a big thank you...

tl;dr (in a nutshell)

1. dough trading platform is moving to tastyworks.
2. Transfer your dough account to tastyworks before October 29 for free and keep your zero-commissions* privileges for stock and equity options.
3. Download the “dough by tastyworks” app after opening a tastyworks account and transferring your dough account to continue using the dough trading platform.

*Clearing and Regulatory fees apply

What are my next steps?

You have one of three options. We want to make sure that your next step goes smoothly, no matter which option you choose. Your three options below are spelled out below with the accompanying FAQ that you can refer to below. Please read your options below carefully regarding your dough account.

1. Outgoing ACATS Transfer to another brokerage firm or Transfer to tastyworks (for free before October 29)
2. Close your positions and withdraw via ACH
3. Take No Action To Close Your Dough Account Securities, Futures, or Cash Balances

FAQ about your dough account

Important Dates to Remember

Are there any important dates to remember?

• Suggested deadline to transfer assets via ACATS, transfer to tastyworks, or completely withdraw via ACH from dough: Monday, October 4, 2021
• Closing Only Date: Monday, October 11, 2021. That means you'll only be able to close positions going forward.
• Last day of business: Friday, October 29, 2021
• Apex will assume the role as your broker if you don't transfer or fully withdraw your account: Monday, November 1, 2021

Account Transfers & Withdrawals

How do I transfer to tastyworks and get grandfathered into dough’s commission schedule?

Are you a new tastyworks customer? To open a tastyworks account, just go to tastyworks.com and click “Open an Account.” After your [new] individual account is open at tastyworks, click here or the button below to start your account transfer. The transfer to tastyworks is FREE*, but you’ll need to open a like-account to facilitate the transfer (no third-party transfers allowed). That means if you have an individual margin account at dough, you’ll need to have an individual margin account at tastyworks. Not sure what kind of account you need to open at tastyworks? Please refer to the section below: What type of account do I need to open at tastyworks? You’ll also need your dough account number. To locate your dough account number, please click here. The dough commissions schedule will apply to your new tastyworks account.

Are you an existing tastyworks customer? If you are an existing tastyworks customer, you can be grandfathered to dough’s commission schedule of $0**/contract for equity options by transferring your dough account to tastyworks for FREE. To get started, click here or the button below to start your account transfer. Remember, you must have a like-account at tastyworks to transfer your account from dough. That means if you have an individual margin account at dough, you’ll need to have an existing individual margin account at tastyworks (no third-party transfers allowed). Not sure what kind of account you need to open at tastyworks? Please refer to the section below: What type of account do I need to open at tastyworks? However, suppose you are an existing tastyworks customer and did not have an individual cash or margin account. In that case, tastyworks will grandfather the dough commission schedule for equity options ($0**/contract) to the individual cash or margin account that you open and transfer to.  

Whether you are a new or existing tastyworks customer, note that the dough commission schedule will only apply to one account, not to any additional tastyworks accounts you open. Your dough account will be frozen once we receive your Account Transfer request from Apex to facilitate your transfer and can take 5-7 business days to complete. As long as you transfer your account to tastyworks before Friday, October 29, you can transfer to tastyworks for free and be grandfathered to dough’s commission schedule. 

Transfer to tastyworks

* Account Transfers from dough to tastyworks are free if initiated before Friday, October 29.

** Clearing and regulatory fees still apply.

How do I transfer my account to another brokerage (not tastyworks)?

To transfer a dough account with open positions and/or cash to a different brokerage firm, you will need to initiate what’s called an outgoing ACATS Transfer. Simply, an ACATS transfer seamlessly allows you to move all cash and securities (no futures) in your current account to a new account at a different brokerage firm. If you have stock or options in your dough account and don’t wish to close them, then an ACATS transfer would be the best way to move everything to a new account. All you’ll need to do is open a like-account at the brokerage firm of your choice that you’d like to move to, and once the account is open, just tell them that you want to do an ACATS–they’ll know what you’re talking about. When you successfully submit an ACATS with your receiving firm, they will process it for you, kicking off the transfer process.

It is important to note that if you have any option positions expiring in 10-15 days or less, your outgoing ACATS transfer could get rejected due to its upcoming expiration. Also, if you place any trades after submitting your ACATS instructions to your receiving firm, then it can cause your transfer to get rejected. When dough receives your outgoing ACATS instruction from your receiving firm, we will freeze your account and deactivate fully paid securities lending to facilitate the transfer.

