At Trading 212, we protect your cash and investments in two main ways: first, by keeping them separate from our own company money; and second, through the government-backed Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
Client money
At Trading 212 UK Limited (‘Trading 212’), we handle all client funds (money held on behalf of clients) in accordance with the regulations set out by the FCA’s Client Assets Sourcebook (‘CASS’) rules. This means that we pool our clients’ funds into a separate bank account, called a ‘client money bank account’, which is kept completely separate from our own funds. By keeping client funds separate from our own, in the unlikely event that Trading 212 were to become insolvent, your funds would still be accessible to you.
We also take steps to reduce the risk of bank insolvency by holding client money in major banks (including J.P. Morgan and Barclays) and we regularly review their financial stability.
Client assets
Client assets are assets such as shares and funds we hold on behalf of clients. At Trading 212, we hold client assets in accordance with the FCA’s CASS rules. We pool clients’ assets together and hold them in segregated accounts with a custodian, completely separate from Trading 212’s own assets. This helps ensure that our clients’ assets are protected and that they can be easily identified and distinguished from our own.
We work with The Bank of New York Mellon and Interactive Brokers to help safeguard your assets. These relationships are governed by custody agreements that comply with CASS rules. Your investments are also kept separate from our company assets. We conduct regular reviews on them to ensure they’re still suitable to hold client assets. You can learn more about where and how your shares are held here.
Protection schemes
As a regulated investment firm in the UK, Trading 212 is a member of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). The FSCS is the UK’s compensation fund of last resort for customers of authorised financial services firms. This means the FSCS may step in if Trading 212 were to fail and your money or assets are lost, subject to eligibility.
The protection limit depends on who fails:
Investment Protection
This covers the total of your investments and cash combined in the event Trading 212 should fail.
- Total Limit: The FSCS protects you up to £85,000 in total per eligible person, per firm.
- What this covers: This £85,000 is a single, overall limit for all eligible shares and cash held with us.
Deposit Protection
This protection covers only your cash if one of the banks we use, such as J.P. Morgan or Barclays, goes out of business.
- Cash Limit: The FSCS protects your eligible cash up to £120,000 per eligible person, per banking licence.
- You should keep in mind that this £120,000 includes any other money you hold personally with that same bank, not just the money you hold through us.
SIPP accounts
Your Trading 212 SIPP is operated and administered by Platform One Limited. Platform One Pension Trustees Limited acts as the scheme trustee, holding the assets in its name on your behalf while you remain the legal beneficiary.
Trading 212 provides custody services for the SIPP, holding and administering its cash and investments on behalf of Platform One.
If Platform One Limited fails and cannot meet an eligible claim, the FSCS may pay compensation of up to £85,000 per eligible person. This is the total limit across all SIPP accounts administered by Platform One Limited, including any held through other providers.
Uninvested SIPP cash is held with partner banks, not in qualifying money market funds (QMMFs). Eligible SIPP cash held with a UK-authorised partner bank is protected by the FSCS up to £120,000 per eligible person, per banking licence, if that bank fails. This limit applies across all your deposits held under that same licence, whether through Trading 212, another provider, or directly.
It is important to note that the FSCS does not protect you against losses caused by the normal rise and fall of the stock market. It only protects you if the firm fails and your assets are lost.
You can learn more about how the FSCS operates here.