Interactive Brokers

Is Interactive Brokers safe?

For keeping your shares and cash safe, yes. Interactive Brokers is a listed company with $22.3 billion of equity at 30 June 2026, and $14.2 billion of regulatory capital above what its regulators require. In the US, client assets are covered by SIPC and by a Lloyd's excess policy of up to $30 million per account. We score it 87/100.

The catch is the compliance record, not the balance sheet. FINRA's BrokerCheck lists 92 regulatory events for the US broker, and the big ones concern anti-money-launderingAnti-money launderingThe rules and checks that stop criminals from moving illegal money through banks, payment firms and crypto exchanges.More in the glossary controls, sanctions and record-keeping. None has cost clients their assets, but they show a firm that has repeatedly fallen short of the rules on policing who trades through it.

Which Interactive Brokers entity holds my account?

Where you live decides which company you sign up with, and that decides your protection.

Where you live	Entity	Regulator	Compensation scheme
US	Interactive Brokers LLC	SEC, FINRA, CFTC	SIPC $500,000 (incl. $250,000 cash) plus Lloyd's excess
UK	Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Limited	FCA (FRN 208159)	FSCSDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary up to £85,000 for designated investments in IBUK custody (for example ISAs); assets held at IB LLC get SIPC and excess cover instead
EU	Interactive Brokers Ireland Limited	Central Bank of Ireland (C423427)	Irish ICS, 90% of loss up to €20,000; assets held at IB LLC also get SIPC and excess cover

The UK and Irish companies keep some client securities with the US affiliate. For those holdings, SIPC and the excess policy apply, and the local company would file the claim for you. Other group entities serve clients in Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Japan and India. This score is based on the US, UK and Irish companies most readers use.

How is my money protected at Interactive Brokers?

Segregation matters more than insurance. US broker-dealers must keep enough client cash and securities aside to repay every customer, and Interactive Brokers says it was the first broker FINRA allowed to calculate that reserve daily instead of weekly. It also sets aside cash when client securities are temporarily not where they should be, rather than letting the shortfall run for days.

If assets went missing anyway, SIPC would replace up to $500,000 per customer, of which up to $250,000 can be cash. The Lloyd's excess policy adds up to $30 million per account ($900,000 of it cash). Note the aggregate limit: $150 million for all clients together. Against $930 billion of customer equity, the excess policy is a backstop for a small shortfall, not a guarantee for everyone. Futures and options on futures are not covered.

Cash can earn more protection. US clients who join the Insured Bank Deposit Sweep Program have cash moved to partner banks, up to $246,500 per bank, for FDICDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary cover of up to $5 million ($10 million for joint accounts).

How strong is the company?

Very strong. Interactive Brokers earned $4.77 billion before tax on $6.2 billion of net revenue in 2025, a pre-tax margin of 77%. Interactive Brokers LLC alone held $10.5 billion of net capital against a $2.1 billion requirement at mid-2026. The firm is not part of a bank, and it argues this keeps its capital dedicated to the broker in a crisis. In 2008 and 2009 client equity grew while clients left bank-owned brokers. It is audited, files quarterly with the SEC and is controlled by its founder through a holding company.

What fines has Interactive Brokers paid?

The list is long. The cases that matter most:

• 2020, anti-money launderingAnti-money launderingThe rules and checks that stop criminals from moving illegal money through banks, payment firms and crypto exchanges.More in the glossary: $38 million in total, paid to the SEC ($11.5 million), FINRA ($15 million) and the CFTC ($11.5 million), for failing to monitor and report suspicious activity.
• 2023, off-channel messages: $35 million to the SEC and $20 million to the CFTC because staff used personal texts and WhatsApp for business, and the firm did not keep those records.
• 2025, sanctions: an $11.8 million OFAC penalty for transactions involving sanctioned countries and parties, dating back to 2016. The firm had disclosed the issues itself.
• 2024 and 2025, smaller FINRA and exchange fines: $2.25 million for missing cash-account "freeriding", about $5.5 million across options exchanges for mismarked orders, and $900,000 from Nasdaq for weak supervision of possibly manipulative trading through foreign omnibus accounts.

A class action over automatic liquidation of margin accounts ended in 2026 with a $5 million settlement, without admission of liability. In April 2020, when US oil futures turned negative, the CFTC later fined the firm $1.75 million over that period.

How to keep your Interactive Brokers account safe

• Replace SMS codes with IBKR Mobile authentication or a passkeyPasskeyA way to sign in without a password. Your device holds a key tied to one website or app and unlocks it with your fingerprint, face or PIN.More in the glossary. Interactive Brokers supports FIDO2 passkeys, including physical security keys, which resist phishing.
• Activating a security device also raises your withdrawal limits. Keep it set up, and add a recovery option before you change phones.
• Check which entity holds your account in your statements; it decides whether SIPC, FSCSDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary or the Irish ICS applies.
• Very large US accounts should keep the $150 million aggregate cap on the excess policy in mind.
• Margin can cost more than you put in, and the system liquidates positions automatically.

How we scored it

Regulation (94) and financial strength (93) are the strongest factors: top-tier regulators for the main entities and a large, profitable, audited balance sheet. Investor protection (90) reflects daily segregation, SIPC and excess cover. Conduct (60) is the weakest because of the 2020 AMLAnti-money launderingThe rules and checks that stop criminals from moving illegal money through banks, payment firms and crypto exchanges.More in the glossary case, the 2023 record-keeping fines and the 2025 OFAC penalty. Account security scores 88.