceeded my borrowing limit?
A. Your outstanding loan will be larger than your borrowing limit and your available funds will show as a negative. Whether you are in buffer or in margin call depends on how much you have exceeded your borrowing limit by. See the above example for more information.
Q. Can I purchase more security using a loan when I am in buffer?
A. No.
Q. When will a trade of stock/funds affect my buffer amount?
A. Stocks generally settle on the third day after the trade (T+3) and will affect your buffer amount once settled. You can see the affect of any pending trade by looking at the T +1, T + 2 and T + 3 columns on the Account Summary page on Internet Account Access.
Managed Fund applications are given an estimate value when we enter them into our system after receipt of your application. Therefore the buffer amount is also estimated at that time. The value is updated to reflect the exact value when we receive confirmation from the fund manager.
Q. Will I be notified when I am in buffer?
A. If we have your mobile telephone number and/or email address on file, we will notify you via email and/or free SMS when your loan balance exceeds 50% of your buffer.
If we do not have your mobile telephone number and/or email address on file, St.George Margin Lending will not notify you when you are in buffer. It is your responsibility to regularly monitor your account and manage your facility position. You can do this by logging in to Internet Account Access via www.stgeorgemarginlending.com.au.
In the event of a margin call, we will attempt to notify you either by telephone, email, SMS or ordinary mail. For this reason it is important that you keep your contact details up to date.
Q. How can I obtain more information about my buffer?
A. Our Account Management Team can assist with any further enquiries by calling 1300 304 065 8am – 6pm (Sydney time) Monday to Friday or by email.
Internet Account Access
Q. Do fees & charges apply when I use Internet Account Access?
A. No. This is an additional free service provided to make managing your loan simple and convenient.
Q. How secure is Internet Account Access?
A. You can be confident that your account is secure. St.George Bank has employed the latest security encryption methods and Internet Account Access is further protected by your User Name and Password, which you should always keep confidential.
Q. Is my account information 'real time'?
A. You can view your internet account details in real-time*. Your details are now being displayed within minutes of us processing any transactions or changes you request. Please note that details will be displayed as at the time you opened or refreshed this page and pricing will be reflected approximately 20 minutes later.
*subject to system availability
Q. Does my financial adviser automatically have Internet Account Access to my account?
A. Unless you specifically request for this, only you have access to your account details through Internet Account Access.
CMA
Q. What is a CMA?
A. A CMA is a cash management trust account linked to your margin loan. You can deposit cash to this account which is lodged as security to the margin loan, geared at 100%.
Q. What are the benefits of a CMA?
A. The following are some of the benefits of a CMA:
- You have an account to deposit your cash which is geared at 100% for your margin loan.
- You earn credit interest on credit balances in the CMA.
- You can nominate relevant Share registries to credit dividend payments into this account.
This setup helps optimise your interest payments by allowing funds transfer between your CMA and variable margin loan (and vice versa).
If you use Savings Gearing, you can make regular monthly instalment payments to your Fund Manager via the CMA.
Q. What is the cost of setting up the CMA?
A. We set up the CMA on your behalf for free.
Q. Under what name is the CMA set up?
A. Margin lending CMAs are opened on your behalf by Value Nominees Pty Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of St.George Bank.
Q. Do I need to provide a TFN or ABN? What are the implications if I don’t?
A. You do not have to provide us with your Tax File Number (TFN) or Australian Business Number (ABN). However, if you choose not to, tax may be charged on any interest earned in your CMA at the highest marginal rate plus the Medicare levy. For more information about TFNs, ABNs or Exemptions, please contact the Australian Taxation Office.
Q. Is there a minimum balance required to be maintained?
A. The CMA always retains a minimum balance of $1.00.
Q. How do I deposit funds into my CMA?
A. Your CMA has a BSB and a unique account number which appears on the Margin Lending Internet Account Access and on your margin lending or CMA statements. You may choose to send us a cheque, (made payable to St.George Margin Lending) or, make a direct deposit into your CMA via your bank’s internet banking or BPay.
Q. When is my deposit reflected in the CMA?
A. For funds transferred electronically before 5pm on weekdays, the deposit will be reflected in the CMA on the next business day.
Q. Is there an overdraft facility on my CMA?
A. There is no overdraft facility on your CMA. However, if you wish to draw funds from your margin loan, please complete a Drawdown Request.
Q. Where can I check my CMA details?
A. CMA details are available via your Margin lending Internet Account Access, under Bank Account Details. You can also check the balance on the Portfolio summary screen under security code SGBCMA. Please note that this is not displayed through Internet Banking.
Q. Do I earn interest on my CMA balance?
A. Yes, you earn interest on any credit balance on your CMA. Please refer to our interest rates for the current CMA rates.
Q. How do I transfer funds between the CMA and my margin loan?
A. You have two options on the margin lending or CMA application form.
Your first option is to have the funds automatically transferred between your CMA and variable margin loan (and vice versa). This is the default option.
The second option is to transfer the funds between your CMA and the Margin Loan (and vice versa) only upon request.
If you select option one, you can rest assured that this will automatically transfer any credit balance on your variable loan to the CMA so you can earn interest, and, transfer funds in the CMA to pay off your variable loan if it has a debit balance, (whichever is applicable) reducing the total amount of interest you pay.
Q. Can I change the option of transferring funds between the CMA and my margin loan?
A. Yes, you can change your selection at any time. Simply fax us a written request on 1300 179 540 (Within Australia) or +61 2 9995 8292 or post it to GPO Box 1467 Royal Exchange NSW 1224.
Q. When are funds transferred between the CMA and my margin loan?
A. This is a daily process and is updated at the end of each business day.
Q. How do I access the money in the CMA?
A. To access the funds in your CMA, please check that the amount you wish to withdraw is less than your available funds and then fax us a request on 1300 179 540 (Within Australia) or+61 2 9995 8292 or post it to GPO Box 1467 Royal Exchange NSW 1224. You can only draw funds from your CMA by instructing Margin Lending. You can not draw funds directly from your CMA via internet banking or by going into a branch.
Q. What fees do I need to pay on the CMA?
A. There are no fees on your CMA.
Q. Do I receive statements for the CMA? How often?
A. Yes. Unless you have elected otherwise, you receive CMA statements at the beginning of the month, for the previous month.
Q. Why is a CMA set up with a Savings Gearing Loan?
A. By applying for Savings Gearing, you authorise us to open a CMA on your behalf. The CMA is opened in the name of Value Nominees Pty Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of St.George Bank.
This account is set up to collect part of the payment for your investments from your margin loan and the other part from your external bank account as per your instructions.
Your Fund Manager will draw on the CMA to make your total Monthly Investment.
Note: This CMA cannot be used for any other purposes, eg Interest or Dividend payments. If you wish to do so, you may set up another CMA by call our Account Management Team on 1300 304 605.
Q. Why is a CMA set up with a Protected Loan?
A. By applying for a Protected Loan, you authorise us to open a CMA on your behalf. The CMA is opened in the name of Value Nominees Pty Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of St.George Bank.
This account is set up to hold cash as security for the Protected loan, in the event that you may choose to sell your protected stock.
Note: This CMA cannot be used for any other purposes, e.g. Savings Gearing, Interest or Dividend payments. If you wish to do so, you may set up another CMA by completing a Cash Management Trust Account Form. Any cash used to support a Protected Loan is reserved, the remainder can be used as normal.
