Interactive Brokers at a glance
Interactive Brokers (IB) is a large, multi-asset global brokerage serving retail, professional and institutional clients with low-cost execution, deep liquidity, and advanced trading platforms across stocks, options, futures, FX, bonds and funds.
Interactive Brokers reports a founding year of 1977 and a head office in Greenwich, Connecticut, USA. It lists 6 regulators and 8 trading platforms.
BrokerBazaar verdict
Interactive Brokers is a top-tier, low-cost global broker built for active and professional traders — extremely capable but with a steep learning curve for new users.
Legal entities, regulation and licences
Interactive Brokers operates through 9 legal entities, each supervised separately. Your account is with one specific entity, so the protections you receive depend on which one onboards you, not on the group's strongest licence. Overall, the group is supervised by at least one strict-tier regulator.
Licence check: Not independently checked. This broker has submitted its details. BrokerBazaar has not yet independently checked them. A company registration or general business licence is not permission to offer regulated brokerage services; only the register entries linked in the table count.
Countries accepted and restricted
Interactive Brokers states that it accepts clients from United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Many other countries worldwide (global coverage). Availability is decided per entity and can change without notice; residents of jurisdictions such as the USA, and often the EU and UK, are frequently excluded from offshore entities.
Trading products, platforms and account types
Instruments: not disclosed. Platforms: Trader Workstation (TWS), Client Portal / WebTrader, IBKR Mobile, IBKR GlobalTrader, APIs (FIX, REST, Java, Python). Account types: Individual, Joint, Retirement / IRA, Corporate, Trust, Institutional, IBKR Lite / IBKR Pro.
Best-for tags assigned by our team: Experienced traders, Active traders, Options traders, Institutional clients, International investors.
Minimum deposit, spreads, commissions and other charges
The minimum deposit is $0. Spreads start from 0.1 pips and commission is None on standard · applies on raw. Maximum leverage is Varies by entity (dynamic), subject to the cap of the entity that holds your account.
Swap-free / Islamic account: not specified. Swap type: not specified. Headline spreads are usually quoted for the most expensive account tier's cheapest instrument; compare total cost for your typical trade.
Deposits and withdrawals
Deposit methods: Bank wire / SWIFT, ACH (US), Electronic bank transfer, Check (region-dependent). Withdrawal methods: Bank wire, ACH (US), Electronic bank transfer, Check (region-dependent).
Withdrawal speed and fees are set by the entity and payment provider. Withdrawal delays are the most common complaint category on BrokerBazaar across all brokers; keep identity documents current and withdraw to the same method you deposited with where required by anti-money-laundering rules.
Execution model, negative balance protection and client money
Negative balance protection: No. Scalping allowed: Yes. Algorithmic trading allowed: Yes. News trading allowed: Yes. Hedging: netting. These conditions were compiled from public information and have not yet been confirmed by the broker.
Client-money rules follow the regulator of the entity that holds your account: FCA: Segregated in ring-fenced client accounts under the CASS rules. Compensation: FSCS — up to £85,000 per client. ASIC: Held in segregated client trust accounts under the Corporations Act. Compensation: No central scheme; AFCA handles disputes.
Complaints and dispute process
Formal complaints: help@interactivebrokers.com. Phone: +1 203-618-5700. Customers can contact Interactive Brokers through its Client Services channels and submit support enquiries through the IBKR website. Escalation and external dispute-resolution arrangements vary according to the IBKR legal entity and jurisdiction.
If the broker does not resolve a complaint, escalate to the ombudsman or regulator of the entity that holds your account. BrokerBazaar's Dispute Support Desk can help you document and escalate a case.
Strengths and limitations
- Strength: Access to a very broad range of global markets
- Strength: Strong multi-jurisdiction regulatory coverage
- Strength: Competitive FX spreads and transparent commissions
- Strength: Large selection of stocks, ETFs, options, futures and bonds
- Strength: Professional-grade Trader Workstation platform
- Strength: IBKR Desktop and IBKR Mobile available
- Strength: No minimum deposit for applicable Cash Accounts
- Strength: Strong research and market-data offering
- Limitation: Platform can be complex for beginners
- Limitation: Leverage and product availability vary by jurisdiction
- Limitation: Customer support experience can vary
- Limitation: Pricing and account features differ between legal entities
- Limitation: Some products require substantial knowledge of margin and risk
Who this broker suits, and who it does not
Interactive Brokers is most relevant to traders looking for: Experienced traders, Active traders, Options traders, Institutional clients, International investors.
It is less suitable for anyone who needs a strict-tier regulator in their own country of residence but would be onboarded by an offshore entity, for residents of restricted jurisdictions, and for beginners who have not yet understood leverage and margin. Nothing on this page is personal financial advice.
Interactive Brokers change history
Every published fact change, with the previous value and the date it took effect. Each entry says whether the broker made the change itself or our editors checked it against an official source. Regulation and licence claims are always checked by an editor.
No fact changes recorded for Interactive Brokers yet. Changes appear here as soon as the broker updates its profile or our editors confirm a change.
Frequently asked questions about Interactive Brokers
Data sources. Broker submission, the regulator registers linked above, web-archive and domain records, and third-party traffic data. No independent licence check date is recorded yet. External ratings: WikiFX N/A/N/A; Forex Peace Army N/A/5; FX Empire 4.5/5; Trustpilot 3/5; Google Play Store 4.4/5; Apple App Store 4.7/5.
Commercial disclosure. BrokerBazaar is independent and not owned by any broker. We have no commercial relationship with Interactive Brokers. How we make money. Trading leveraged products carries a high risk of loss.