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Brokers / Charles Schwab
BROKER RIGOR REPORT · VERIFIED 11 OCT 2026

Charles Schwab: what the sources say

84
Evidence 100%

Key facts

The questions, with sources

QuestionWhat the sources saySource
Main entity
Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (CS&Co), securities broker-dealer registered with the SEC, FINRA member; parent The Charles Schwab Corporation (Delaware), Westlake, Texas, United States
Listed parent
yes: The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE: SCHW)
Regulation
Major regulator. SEC / FINRA (United States): FY2025 Form 10-K (SEC EDGAR): CS&Co 'is registered as a broker-dealer with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission' and 'is a member of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA)'; also MSRB, Nasdaq, Cboe EDGX, MEMX member. CRD 5393 (FINRA AWC title; third-party FINTRX page). FINRA BrokerCheck firm page did not appear in search results and was not opened; CFTC / NFA (United States): 10-K: Charles Schwab Futures and Forex LLC registered with the CFTC, NFA primary regulator (affiliate, not CS&Co); Federal Reserve Board (United States): Parent CSC is a savings and loan holding company supervised by the Federal Reserve; Charles Schwab Bank, SSB regulated by Texas Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending (bank, not brokerage)
Compensation scheme
Yes. SIPC, plus excess SIPC via Lloyd's of London and other London insurers Schwab page: 'member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC)', coverage up to USD 500,000 (including USD 250,000 for claims for cash); excess coverage aggregate USD 600 million, combined return limited to USD 150 million per customer, of which up to USD 1.15 million cash; market losses not covered
Client assets separated
Yes. Schwab account-protection page: client securities 'are segregated in compliance with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Customer Protection Rule'; 'Your segregated assets are not available to general creditors'
Public financials
Yes. Parent The Charles Schwab Corporation files Form 10-K with the SEC (FY2025 opened); common stock SCHW on NYSE per 10-K
Who can open an account
US-resident accounts; separate Schwab Brokerage Account 'for international investors' not available in all countries (eligibility list not found). Schwab Global Account: US residents only, individual/joint
Markets
Global Account: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, UK, plus US. Fractional shares ('Stock Slices', now 'fractional shares'): most US-listed stocks and ETFs from USD 1, USD 0 commission online
ETFs / fractional shares
ETFs: yes. Fractional shares: yes.
US stock commission
Schwab Pricing Guide for Individual Investors, effective April 2026: online USD 0; automated phone USD 5; broker-assisted USD 25; industry/regulatory fees may apply
Cost to buy 1,000 USD
0%. Commission to buy USD 1,000 of a US-listed stock/ETF online = USD 0 -> 0%; regulatory fees (sells) and FX excluded. Recomputed from the official pricing guide on 2026-10-11
Currency conversion
Pricing guide: foreign currency exchange up to 300 basis points (3%) of principal; Global Account page: 1.00% under USD 100K down to 0.20% at USD 1M+
Inactivity / account / withdrawal
Pricing guide (Apr 2026) lists no account maintenance or inactivity fee; No fees to open/maintain Global Account (page); USD 250/position annual custody for non-public securities (cap USD 500); Outgoing wire USD 25 (USD 15 online); full account transfer-out USD 50; partial transfer-out USD 0

"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.

Score

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, plus excess SIPC via Lloyd's of London and other London insurers; 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 6 of 15. Worst incident in the last five years scored: 6 of 15
  • Compliance record 18 of 25. 4 regulator or court action(s) in the window; reports from press only are shown but not scored
  • Costs 10 of 10. Buying 1,000 USD of a US stock or ETF: 0% 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.

Record

Security incidents

  • 2023-07 MOVEit Transfer vulnerability (third-party software) exposed data on a TD Ameritrade (Schwab subsidiary) server; Schwab initially estimated up to about 55,000 people (0.5% of Ameritrade clients); a later breach notice cited about 61,160 people; data reportedly included Social Security numbers and financial account information Customer funds lost: no. Outcome: Press (InvestmentNews 2023-07-14; PLANSPONSOR 2023-08-31): Schwab said its own systems were not compromised; no lost funds reported. Class action Jeanfort v. Charles Schwab Corp. and TD Ameritrade Inc. filed 2023-08-28, U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska (negligence, unjust enrichment, implied contract); outcome not found source
  • 2024-06-11 Persistent login problems for Schwab and thinkorswim users Customer funds lost: not verified. Outcome: Press (ThinkAdvisor): complaints subsided by afternoon; compensation not addressed source
  • 2016-05 OLDER THAN WINDOW: credential-stuffing logins to a 'small', undisclosed number of Schwab accounts using credentials obtained outside Schwab (activity from 2016-03-25); possible exposure of names, account numbers, positions, transaction history Customer funds lost: not verified. Outcome: Press (SC Media 2016-05-05, citing Schwab notice letter filed with the California Attorney General); losses not stated source older than 5 years
Record