If this is the direction you wish to go, it’s important to note that ACATS Transfers can take 7-10 business days to complete. We ask that you submit an Outgoing ACATS Transfer request with your receiving firm from dough by October 4 to avoid the chance that your account will not be in the group of accounts that automatically transfer to our clearing firm, Apex. There are critical cut-off times that dough has no control over that your new broker will need to abide by for dough/Apex to receive the necessary ACATS instructions for your dough account to transfer out using the ACATS process. Please communicate this cut-off date of October 4, 2021, for dough to receive proper ACATS instructions to your new brokerage firm to ensure timely delivery of your dough account to your receiving firm.

One thing to note is that you’ll still be able to transfer out your account after dough closes since it will still be in the custody of Apex, where they will act as your broker, and it will retain the same account number. Similarly, all you would do is initiate the outgoing ACATS Transfer with the receiving firm. Just ask the firm you’re moving to for their ACATS instructions, and they’ll know what you’re talking about. 

All ACATS Transfers requests initiate from the receiving firm and are subject to a $75 Outgoing ACATS Transfer Fee, charged by our clearing firm, Apex Clearing Corporation. As a result, your account must have $75 or more in available cash to facilitate the transfer. Your dough account will be frozen when dough receives your outgoing ACATS request from Apex to facilitate the transfer.

However, if your account only holds cash, you can simply withdraw your account balance via ACH.

Why did my ACATS fail?

When you request an outgoing ACATS transfer from dough with the firm you are moving to, including tastyworks, make sure that you do not have any options position(s) expiring within 10 to 15 days or less. Additionally, after you make an ACATS request with the firm you are moving to, please do not place any trades in your dough account as that can cause your ACATS transfer to reject. As a precaution and to facilitate the transfer, your account will be set to frozen when we receive any outgoing ACATS request for your account. Any issues with your outgoing ACATS Transfer causing it to reject, your account will be responsible for any fees incurred, and you must reinitiate the request with your receiving broker. 

How do I withdraw funds from my dough account?

You can choose to close any open positions and withdraw any remaining cash balance or proceeds via ACH after it settles (T+1 for options and T+2 for stock). We strongly suggest that you verify and/or link your bank account and withdraw funds before October 4 to ensure timely completion of your withdrawal before dough’s last day of business on Friday, October 29. After your withdraw completes and your account has a $0.00 balance, you may write to help@dough.com and request an account closure. If you do not have a bank account linked to your dough account, please visit our help center for instructions.

After dough closes and your account gets transferred to Apex, you can arrange withdrawals by reaching out to Apex’s BDW account team for instruction. Information about Apex’s BDW Accounts team will be provided closer to dough’s last day of business.

Why does it say I have $0.00 to withdraw after closing a position?

When you close a position, the cash from the trade must settle before it is available for withdrawal. Due to anti money laundering rules, if you just deposited funds into your dough account, it must remain in the account for at least five business days from the time it posts to your dough account before it is available for withdrawal. Any cash that does not settle before October 29 will transfer to our clearing firm, Apex Clearing Corporation, so please be mindful of settlement times if you plan on withdrawing cash from a closing trade. After dough closes, you must reach out to Apex’s BDW Account team. Unfortunately, we do not have any way to expedite settlement. To learn more about settlement times, please click here.

Account Management

How do I retrieve my dough account documents?

You may continue to retrieve any past account documents such as prior-year tax documents, monthly statements, and trade confirmations in the dough app. After dough closes, you can retrieve any future documents, if issued, by setting up a view-only Apex Online account. Information about Apex’s BDW Accounts team will be provided closer to dough’s last day of business.

Who can I contact if I need help?

While dough is still open, please direct any questions about your dough account to the dough support team at help@dough.com. Please note that tastyworks personnel will not have any information about your dough account, so if you have any questions about your dough account in the meantime, please reach out to the dough support team.

After dough closes, we will no longer serve as your introducing broker. When your account gets assumed by Apex, our clearing firm, you must reach out to Apex’s BDW Accounts team. Information about Apex’s BDW Accounts team will be provided closer to dough’s last day of business.

Who is Apex Clearing Corporation?

Apex Clearing Corporation is dough’s clearing firm and custodian of your account assets. In this industry, dough is referred to as an introducing broker. As a result, dough does not hold any of your assets. Instead, dough facilitates your trades while your assets are in custody at Apex. 

What happens if I do nothing and take no action?

