Featured Partner · Bundle dealSeeking Alpha Premium and Alpha Picks: $629 instead of $798Premium: research tools and screeners. Alpha Picks: two stock picks a month. Get $169 Off Premium: research tools and screeners. Alpha Picks: two stock picks a month. When investing, your capital is at risk. You may get back less than you invest. Interactive Brokers Ireland Limited is not a bank. Investor compensation, and any US custody cover described below, deals with a firm failure. A fall in the market sits outside that cover. This page is not investment, tax or legal advice.
- EEA residents open with Interactive Brokers Ireland Limited. The Central Bank of Ireland authorises that company. Interactive Brokers Central Europe, the Hungarian company, merged into it on 1 August 2024.
- Eligible private clients have a capped compensation scheme. The Investor Compensation Company DAC pays 90% of a compensatable loss, up to €20,000, if the firm cannot return your assets. A fall in the market sits outside that scheme.
- Euro cash interest is a brokerage rate, with a zero band. Cash above €10,000 is published on this site at 2.03% once the account is large enough. The first €10,000 earns 0%.
- The fee and the product depend on the market and the permission. Many European stock orders use the stored 0.05% schedule, and a minimum still applies. Margin rates stay on IBKR's own page because they move with the benchmark.
If you searched for Interactive Brokers from Europe, the useful first question is which company would hold the account. The app looks the same from Lisbon to Helsinki. The name on the agreement is what changes. For residents of the EEA, that name is Interactive Brokers Ireland Limited, and the Central Bank of Ireland regulates it. The compensation scheme, the cash interest and the tax form all sit with that company.
This guide stays on the entity. The platform is in our Interactive Brokers review. Commissions and currency conversion are in the fees guide. The group balance sheet is in is Interactive Brokers safe. If the money is an emergency fund, start with the euro savings comparison before you leave it as broker cash.
At a glanceKey facts
Rates and commissions come from the site fact store, checked against the Ireland pages on 10 November 2026. The compensation cap comes from the Investor Compensation Company and from IBKR's Ireland protection page, read the same day.
Which IBKR company EU residents open with
Interactive Brokers is a group. Since 1 August 2024, the Ireland site says Interactive Brokers Ireland Limited provides investment services to EEA-based clients. You enter where you live, and the application follows from that.
The Irish company took over Interactive Brokers Central Europe Zrt., the Budapest firm. IBKR announced that plan in September 2023. Its later notice says the merger had happened on 1 August 2024, and that an EEA account which missed the Irish agreements by 30 October 2024 would be limited to closing positions. The Hungarian Investor Protection Fund records the same date: the Budapest company left that fund in a cross-border merger, and former clients moved to the Irish scheme. The National Bank of Hungary had approved the Budapest licence on 12 December 2020. The 2023 announcement did not list who had been booked there, country by country, so this guide does not invent that list. A TBSZ account with a forint minimum still appears on the Ireland minimums page, as an account type on the Irish schedule.
The United Kingdom is absent from the Central Bank of Ireland freedom of services list. The disclaimers page names Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Limited, authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under 208159. Switzerland is outside the EEA list as well. The company name on your agreement is the one that decides the scheme.
The regulatorThe Central Bank of Ireland
The register lists Interactive Brokers Ireland Limited as a MiFID investment firm, reference C423427, authorised on 22 December 2020, with client money rules marked yes. The head office is North Dock One, 91/92 North Wall Quay, Dublin, postal address P.O. Box 559, Dublin 1. The company's own letter on the Central Bank site also gives Eircode D01 H7V7 and company number 657406.
Authorisation rests on Statutory Instrument No. 375 of 2017. The services include receiving and transmitting orders, executing orders, dealing on own account, safeguarding, credit or loans, and foreign exchange. Instruments include transferable securities, fund units, contracts for difference and other derivatives. Each product still has to be switched on in the account. Freedom of services covers the other EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Ireland is the home state, and the compensation scheme on the account is the Irish one.
ProtectionInvestor compensation, extra cover, and bank sweeps
On the Ireland protection page, certain private clients are covered by the Irish Investor Compensation Scheme. Institutions and professional clients are outside it. Compensation is 90% of the amount lost, up to €20,000 per investor, for failure of the investment firm. A loss of market value sits outside it. The Investor Compensation Company DAC states the same cap. A claim also needs a Central Bank determination or a court ruling under the Investor Compensation Act 1998. The 2026 booklet says each joint holder may claim up to €20,000, and that bad advice and a market fall are outside the scheme.
