what is a natural indication of interest 
a natural indication of interest occurs when ioi originates with the customer rather than a firm finra defines it as referring either to customer interest a firm represents on an agency basis or to proprietary interest that was established to facilitate a customer order or as part of an execution of a customer order on a riskless principal basis 6the bottom linean indication of interest is a brief letter or notice that expresses a buyer s interest in buying a security in registration or a company s interest in acquiring another company for investments the ioi precedes the ipo and in finance it precedes the letter of intent although it is not a formal agreement it carries weight as it communicates the serious interest of the buyer 