Publicly listed on Nasdaq (IBKR) and an S&P 500 constituent, Interactive Brokers is one of the largest electronic brokers globally by client equity, with access to 150+ markets worldwide. Founder Thomas Peterffy remains Chairman. Widely regarded as a low-controversy, Category-A-regulator-only broker relative to CFD-focused peers.
| Regulated entity | Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Limited |
|---|---|
| Regulation | FCA No. 208159 |
| Other Tier-1 regulators | NFA/CFTC (US), ASIC, CIRO, MAS, DFSA |
| Founded | 1978 |
| Headquarters | Greenwich, Connecticut, USA |
| Minimum deposit | Not independently confirmed |
| Avg. spread (EUR/USD) | Not independently confirmed |
| Platforms | TWS (Trader Workstation), IBKR Desktop, IBKR Mobile, Client Portal (WebTrader) |
| Instruments | No single total-instrument count published by the broker; stocks, options, futures, forex, bonds (1,000,000+ bonds), and mutual funds (500+ fund families) across 170+ markets in roughly 40 countries, per IBKR's own fact sheet. |
See Interactive Brokers's full regulation dossier → · How to check whether a forex broker is regulated
Derived from the same confirmed data behind this broker's score (regulation, cost, platforms, deposit minimum) -- not a separate editorial judgment.
Via its FCA-regulated UK entity, eligible clients are covered by the UK's Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to £85,000 per person if the firm fails.
Beyond the headline spread and minimum deposit above. Where our research hasn't independently confirmed a specific detail, we say so rather than guess -- verify directly with the broker before relying on it.
| Account types | Not a dedicated FX/CFD account structure -- individual, joint, trust, advisor, family-office and hedge-fund master-client accounts, plus IBKR Lite/Pro tiers (primarily US-focused). No Islamic/swap-free account was found; Muslim clients would need a cash (non-margin) account instead. |
|---|---|
| Execution model | Agency/non-dealing-desk -- Interactive Brokers does not take the other side of client trades. Forex orders route to interbank liquidity via its IdealPro/IDEALFX system; stocks and options use its own "Smart Routing" DMA-style order routing. |
| Withdrawals & deposits | Not independently confirmed from an authoritative current fee page in this research pass -- Interactive Brokers is widely reported industry-wide to offer one free withdrawal per month with a fee after that, but we could not confirm the UK entity's exact current figure. Verify directly on interactivebrokers.co.uk's fee schedule. |
| Overnight financing (swap) | Margin financing is tiered: a benchmark rate plus a markup that narrows at higher balances (roughly benchmark +1.5% at the lowest tier, down to about benchmark +0.5% at the highest), floored at 0%, accrued daily and posted monthly. No Islamic/swap-free account exists to avoid this. |
| Currency conversion cost | Its IdealFX auto-conversion service adds or subtracts roughly 0.03% from the interbank rate, with no separate commission; orders below about $25,000 may be rerouted to a smaller, potentially costlier conversion venue. |
| Inactivity fee | None for individual, joint, trust or organization accounts, per Interactive Brokers' own published minimums page. A separate $1/month fee applies only to introducing-broker client sub-accounts with very low balances and commissions -- not relevant to retail clients. |
| Customer service | Phone and ticket-based support. Reviews are mixed: praise for platform depth and account security sits alongside recurring complaints (ConsumerAffairs, Trustpilot, Forex Peace Army) about frozen-account support loops, outsourced call centers and slow (reportedly up to 48-hour) ticket responses. Interactive Brokers UK also publishes FCA-mandated complaints-volume reports. |
| Mobile experience | Roughly 4.5 on the App Store (about 10,000 ratings) and a similar or slightly higher rating on Google Play per third-party aggregators, though exact figures vary by source and date -- treat the high-4s range as approximate rather than exact. |
| Educational offering | IBKR Campus (including Traders' Academy) provides free courses, video tutorials, and analytical tools (PortfolioAnalyst, Probability Lab/Options Strategy Lab); independently reviewed as one of the stronger educational offerings among brokers of this type. |
See how Interactive Brokers's spread cost compares across every researched broker → · Forex broker fees explained
Is Interactive Brokers regulated?
Yes -- FCA No. 208159. See the regulation dossier on this page for the underlying licence numbers.
Is my money protected if Interactive Brokers fails?
Via its FCA-regulated UK entity, eligible clients are covered by the UK's Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to £85,000 per person if the firm fails.
What is the minimum deposit at Interactive Brokers?
Not independently confirmed in our research -- verify directly with the broker.
What trading platforms does Interactive Brokers offer?
Interactive Brokers offers TWS (Trader Workstation), IBKR Desktop, IBKR Mobile, Client Portal (WebTrader).
What is Interactive Brokers's average spread on EUR/USD?
Not independently confirmed in our research -- verify directly with the broker.
When was Interactive Brokers founded?
Interactive Brokers was founded in 1978.
How is Interactive Brokers's overall score calculated?
Interactive Brokers currently scores 4.08/5 overall under our disclosed nine-category methodology -- regulation & client protection 30%, trading costs 20%, non-trading fees 10%, platforms & tools 10%, execution/trading conditions 10%, product range 5%, deposits/withdrawals 5%, transparency 5%, track record 5%. It is not a comparison to other brokers and not based on hands-on testing.
A dated log of when our own published data about this broker actually changed -- not a reconstructed history of what the broker itself did. See the full change log tool for every broker.
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