Interactive Brokers (IBKR): what the sources say

The questions, with sources

"Not verified" means we could not confirm it from a source we could read. Check the entity and rules for your own country. Education only, not investment advice.

How the points add up

• Regulation 20 of 20. Licensed by a major financial regulator (see the broker page for the register entry)
• Client protection 20 of 20. Investor compensation scheme applies: SIPC (IB LLC); excess SIPC via Lloyd's underwriters; Client assets held separately from the broker's own (stated in its documents)
• Transparency 10 of 10. Annual financial statements are public (listed parent or published report)
• Security record 9 of 15. Worst incident in the last five years scored: 9 of 15
• Compliance record 11 of 25. 2 regulator or court action(s) in the window; reports from press only are shown but not scored
• Costs 7 of 10. Buying 1,000 USD of a US stock or ETF: 0.1% commission at the published base tier (FX and spread not included)

Points earned of points available. A criterion we could not verify is left out and lowers the evidence share. See how we score.

Security incidents

• 2024-05 Unauthorised party accessed an employee email account; about 600 clients notified of data breach (disclosed 2024-05-16). Customer funds lost: not verified. Outcome: Press report does not state funds lost; Maine AG breach notice sample letter exists (not read). source

Regulator and court actions

• 2025-07-15 US Treasury OFAC: Settlement of 12,367 self-disclosed apparent violations of multiple sanctions programs (Iran, Cuba, Syria, Crimea, blocked Russian banks, others) between 2016-07 and 2024-01. Outcome: USD 11,832,136 settlement (base penalty USD 60,130,059). source
• 2023-12-22 FINRA: Best execution and supervision failures Jan 2014-Feb 2023; rebate disclosure failures in quarterly reports 2014-2017. Outcome: USD 3.5 million fine and censure (press report). Official FINRA Disciplinary Actions (Feb 2024 report) confirms USD 3.5 million fine and censure, action dated 22 Dec 2023. Earlier press source: https://financefeeds.com/finra-fines-interactive-brokers-3-5m-for-best-execution-violations/ source
• 2020-08-11 SEC, FINRA, CFTC: Out of window (flagged). AML/suspicious activity report failures. Outcome: USD 38 million combined (press). source older than 5 years

Actions reported by press only are shown and not scored.

Key facts in five lines

• Interactive Brokers LLC clients are covered by SIPC up to USD 500,000 (USD 250,000 cash), plus excess SIPC of USD 30 million per account per IBKR. [source 2]
• Parent Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. is Nasdaq-listed and files a 10-K; about 4.4 million brokerage customers at 2025-12-31. [source 1]
• US stock/ETF Fixed pricing is USD 0.005/share, minimum USD 1.00, maximum 1% of trade value. [source 3]
• OFAC announced a USD 11.83 million settlement with Interactive Brokers LLC on 2025-07-15. [source 4]
• FINRA fined IBKR USD 3.5 million on 2023-12-28 for best execution failures (press). [source 5]

Questions about Interactive Brokers (IBKR)

Is Interactive Brokers (IBKR) safe?

We do not give a yes or no. We record its regulation (SEC / FINRA / CFTC (NFA), Local regulators of affiliates (Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Singapore)), whether an investor compensation scheme applies, and what we found about incidents and regulator actions. Read the sections above, and check which entity holds your account.

Does Interactive Brokers (IBKR) charge commission on US stocks?

Fixed: USD 0.005 per share, min USD 1.00 per order, max 1% of trade value, all-inclusive of exchange/clearing/regulatory fees. Tiered: USD 0.0005-0.0035 per share by monthly volume, min USD 0.35 per order, exchange/regulatory/clearing fees passed through. Fractional shares generally follow same schedule.

Where this comes from

• [1] Interactive Brokers Group FY2025 Form 10-K accessed 2026-10-11
• [2] IBKR Client Protection accessed 2026-10-11
• [3] IBKR Commissions & Fees accessed 2026-10-11
• [4] OFAC settlement notice accessed 2026-10-11
• [5] FinanceFeeds FINRA fine accessed 2026-10-11
• [6] ThinkAdvisor breach accessed 2026-10-11
• [7] The TRADE 2020 settlement accessed 2026-10-11

Not verified: FX conversion, inactivity and withdrawal fees not found on pages read. Regulator registers (SEC/FINRA/FCA etc.) not opened; tier rests on IBKR statements. Non-US entity protection schemes not verified. FY2025 10-K Item 3 (legal proceedings) was truncated and not read. OFAC/FINRA details: FINRA via press only.

To report an error, use corrections and right of reply.