What we do with your money

The essentials

What does IG do with my money and my assets?

Unlike banks, investment firms like IG are required to separate client money and assets from their own resources. This means that we’re not allowed to use them in the course of our business activities, and that client money and assets are completely ring-fenced and protected in the unlikely event that IG became insolvent.

IG Markets is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA have strict regulatory requirements, known as the client money and client assets rules (found in the Client Assets Sourcebook – CASS), which govern exactly what we can do and how we must do it.

IG Europe GmbH is regulated by the Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin). BaFin oversees firm’s compliance with the relevant rules for protecting client funds (§84 WpHG, §16 MiFID, §10 WpDVerOV). More information on how we hold client money and assets can be found here.

The only clients whose money and assets aren’t treated like this are professional clients (such as other financial firms), or eligible counterparties who have signed a legal document explaining how their money and assets are held differently (this is known as ‘title transfer’).

What happens to the money I deposit with IG?

Your money is held in segregated bank accounts under trustee arrangements. This ensures that the cash remains yours, rather than IG’s. It also means that it’s easily identifiable as client money, so IG and its creditors don’t have any charge, liens, or rights of set-off or retention over it.

We intentionally ensure that client money is split between a number of banks, and we’re not permitted to hold it all in one place.

We may place funds in notice or term deposit accounts with a notice period or term of up to 95 days. Placing client money in notice or term deposit accounts does not in itself affect your ability to deal with or withdraw funds from your account with us. However, in the unlikely event of our insolvency, such amounts may not be immediately available upon request.

What happens to the shares or turbo warrants that I buy or hold through IG?

Your shares or turbo warrants are held in a segregated client accounts under nominee arrangements with approved custodians. This means that they’re easily identifiable as client assets and, as with cash, IG and its creditors don’t have any charge, liens, or rights of set-off or retention over them. Your shares or turbo warrants may be pooled with those belonging to other clients, but never with shares or turbo warrants owned by IG.

What happens to my money or assets if IG goes into liquidation?

In the unlikely event of this happening, all our clients would have their share of the segregated money or segregated assets returned, minus the administrators’ costs in handling and distributing these funds.

For IG Markets accounts: any shortfall of funds up to £85,000 may be compensated for under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). The FSCS is the compensation fund of last resort for customers of authorised financial services firms. It’s designed by the UK government to act as a ‘safety net’, and usually covers private investors (retail clients) and small businesses if they’ve been clients of a financial services firm which becomes insolvent.

For IG Europe accounts: EdW compensates investors if IG Europe is in financial difficulties and no longer able to fulfil its obligations under securities transactions concluded with its clients. The German Financial Supervisory Authority determines when this event has occurred and publishes this determination in the Federal Gazette.

The amount of compensation awarded to each investor under securities transactions is 90% of the claims against the securities trading company (not more than €20,000).