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Swissquote regulation: what happens if the firm fails

The licence is what decides where your money sits and who is obliged to do something about it. Here is who licenses Swissquote and what the protections are.

Facts last checked . Read the full Swissquote review.

Regulation and safety

Regulated by
FINMA; FCA (562170); CySEC (422/22); DFSA (F001438); MAS; SFC Hong Kong; MFSA
Regulator tier
Tier 1
Register entry
FINMA authorised institutions register
Client money segregated
Yes
Held at
Swissquote Bank Ltd / regulated banking and custodian infrastructure
Negative balance protection
Yes for eligible retail leveraged-trading clients
Compensation scheme
Swiss esisuisse deposit protection up to CHF 100,000; eligible EU CFD clients protected up to €20,000
Audited by
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Not available to
United States and jurisdictions subject to applicable sanctions or where Swissquote does not provide its services

Check the licence yourself: the FCA Register, the CySEC register of investment firms, the DFSA public register, the MAS Financial Institutions Directory, the SFC public register.

What this means

The licence is what decides where your money sits and who is obliged to do something about it.

Swissquote holds tier-one authorisations from FCA, CySEC, MAS and FINMA. That matters more than any headline spread: it determines your leverage cap, whether losses can exceed your deposit, and what happens to your money if the firm fails.

The FCA caps retail leverage at 1:30, mandates negative balance protection, and covers eligible clients under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

CySEC licences passport across the EU and follow the 1:30 retail leverage cap, with the Investor Compensation Fund covering eligible claims.

The DFSA regulates from the Dubai International Financial Centre, a separate legal jurisdiction from the wider UAE.

Client money is held separately from the firm's own money, at Swissquote Bank Ltd / regulated banking and custodian infrastructure. That separation is what makes your balance recoverable if the company fails, rather than part of the pool its creditors divide up.

Negative balance protection applies, so a losing position cannot take the account below zero and leave you owing the broker money.

Covered by Swiss esisuisse deposit protection up to CHF 100,000; eligible EU CFD clients protected up to €20,000, which pays eligible clients up to its limit if the firm fails owing client money.

Questions about Swissquote regulation

Is client money segregated at Swissquote?

Yes. Swissquote holds client money separately from its own funds, at Swissquote Bank Ltd / regulated banking and custodian infrastructure.

Does Swissquote offer negative balance protection?

Yes. Swissquote offers negative balance protection, so a losing position cannot leave you owing the broker more than your account held.

Is there a compensation scheme at Swissquote?

Swissquote's compensation scheme is recorded as: Swiss esisuisse deposit protection up to CHF 100,000; eligible EU CFD clients protected up to €20,000. A scheme covers the broker failing, not losses on your trades.

Regulation at brokers under the same regulator

More about Swissquote