Under Statutory Instrument No. 604 of 2017, client money is held for the exclusive benefit of clients of the Irish company. IBKR names seven principles: segregation, designation, daily reconciliation, a daily calculation, disclosure and consent, risk management, and an annual external examination. Cash and securities owed are worked out daily, and fully paid securities sit at depositories identified for customers. Funds are pooled at banks inside and outside the EEA. If you have not borrowed and you hold no futures, IBKR says those assets can be returned if the broker defaults. The firm also says it is not a bank and does not carry meaningful proprietary inventory.
Some securities are custodied at Interactive Brokers LLC. To that extent, SIPC covers up to USD 500,000, with a USD 250,000 cash sublimit, and cash counts only as margin for a short stock or option there. Lloyd's underwriters provide up to an extra USD 30 million, with a USD 900,000 cash sublimit and a USD 150 million aggregate. Futures are outside it. The Irish company says it would make any SIPC claim. Euro cash sitting at the Irish company is outside that wording.
The Ireland interest page says cash is not swept into low-yield programmes by default. The US site describes an Insured Bank Deposit Sweep at Interactive Brokers LLC, with FDIC cover up to USD 5,000,000 for an individual and USD 10,000,000 for a joint account, plus USD 250,000 of SIPC cash cover. Cash left in the brokerage account does not receive FDIC protection, on that page. Read on 10 November 2026, the Ireland protection and financial strength pages do not offer this sweep, or an EU deposit-guarantee sweep, to Irish-company clients. We could not verify an enrolment screen for them on the public Ireland pages.
What the fees mean in practice
Fixed pricing bundles exchange, clearing and regulatory charges. Tiered pricing can fall with volume, and more of those charges pass through. The fees guide compares them. Figures below come from the fact store, re-read on 10 November 2026.
The stored European share commission is 0.05% of trade value. Austria's first monthly band on the Ireland stock page is that rate for Tiered and for Fixed SmartRouting. A minimum per order still applies, and the Baltic Fixed schedule is higher. Check the live table for your market.
Manual conversion in the first band costs 0.002%, written on the page in basis points, with a minimum. Automatic conversion typically moves the exchange rate by about 0.03%, with no separate commission. Direct clients get the published schedule. An introducer can set another rate.
An individual, joint or organisation account shows a zero minimum and a zero inactivity fee on the required-minimums page. The disclaimers page still mentions a maintenance fee if commissions miss a monthly minimum. Use the minimums page for the account type. Broker connections can differ, and a TBSZ row has a forint minimum. The overview says there is no platform fee, aside from a B3 custody footnote.
CashInterest on euro cash
Interest is paid on uninvested settled cash in the brokerage account. The disclaimers page calls that interest incidental to brokerage, and says it is not a banking business. Bank deposits are compared on the euro savings page. Broker cash sits in the savings alternatives guide.
Euro cash up to €10,000 earns 0%. Above that, the benchmark minus 0.5% is published on this site as 2.03%, checked on 10 November 2026. The first slice earns nothing, so the whole balance is a blend, worked out per currency.
The full rate needs net asset value of at least USD 100,000, or the equivalent. Below that, the rate is lower. An account worth half that value earns half the full rate, in the page's example. Interest accrues daily, posts monthly, and euros use a 360-day year. Rates can change. An introducer may pay a different rate, or none. Cash sent before approval may earn interest, and a rejected application is returned without it.
BorrowingMargin, without a stale rate
Margin is a secured loan from the broker. The rate moves with the benchmark, so use the live margin page rather than a figure printed here. IBKR says you may lose more than you deposited, and that it can liquidate positions in real time if margin is short. Borrowed stock can be used, up to its loan value, as collateral.
Products available on the Irish company
The Ireland overview lists stocks, ETFs, options, futures, bonds, currencies, mutual funds and metals, across more than 175 markets and 29 currencies. The register includes funds, foreign exchange, contracts for difference and other derivatives. You still request permission, and country rules can close a product. Fractional shares are on the stock schedules. Our app comparison covers the mobile choices.
