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Brokers / Swissquote
BROKER RIGOR REPORT · VERIFIED 11 OCT 2026

Swissquote: what the sources say

77
Evidence 92%

Key facts

The questions, with sources

QuestionWhat the sources saySource
Main entity
Swissquote Bank Ltd (Gland, Switzerland); parent Swissquote Group Holding Ltd, Switzerland
Listed parent
yes: Swissquote Group Holding Ltd (SIX Swiss Exchange: SQN)
Regulation
Major regulator. FINMA (Switzerland): Swissquote legal information page: 'Swissquote Bank Ltd is a bank licensed in Switzerland under the supervision of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA)' (source 7); 2025 annual report names FINMA as supervisor, category 4 (source 1); press (ATS via tio.ch, 2025-08-14): possible move to FINMA category 3 within 12-24 months once total assets pass CHF 17 billion, capital ratio requirement would rise from 11.2% to 12.0% (source 12). FINMA's own register entry was not found in search results and not opened.; FSCA (Financial Services Provider no. 43908) (South Africa): Swissquote South Africa (Pty) Ltd is stated as an authorised Financial Services Provider, FSP no 43908; the page states Swissquote is not authorised as a bank or broker by any South African authority (source 7). FSCA register not opened.; FCA (Swissquote Ltd, UK) (United Kingdom): UK Financial Ombudsman decision DRN-5554719 concerns Swissquote Ltd (CFD account) (source 13); FCA register not opened.
Compensation scheme
Yes. Swiss depositor protection (esisuisse) FINMA official page: deposit protection covers up to CHF 100,000 per client and per bank or securities firm; esisuisse is the deposit protection agency and all authorised institutions with protected deposits must join; esisuisse liability capped at 1.6% of protected deposits, minimum CHF 6 billion (source 8). Swissquote's own page stating its esisuisse membership was not located; membership follows from its FINMA bank licence per FINMA's description of mandatory membership
Client assets separated
not verified
Public financials
Yes. Swissquote Group Holding publishes an annual report (2025 edition read); ad hoc publicity fine by SIX confirms listed-issuer status; H1 2025 results per press: revenue CHF 358m, pre-tax profit CHF 185m, total assets CHF 14.4bn
Who can open an account
Not verified from official page; secondary source: 12 locations worldwide, headquarters Gland. Fee page region selector states 'Products may vary' by residence; Middle East site states products offered by Swissquote Bank SA and no CFDs/rolling spot FX for retail clients there
Markets
Secondary source: more than 50 exchanges and over 3 million products; US exchanges (NYSE, Nasdaq, Amex, NYSE Arca) confirmed by fee pages
ETFs / fractional shares
ETFs: yes. Fractional shares: not verified.
US stock commission
Base retail tier on the Swiss (en-ch) official fee page: flat tiered fee in CHF for US stocks (OTC/pink sheets excluded, 0.5% min 100), CHF 0.85 added per transaction for real-time information (source 9). The en-mea version shows 0.10% min USD 9 + USD 0.85 (source 2). Rates differ by client residence site
Cost to buy 1,000 USD
0.585%. Swiss retail page: a USD 1,000 trade falls in the CHF 500.01-1,000 tier if its CHF value is at or below CHF 1,000 (USD/CHF rate not verified from the page): CHF 5 + CHF 0.85 = CHF 5.85 = 0.585% of CHF 1,000 equivalent; if the trade value exceeded CHF 1,000 the fee would be CHF 10.85 (1.085%). Middle East site variant: USD 9 + 0.85 = 0.985%. FX and spread excluded
Currency conversion
Swiss (en-ch) stocks fee page: currency conversions at the interbank mid-rate with no markup (example dated 2026-03-13) (source 9). Secondary source previously cited 0.95% flat; not confirmed by the official page read
Inactivity / account / withdrawal
Not found (official 'Account fees' page not read); Secondary source: quarterly tiered custody fee excluding cash, annual CHF 80 to CHF 200 cap, plus 0.0075% per quarter above CHF 1 million; official 'Account fees' page not read; Not found (payments page redirected and could not be opened)

"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 12 of 12. Investor compensation scheme applies: Swiss depositor protection (esisuisse); Segregation not verified (unscored)
  • 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 21 of 25. 3 regulator or court action(s) in the window; reports from press only are shown but not scored
  • Costs 2 of 10. Buying 1,000 USD of a US stock or ETF: 0.585% 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