All accounts open at dough on Monday, October 11, will be to closing-only. That means you’ll only be able to close positions. If you do not take action before Friday, October 29, your account will automatically transfer to our clearing firm, Apex Clearing Corporation, during the weekend of October 30-31, 2021. Effective as of Monday, November 1, or upon completion of this transfer, Apex will be responsible as both the broker and continue as the clearing firm–custodian for your brokerage account. When your account transfers to Apex, you will need to reach out to Apex’s BDW (Broker-Dealer Withdrawal) Accounts team if you have any questions regarding your account since dough will no longer serve as the introducing broker to your account. Information about Apex’s BDW Accounts team will be provided closer to dough’s last day of business.

When is dough’s last day of business?

The last trading day at dough will be Friday, October 29. We strongly suggest you transfer or fully withdraw your account by Monday, October 4, to ensure the timely delivery of your assets. That said, any account still open at dough on Monday, October 11, will be set to closing-only, which means you will only be able to close positions. Any account still open on October 29th will be transferred to our clearing firm, Apex Clearing Corporation. If you have a cash balance, open position(s), or closed a trade that did not settle before October 29, you will need to reach out to Apex as they will act as your new broker. Information about Apex’s BDW Accounts team will be provided closer to dough’s last day of business.

Why is dough terminating Fully Paid Securities Lending (FPSL)?

Since every broker has a different set of services they provide to their customers, we decided to terminate FPSL by Wednesday, September 29, to reduce any potential issues and complications to facilitate account transfers.

Going to tastyworks

What type of account do I need to open at tastyworks?

If you decide to transfer your dough account to tastyworks, you must open a like-account. That means if you have an individual margin account at dough, you will need to open an individual margin account at tastyworks to transfer your positions properly. A common concern amongst customers is that they do not want to be on margin or have the ability to borrow funds to hold positions. However, if you wish to trade options spreads at tastyworks, you will need to open an individual margin account. This is especially important if you transfer any options spreads positions or hold positions on margin to tastyworks because you cannot trade options spreads or have any leverage in a cash account. To learn about the different account types tastyworks offers and the difference between a cash or margin account, please visit the tastyworks help center by clicking here. When you have a like account open at tastyworks and want to start the transfer process, refer to the How do I transfer to tastyworks and get grandfathered into dough’s commission schedule?” section above.

Who is tastyworks?

tastyworks is our sister company under the tastytrade family of companies, which dough falls under as well. 

Will I have to start paying commissions at tastyworks?  

The commission schedule for stocks or ETF share trades ($0* to open/close) and Small Exchange Futures ($0.25*/contract to open and $0.25*/contract to close) is the same from dough to tastyworks. However, dough account holders that transfer to tastyworks before Friday, October 29, will be grandfathered with dough’s commission schedule to tastyworks with $0*/leg commission for equity options. Other products not previously offered through dough, such as proprietary index options** (SPX, NDX, VIX, etc.), CME futures, CME Micro Futures, CME Futures Options, and cryptocurrencies, are subject to tastyworks’ commission schedule. To learn how to grandfather your dough commission schedule for equity options, please refer above to the How do I transfer to tastyworks and get grandfathered into dough’s commission schedule?” section above.

To view the complete commission schedule for tastyworks, please click here.

*Clearing, Regulatory, and Exchange fees still apply.

**Proprietary Index Options are subject to commission and an additional fee on a per-contract basis.

Will the dough app still be available at tastyworks? 

Yes! The dough trading platform isn’t going anywhere if you open a tastyworks account. The dough app has evolved to dough by tastyworks. The dough by tastyworks app is available to all tastyworks customers, so don’t forget to download dough by tastyworks if you decide to transfer to tastyworks. After dough (the brokerage) closes, the dough app in its current form will no longer serve as your trading platform. Search for dough by tastyworks in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store to download, or click the links below.

dough by tastyworks download links 

• dough by tastyworks in the Apple App Store
• dough by tastyworks in the Google Play Store

In addition to the dough by tastyworks app, you’ll also have expanded trading platform access with your tastyworks account, so there’s no need to learn a new set of “hands” if you don’t want to. However, if you wish to explore the other platforms tastyworks has to offer, then they’re at your fingertips. 

To sign up for the next live tastyworks desktop demo, please click here.
To learn more about the platform offerings at tastyworks, please click here.

Does tastyworks support fractional share trading?

Tastyworks plans on offering fractional trading soon, so please stay tuned! Any fractional share position will transfer to tastyworks and display on all platforms, including the dough by tastyworks app. However, fractional share trading will not be immediately available, so if you wish to close out of any fractional share position, you’ll need to reach out to the tastyworks trade desk at tradedesk@tastyworks.com.

Why is dough closing?

Our parent company, tastytrade, Inc., wholly owns two broker-dealers (dough & tastyworks), and we made the tough decision to close dough to streamline operations under one brokerage, tastyworks, our sister company.