IF THE FIRM FAILS
What do you get back if your broker fails?
TrueBroker is a free broker safety checker, and this tool answers the question nobody asks until it is too late: which investor compensation scheme covers your broker, what it actually pays, and where no scheme exists at all. Look your broker up, or read the table underneath.
What does each scheme actually pay?
Every row below was read at the scheme’s own page on the date shown, nuances included, because the nuances are the story: the Cyprus fund pays the lower of 90 percent and €20,000, not a flat €20,000; Australia has no insolvency scheme for brokers at all; Hong Kong’s fund covers exchange traded products and never the OTC contracts most brokers on this board sell.
| Regulator | Scheme | Limit | The rule, as published |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASIC (Australia) | No scheme | None for insolvency | No general scheme covers an Australian broker's insolvency; the CSLR pays up to AUD 150,000 only for unpaid AFCA determinations about personal advice, securities dealing or credit. source |
| BaFin (Germany) | EdW | €20,000 | 90 percent of the investor's claim from securities transactions, capped at €20,000 per investor. source |
| CIRO (Canada) | Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF) | CAD 1,000,000 | CAD 1 million per account category for property held by an insolvent member firm. source |
| CySEC (Cyprus) | Investor Compensation Fund (ICF) | €20,000 | The lower of 90 percent of the cumulative covered claims and €20,000, per covered client. source |
| FCA (United Kingdom) | Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) | £85,000 | Up to £85,000 per eligible person, per firm, for investment claims where the firm failed after 1 April 2019. source |
| FSA (Seychelles) | No scheme | None | The Seychelles FSA operates no investor compensation scheme; a failed firm's clients stand as ordinary creditors. source |
| FSCA (South Africa) | No scheme | None | South Africa operates no investor compensation scheme for FSP failures; the FAIS Ombud hears complaints but no insolvency fund exists. source |
| FSC (Belize) | No scheme | None | The Belize FSC operates no investor compensation scheme; a failed firm's clients stand as ordinary creditors. source |
| FSC (British Virgin Islands) | No scheme | None | The BVI FSC operates no investor compensation scheme; a failed firm's clients stand as ordinary creditors. source |
| SFC (Hong Kong) | Investor Compensation Fund | HKD 500,000 | Up to HKD 500,000 per investor per default, for defaults from 1 January 2020. source |
| VFSC (Vanuatu) | No scheme | None | The Vanuatu FSC operates no investor compensation scheme; a failed firm's clients stand as ordinary creditors. source |
What can the table not tell you?
Which entity your account actually sits with. A brand advertises its best licence while signing customers in other countries with an entity from the bottom of the table, and the protection that applies is the entity’s, not the brand’s. Read the account agreement, then check that entity on the register guides. And none of this is financial or legal advice; it is the public record of each scheme, gathered and dated.
Fair questions
Which protection applies to my account?
The scheme of the entity on your account agreement, not the brand's best licence. Groups route customers to different entities per country, so check which one you actually signed with.
Does compensation cover trading losses?
No scheme anywhere covers a losing trade. They cover the firm failing while holding your money or assets, nothing else.
What if my broker is unregulated?
No scheme, no ombudsman, no rules on how your deposit is held. If the firm fails you stand as an ordinary creditor, and that is why the board scores unregulated brokers so hard.
Are these limits current?
Every row was read at the scheme's own page on the date shown beside it, with the source linked. Limits change; the date tells you how fresh the answer is.
THE SHORT VERSION
Compensation depends on the entity on your account agreement: £85,000 under the FSCS, the lower of 90 percent and €20,000 under the Cyprus ICF, CAD 1 million under Canada’s CIPF, and nothing at all under the offshore registers half this industry runs on. Look your broker up above, or run it through the legit check first.