  • 2021-06 Press (SRF): hackers accessed one customer's Swissquote account and bought crypto; customer lost about CHF 1,300 and Swissquote CEO called it an isolated case Customer funds lost: yes. Outcome: Press: Swissquote reimbursed the customer as goodwill; bank found no irregularities in its systems source older than 5 years
  • 2022-11-08 Press (FX News Group, 2022-11-09): Swissquote stated it 'experienced a massive DDoS attack' on 8 and partly 9 November 2022; clients had trouble accessing platforms for about 24 hours, partly due to defence measures Customer funds lost: not verified. Outcome: Press: systems restored, company apologised; no statement on client data or funds; no compensation reported source
  • 2025-07 Press (Finance Magnates citing Bloomberg, 2025-07-01): CEO said more than 600 websites impersonating Swissquote or using fake login pages had been acted against in 2025; FINMA annual oversight letter asked for stronger controls against impersonation scams Customer funds lost: not verified. Outcome: Press: no breach of Swissquote systems reported; see legal_actions for the FINMA letter source
  • 2026-03-19 Press (Netzwoche): Zurich cantonal police warned of phishing emails impersonating Swissquote (fake W-8BEN renewal) leading to a fake login page that also harvests mobile authentication codes Customer funds lost: not verified. Outcome: Press: no victim numbers or losses reported; Swissquote systems not reported as compromised source
Record

Regulator and court actions

  • 2022-11-29 SIX Sanctions Commission: Negligent breach of ad hoc publicity rules: distribution of the 16 June 2021 announcement delayed about three hours by technical problem and human error Outcome: Fine CHF 75,000; not appealed, binding (media release 2023-01-06) source
  • 2025-07 FINMA (per press): Per press (Swissinfo; Finance Magnates citing Bloomberg), FINMA's annual oversight letter told Swissquote to reduce the number of suspicious activity reports it files, improve handling of suspicious activity and strengthen controls against impersonation scams and data threats, with emphasis on Yuh Outcome: Press: not described as a formal sanction; no fines reported; no FINMA publication found source
  • 2025-10 UK Financial Ombudsman Service (decision DRN-5554719): Complaint against Swissquote Ltd (UK): client alleged CFD positions were liquidated after an incorrect margin call based on off-market pricing, loss about GBP 67,000 Outcome: Not upheld: no evidence pricing was unfair and the 30% minimum margin was applied reasonably; Swissquote Ltd had paid USD 9,500 as goodwill (credited May 2024); acceptance deadline 2025-11-12 source

Actions reported by press only are shown and not scored.

Not scored

Other reports

  • CSSF (Luxembourg) warning published on IOSCO I-SCAN 2025-02-10 against www.swissquote-fr.com and www.swissq-fr.com as unregistered entities; the alert does not state whether they impersonate Swissquote [source 15].
  • Swissquote's own phishing help page gives general guidance only and reports no specific incident [source 16].

Reports that are not security incidents or regulator actions against the broker, shown for completeness and not scored.

Summary

Key facts in five lines

  • Swissquote Bank Ltd is a FINMA-licensed Swiss bank; its parent Swissquote Group Holding is listed on SIX and the 2025 annual report shows CHF 88.7 billion client assets and about 1.2 million accounts [source 7][source 1].
  • On the Swiss retail fee page US stocks carry a flat fee by trade size (CHF 3 to CHF 190) plus CHF 0.85 per transaction, with currency conversion at the interbank mid-rate without markup [source 9].
  • Swiss deposit protection covers up to CHF 100,000 per client per bank via esisuisse [source 8].
  • SIX Sanctions Commission fined the group holding CHF 75,000 for delayed ad hoc publicity (decision 29 Nov 2022); a 2025 UK Financial Ombudsman complaint against Swissquote Ltd was not upheld [source 3][source 13].
  • Swissquote confirmed a DDoS attack on 8-9 November 2022 affecting platform access; in 2025 press the CEO cited over 600 impersonating websites and FINMA asked for stronger anti-fraud controls [source 10][source 11].
Questions

Questions about Swissquote

Is Swissquote safe?

We do not give a yes or no. We record its regulation (FINMA, FSCA (Financial Services Provider no. 43908)), 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 Swissquote charge commission on US stocks?

Base retail tier on the Swiss (en-ch) official fee page: flat tiered fee in CHF for US stocks (OTC/pink sheets excluded, 0.5% min 100), CHF 0.85 added per transaction for real-time information (source 9). The en-mea version shows 0.10% min USD 9 + USD 0.85 (source 2). Rates differ by client residence site

Sources

Where this comes from

Not verified: Three incident and three legal searches done (search_depth full). Still unverified: FINMA's own register entry for Swissquote Bank Ltd (licence statement taken from Swissquote's legal page and annual report); Swissquote's own esisuisse/deposit-protection page and any official statement on segregation of client securities (segregation set to unclear; blog is the only source); custody, inactivity, withdrawal and ETF fees (official Account fees page not read; payments page redirect could not be opened); USD/CHF conversion for the cost_1000usd calculation (tier assumption stated); licences of UK, Luxembourg, Malta, Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore entities; no FINMA publication exists for the 2025 oversight letter (press only). No breach of Swissquote systems found; incidents are a DDoS (2022), one hacked account (2021) and impersonation/phishing campaigns.

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