Regulator and court actions

  • 2026-09 FINRA: Settlement (AWC) with censure and USD 175,000 fine on Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.: about 2.8 million fractional-share transactions not reported or reported late to the FINRA/Nasdaq TRF or ORF (Jan 2018-May 2025); about 690,000 reported inaccurately (Jul 2022-Jul 2023); supervisory system not reasonably designed (FINRA Rules 6380A, 6622, 7230A, 7330, 3110, 2010) Outcome: Press (FX News Group 2026-09-02): censure, USD 175,000 fine, undertaking to pay regulatory transaction fees owed on unreported trades. FINRA AWC page not found in search results source
  • 2022-06-13 SEC: USD 187 million settlement (USD 135m penalty, USD 52m disgorgement/interest) over undisclosed cash allocation in Schwab Intelligent Portfolios robo-adviser (2015-2018) Outcome: Neither admitted nor denied (press: CNBC); SEC page not opened Official SEC press release 2022-104 (13 Jun 2022) confirms USD 187m total (USD 135m penalty, ~USD 52m disgorgement and interest). Earlier press source: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/13/charles-schwab-will-pay-187-million-to-settle-sec-robo-advisor-claims.html source
  • 2025-04 U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas (private antitrust class action): Corrente et al. v. The Charles Schwab Corporation, No. 4:22-cv-470-ALM: class alleged the October 2020 TD Ameritrade combination reduced broker competition; settlement notice sent April 2025 (fairness hearing set 2025-08-28) Outcome: Settlement terms per class notice as reproduced on a forum post: antitrust compliance programme, Schwab pays notice costs, attorney fees and service awards; 'Settlement Class Members will not receive a payment'. Court record not opened; final approval not verified source
  • 2024-08 U.S. District Court, Central District of California (private class action): Customer class action No. 2:24-cv-07344 alleging breach of fiduciary duty in Schwab's cash sweep programme (uninvested cash swept to affiliated banks) Outcome: Press (Bloomberg Law 2024-08-30): complaint filed; no ruling or settlement found source

Actions reported by press only are shown and not scored.

Summary

Key facts in five lines

  • Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. is an SEC-registered broker-dealer and FINRA member; parent The Charles Schwab Corporation is NYSE-listed (SCHW) and files Form 10-K [source 2].
  • Schwab charges USD 0 online commission on US-listed stocks and ETFs (pricing guide effective April 2026); USD 25 broker-assisted; fractional shares from USD 1 [source 3][source 12].
  • Schwab states it is a SIPC member (USD 500,000 incl. USD 250,000 cash) with excess coverage of USD 600 million aggregate via Lloyd's of London, and that client securities are segregated under the SEC Customer Protection Rule [source 13].
  • SEC settlement of USD 187 million (2022, Schwab Intelligent Portfolios) and a FINRA USD 175,000 fine (2026, fractional-share trade reporting) were found [source 6][source 7].
  • The 2023 MOVEit incident exposed data of about 61,160 TD Ameritrade customers and led to a class action in Nebraska federal court; no customer fund losses were reported [source 14].
Questions

Questions about Charles Schwab

Is Charles Schwab safe?

We do not give a yes or no. We record its regulation (SEC / FINRA, CFTC / NFA), 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 Charles Schwab charge commission on US stocks?

Schwab Pricing Guide for Individual Investors, effective April 2026: online USD 0; automated phone USD 5; broker-assisted USD 25; industry/regulatory fees may apply

Sources

Where this comes from

Not verified: FINRA BrokerCheck firm page (CRD 5393) did not appear in search results and was not opened; registration status comes from the SEC-filed 10-K instead. The FINRA AWC for the September 2026 USD 175,000 fine was not found on finra.org (press only). The TD Ameritrade antitrust settlement is sourced from a class notice reproduced on a forum, not a court record; final approval not verified. Cash-sweep class action outcome unknown. Item 3 (Legal Proceedings) of the 10-K was not in the readable part of the filing. A 2025 account-takeover/'ramp-and-dump' phishing report (Rankiteo aggregator citing KrebsOnSecurity) was not added because no primary source was read. International (non-US) eligibility list not found. A 2020 FINRA AWC (ETN-related, CRD 5393) was found as a PDF but could not be read.

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