Is Interactive Brokers a Scam or Legit?
Interactive Brokers passes the kitchen inspection. Its licence is public and easy to check.
Interactive Brokers cooks under FCA licence 208159, issued to Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Ltd, and that entry sits right there in the FCA public register. It has kept the doors open since 1978, 48 years on the line. Scam kitchens do not hold a regulated licence year after year; they close and vanish.
The FCA paperwork
| Regulator | FCA |
| Licence number | 208159 ✓ |
| Registered entity | Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Ltd |
| Status | Authorised |
| Register | register.fca.org.uk |
| Years regulated | 48+ |
What the FCA seal buys you
FCA-regulated brokers must keep client funds in accounts segregated from company funds, provide negative balance protection, and contribute to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which covers up to £85,000 per client if the broker becomes insolvent.
Every licence on the wall
Interactive Brokers keeps 7 regulatory licences pinned up across different jurisdictions. Which one serves your table comes down to where you live.
| Regulator | Licence | Entity | Max leverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| FCA | 208159 | Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Ltd | 1:30 max |
| FINRA | 0258597 | Interactive Brokers LLC | 1:50 max |
| ASIC | 453554 | Interactive Brokers Australia Pty Ltd | 1:30 max |
| MAS | 200208570R | Interactive Brokers Singapore Pte Ltd | 1:20 max |
| JFSA | 東京都知事（金商）第2516号 | Interactive Brokers Securities Japan Inc | 1:25 max |
| SFC | AEJ529 | Interactive Brokers Hong Kong Ltd | 1:20 max |
| SEBI | INZ000217730 | Interactive Brokers (India) Pvt Ltd | 1:5 max |
Inspect the kitchen yourself
Open register.fca.org.uk and type in licence number 208159, or search the entity name Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Ltd. A proper listing shows you the entity, its authorisation status, and exactly which regulated activities it is cleared to serve.
The whole check takes under a minute. When a broker is nowhere to be found on its regulator's register, treat that as a spoiled dish and walk away, every legitimate, regulated firm shows up there.
The usual complaints, and what they really mean
Most complaints about Interactive Brokers fall into standard categories: withdrawal processing times, spread widening during news events, and account verification requests. These are normal business practices, not indicators of fraud.
None of that is fraud. It is the ordinary grumbling any busy kitchen gets when it holds firm on its own terms. A genuine forex scam runs with no licence at all, blocks every withdrawal, and disappears with the money on the table. That is simply not how Interactive Brokers operates.
The red flags of a kitchen you should never eat at
Whatever broker you are weighing up, these are the signs of a rotten kitchen to walk out of:
- No licence number on show, or one that turns up nowhere on the official register
- Being pushed to deposit more before they will let you cash out
- Promises of guaranteed returns or "risk-free" trading, nobody serves that dish
- A platform that only ever plates profits and never a loss
- No real address and no way to contact a human
- A licence from a regulator nobody has heard of, with no official website behind it
Not one of these fits Interactive Brokers. Its FCA licence 208159 is out in the open, it names its offices in Greenwich, CT, USA, and it has been serving without a break since 1978.
Frequently asked questions
Is Interactive Brokers safe to deposit money with?
Interactive Brokers cooks under FCA oversight, and your money sits in its own segregated pot. UK diners are covered on top by the FSCS, up to £85,000. None of this makes trading itself risk-free, but it walls your deposit off if the broker ever goes under.
Why do people ask if Interactive Brokers is a scam?
Most "scam" searches come from traders who lost money, not from anyone who was cheated. CFDs are a hot stove, 60% of Interactive Brokers retail clients burn their fingers. Getting burned on a legitimate platform does not turn it into a scam. Scams block every payout and disappear; Interactive Brokers has paid out withdrawals for 48 years running.
Is Interactive Brokers regulated in my country?
The kitchen holds licences reaching 37 countries across 7 jurisdictions. Which entity seats your account depends on where you are; the licence table above shows exactly which one covers your region.
What happens to my money if Interactive Brokers goes bankrupt?
A FCA-regulated broker must keep client cash in segregated bank accounts, walled off entirely from its own operating money. UK clients also get FSCS cover up to £85,000.