Crypto-assets on the Ireland page are traded and held at zerohash europe B.V., authorised by the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets. IBKR says it does not custody them. The commission is published on that page. Our fact store does not hold the range. The overview mentions prediction markets, while the legal footer says Irish-company clients may not trade forecast contracts in the Elections and Elected Officials categories. Follow the footer. We could not verify a wider prediction-market product for these clients.
Tax paperworkTax forms a European client actually sees
A non-US individual completes Form W-8BEN with a local tax number, and can claim a treaty rate where one exists. A joint account needs both holders outside the US categories, or the form is a W-9. Entities use W-8BEN-E. This is US withholding paperwork. Your home-country return is a separate filing, and this page is general information rather than tax advice.
IBKR says the W-8 is not sent to the IRS. It lasts for the signing year and the next three calendar years. A form signed on 5 March 2018 was valid through 31 December 2021. If it lapses, US withholding goes to 30% on dividends, interest, gross proceeds and payments in lieu. A valid form starts US dividends at 30%, reduced by treaty. You may then get Form 1042-S, reported to the IRS, under Reports, Tax, Tax Forms. Canadian securities can produce an NR4.
OpeningHow to open the account
The application is online, and IBKR asks for a scan rather than a phone photo. The pages below do not promise an approval time, so this guide does not quote one.
Fund from the Client Portal instructions for that currency. The wrong bank details can mean a rejection or a conversion, and your bank may charge. Physical cash, share certificates and third-party payments are refused or generally rejected. Then choose permissions before you trade. The review covers the platforms.
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FAQFrequently asked questions
Residents of the EEA open with Interactive Brokers Ireland Limited, regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland under reference C423427. From 1 August 2024 that company provides IBKR's investment services to EEA clients. The country you enter on the application places you.
It applied until the merger. Interactive Brokers Central Europe Zrt., the Budapest company, merged into Interactive Brokers Ireland Limited on 1 August 2024 and left the Hungarian investor protection fund. Former clients moved to the Irish scheme. A new EEA account is with the Irish company.
The Central Bank of Ireland. The register lists Interactive Brokers Ireland Limited as a MiFID investment firm, reference C423427, authorised on 22 December 2020. The head office is North Dock One, 91/92 North Wall Quay, Dublin.
The Investor Compensation Company DAC pays 90% of the loss, up to €20,000 per investor, for an eligible private client. The firm has to be unable to return the assets, and a Central Bank determination or a court ruling is required. A fall in market value sits outside the scheme. The wider picture is in our safety guide.
SIPC can cover securities the Irish company custodies at Interactive Brokers LLC, up to USD 500,000, with a USD 250,000 cash sublimit where that cash is margin for a short stock or option, plus a Lloyd's excess policy. The US Insured Bank Deposit Sweep is described for Interactive Brokers LLC. The Ireland pages we read do not offer that sweep for euro cash at the Irish company.
Euro cash up to
The stored European share commission is
A non-US individual completes Form W-8BEN with a local tax identification number. IBKR says the W-8 is not sent to the IRS. You may later receive Form 1042-S for US source income, and that form is reported to the IRS. Your own country still has its own return. This is not tax advice.
Apply online with a passport, national identity card or driving licence, plus proof of address, then complete the W-8BEN and fund from Client Portal. An individual account has no minimum and no inactivity fee on the Ireland minimums page. The platform review is our Interactive Brokers review.
Interactive Brokers: When investing, your capital is at risk. This page contains sponsored links to Interactive Brokers. EU Investing Hub may receive compensation if you follow these links, at no extra cost to you. The commercial relationship does not affect our editorial position or the verified facts in this content. This information is for educational purposes only and is not investment advice. Interactive Brokers provides execution and clearing services to its customers. Interactive Brokers makes no representation and assumes no liability to the accuracy or completeness of the information provided in this Influencer communication. None of the information contained herein constitutes a recommendation, offer, promotion, or solicitation of an offer by Interactive Brokers to buy, sell or hold any security, financial product or instrument or to engage in any specific investment strategy. Investing involves risks. Investors should obtain their own independent financial advice and understand the risks associated with investment products and services before making investment decisions. Risk disclosure statements can be found on the Interactive Brokers website. The euro cash rate was checked against the Ireland pricing page on 10 November 2026.
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