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What is protected if your broker fails? Deposit guarantee versus investor compensation

Your cash and your securities fall under different schemes. Read the difference between the deposit guarantee (€100,000) and investor compensation (€20,000), and which scheme applies at which broker.

Daytraders.nl redactie · October 10, 2026 · 7 min leestijd

Reviewed by Sander van Essen

Two schemes, two kinds of assets

What happens to your money if your broker fails? The answer depends on what you hold. There are two different schemes:

  • Deposit guarantee: for money in an account at a bank (cash). In the Netherlands this is up to €100,000 per person per bank.
  • Investor compensation: for securities (shares, ETFs, bonds). In the Netherlands this is up to €20,000 per investor. The payout applies only when the investment firm cannot return your assets. It is therefore not compensation for losses caused by falling prices.

Which scheme applies depends on the broker, the country where your account is legally opened and the kind of asset. That differs per broker. Below we explain how, based on our October 2026 check.

This is not advice and not a judgement on the quality of a broker. It shows which rules apply according to the sources.

What a scheme does and does not do

A guarantee or compensation scheme is meant for the case where the provider itself can no longer meet its obligations. A few points to remember:

  • There is a maximum. If you hold more than €100,000 in cash or have a loss above €20,000, the scheme does not cover the excess.
  • Some schemes pay only part of the loss. Under the German and the Irish scheme this is 90% of the loss, up to €20,000. If, for example, you have a €10,000 loss on assets that were not returned, 90% is €9,000.
  • Price losses are not covered.
  • Different rules sometimes apply to professional clients. Easybroker and Interactive Brokers mention the Irish scheme only for retail clients (private individuals).

Which scheme applies at which broker?

The list is alphabetical. Open the review page for details and sources. Fees and terms can change.

  • ABN AMRO, ING and Rabobank: Dutch banks. Cash falls under the Dutch deposit guarantee (€100,000) and securities under the Dutch investor compensation scheme (€20,000). See ABN AMRO, ING and Rabobank.
  • BUX: cash on the Cash Trading Account is held at ABN AMRO Clearing Bank N.V. and falls under the deposit guarantee up to €100,000. For securities, investor compensation of €20,000 per person applies if BUX cannot meet its obligations after a bankruptcy. See BUX.
  • DEGIRO and flatex: German scheme. Cash is protected up to €100,000 under the German deposit guarantee scheme. For securities, the German investor compensation scheme pays 90% of the loss, up to €20,000. See DEGIRO and flatex.
  • Easybroker: your account is legally opened with Interactive Brokers Ireland Limited (IBIE). The Irish scheme therefore applies: 90% of the claim up to €20,000 per person, for retail clients only. The Dutch deposit guarantee does not apply, because Easybroker and IBIE are not banks. Easybroker, like Daytraders.nl, is part of DMA Europe B.V. See Easybroker.
  • LYNX: here too the account is held at IBIE. The Irish scheme pays 90% of the loss up to €20,000. According to its own page, LYNX is also a member of the Dutch investor compensation scheme (up to €20,000 per client). See LYNX.
  • Saxo: the Danish scheme. Cash falls under the Danish deposit guarantee up to €100,000. The Danish Garantiformuen covers losses up to €20,000 if securities are not returned. According to the DNB register, balances at Saxo are not covered by the Dutch deposit guarantee scheme. See Saxo.
  • Trade Republic: cash is held at partner banks. The deposit guarantee of the partner bank concerned applies, up to €100,000 per client. According to Trade Republic, securities are your property and are not covered by the deposit guarantee. See Trade Republic.

Keeping assets separate: why it matters

Besides a compensation scheme there is a second layer: how your securities are held. If your securities are kept apart from the broker’s own assets, they are your property.

Two examples from our data:

  • At Trade Republic, according to its own explanation, the securities in your account are your property.
  • At BUX, Stichting BUX Custody holds the securities and money for clients. That is a separate foundation alongside BUX itself.

For other brokers we did not record a comparable confirmation in our check. That does not mean there is none. Read your broker’s terms. They usually say how securities are held and by which party.

Foreign schemes: what does it mean for you?

Many brokers that serve Dutch clients are not based in the Netherlands. In that case the scheme of the provider’s country applies. In our overview you see this with the Irish scheme (Easybroker and LYNX via IBIE), the Danish scheme (Saxo) and the German scheme (DEGIRO and flatex).

In practice this can make a difference for you. The rules, the procedure and the payout limits then follow the foreign scheme. That is why it is wise to check where your account is legally opened. This is usually in the terms or on the broker’s page about protection.

Crypto is not covered by these schemes

Crypto works differently. Crypto-assets are not covered by the investor compensation scheme. Providers such as Bitvavo and Finst are supervised by the AFM with a MiCA licence (the EU rules for crypto services). That is supervision, but it is not a deposit guarantee or investor compensation.

Bitvavo has its own Account Guarantee. According to Bitvavo it may reimburse up to €100,000 for losses caused by unauthorised access to your account. Conditions apply, and it is not a deposit guarantee scheme. See Bitvavo and Finst.

Crypto-assets are highly volatile. Losing your entire investment is possible.

What can you check yourself?

  1. Which legal entity holds your account? It is not always the brand name.
  2. In which country is that entity supervised?
  3. Which scheme applies to cash and which to securities, and what is the maximum?
  4. Does a percentage apply, such as 90%?
  5. How are your securities held?

You will find DNB’s official explanation on its pages about investor compensation and about the Dutch deposit guarantee. You can read more about our approach on the Methodology page. To see brokers side by side, use the comparison tool.

Risk warning: Trading financial instruments carries significant risk. You can lose (part of) the money you invest. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Crypto providers are not covered by the investor compensation scheme. This article is educational and is not personal investment advice.