§ 1Disclaimer & legal basis
This report is a Public-Information Assessment (PI) issued under TIB-FRM-1.1 § 27 and TIB-MTH-1.0 § 20. It applies the published TIB-IS v1.0 universal Standards and the TIB-FRM-BR-1.0 Module to publicly available materials about the named firm. It is not an audit, regulatory finding, credit rating, or engagement-based TIB Report. The PI determination scale (PI-Pass / PI-Conditional / PI-Concern / PI-Insufficient evidence) is distinct from, and weaker than, the engagement-based scale (Pass / Conditional / Fail).
Lawful basis: nominative fair use of the firm's name to identify the subject of commentary; truth defence in respect of factual statements (each cited in § 8); right to express opinion on disclosed factual premises clearly labelled "indicative". No firm logos or copyright-protected materials are reproduced beyond short fair-use quotations. Equal-treatment principle applies: same methodology, evidence standards, right of reply, and take-down policy as every PI subject.
§ 2Subject
https://www.interactivebrokers.com.Jurisdiction: United States. Address: Interactive Brokers LLC — One Pickwick Plaza, Greenwich, CT 06830, USA.
§ 3Methodology
Conducted under TIB-MTH-1.0 § 20 (PI light methodology). Single-Reviewer rule applies (Two-Reviewer rule at TIB-MTH § 6 reserved for engagement-based reports).
| Phase | Activity | Standard | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| PI-A | Public-information collection from the firm's website, T&C, and any public regulator references. | TIB-MTH § 20.2 | 2026-04-12 → 2026-04-16 |
| PI-B | Application of TIB-IS v1.0 + TIB-FRM-BR-1.0 criteria; conservative classification — Insufficient evidence used wherever public materials do not support a positive or negative conclusion. | TIB-MTH § 20.3 | 2026-04-16 |
| PI-C | Engagement Lead approval. | TIB-MTH § 20.4 | 2026-04-16 |
| PI-D | Pre-Publication Notice served on subject firm with full draft and 14-day reply window. | TIB-FRM § 27.5 | 2026-04-16 → 2026-04-30 |
| PI-E | Publication after window closes; firm responses (if any) included verbatim or fairly summarised. | TIB-FRM § 27.5 | scheduled 2026-05-01 |
§ 5Findings
Each criterion is assessed against the available public evidence. Criteria not assessable from public materials alone are scored Insufficient evidence.
| ID | Criterion | Class | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| IS-1.1 | Corporate identity disclosed (legal name, jurisdiction, registry ID) | Strength | Primary entity: Interactive Brokers LLC (US — SEC-registered broker-dealer, FINRA member 36418); group parent Interactive Brokers Group Inc. (NASDAQ: IBKR) |
| IS-1.2 | Registered address publicly verifiable | Observation | Address: Interactive Brokers LLC — One Pickwick Plaza, Greenwich, CT 06830, USA |
| IS-1.4 | Continuous trading history of operating entity | Strength | Public website live and operational at evidence cut-off. |
| IS-2.1 | Terms and conditions published | Strength | Client agreement / T&C published. |
| IS-2.5 | Risk warnings present and visible | Strength | Risk disclosure document published. |
| IS-5.2 | No public sanctions, regulator warnings, or court orders | Material | Public concern identified: 10 August 2020: SEC (USD 11.5M), FINRA (USD 15M) and CFTC (USD 11.5M) imposed combined penalties of USD 38 million on Interactive Brokers LLC for failure to file more than 150 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) on microcap-securities trades between July 2016 and June 2017, and AML programme deficiencies. Firm was censured, agreed to cease-and-desist, and retained independent compliance consultant. Admin proceeding 34-89510. Primary source: SEC Press Release 2020-178 (https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2020-178). This is a historical, widely-reported multi-regulator enforcement action. |
| BR-1.1 | Regulatory authorisation(s) disclosed with licence numbers | Strength | Regulated entities and licence numbers published. |
| BR-1.2 | Multi-entity disclosure (which client is served by which entity) | Observation | Multi-entity structure disclosed. |
| BR-2.1 | Client-money segregation / protection scheme disclosure | Strength | Client-money treatment: Client securities held under SEC Rule 15c3-3 (Customer Protection Rule); SIPC coverage up to $500,000 for US securities accounts (including $250,000 cash). UK: FCA CASS + FSCS up to GBP 85,000. EU/IE: Investor Compensation Scheme up to EUR 20,000. |
| BR-2.2 | Negative balance protection disclosure | Strength | NBP status: depends_on_entity |
| BR-3.1 | Execution model disclosed (ECN/STP/MM) | Strength | Execution model: Agency-model broker (Interactive Brokers' SmartRouting; the firm self-describes as agency execution rather than principal market-making for most asset classes) |
| BR-3.2 | Leverage limits and jurisdiction-specific tiers disclosed | Observation | Maximum leverage: Portfolio-margin and Reg-T tiered (US); 30:1 retail FX major in UK/EU; 50:1 majors in US (per CFTC). |
| BR-4.1 | Complaints and ADR pathway disclosed | Observation | Complaints pathway: Internal complaints handling; US escalation to FINRA, CFTC/NFA; UK to FOS; EU to Investor Compensation Scheme / national regulator. |
§ 7Indicative determination
PI-Concern — public-information findings warrant attention
On the basis of publicly available materials only, one or more public-record concerns were identified that warrant attention. Specifically: 10 August 2020: SEC (USD 11.5M), FINRA (USD 15M) and CFTC (USD 11.5M) imposed combined penalties of USD 38 million on Interactive Brokers LLC for failure to file more than 150 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) on microcap-securities trades between July 2016 and June 2017, and AML programme deficiencies. Firm was censured, agreed to cease-and-desist, and retained independent compliance consultant. Admin proceeding 34-89510. Primary source: SEC Press Release 2020-178 (https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2020-178). This is a historical, widely-reported multi-regulator enforcement action.. The firm is invited to provide context or counter-evidence under the right of reply.
This indicative determination is not a Pass under TIB-FRM-1.1 § 13 and shall not be cited as such. The firm may obtain an engagement-based Verified Determination by electing PI-to-FV conversion under TIB-FRM-1.1 § 27.7.
§ 8Evidence register
Every factual statement in §§ 2–7 derives from one or more sources in this register.
| ID | Source | URL | Accessed |
|---|---|---|---|
| EV-01 | Interactive Brokers — official homepage | https://www.interactivebrokers.com | 2026-04-16 |
| EV-02 | Interactive Brokers — Terms and Conditions | not_found in fetch | 2026-04-16 |
| EV-03 | Interactive Brokers — Risk disclosure | not_found in fetch | 2026-04-16 |
| EV-04 | Live operation evidence | https://www.interactivebrokers.com — live; Interactive Brokers Group Inc. listed on NASDAQ ticker IBKR with current SEC filings | 2026-04-16 |
| EV-05 | TIB Standards — TIB-IS v1.0 universal criteria | https://integritybureau.org/standards/integrity-standards/ | 2026-04-16 |
| EV-06 | TIB Standards — TIB-FRM-BR-1.0 Broker Module | https://integritybureau.org/standards/framework-broker/ | 2026-04-16 |
| EV-07 | TIB Methodology — TIB-MTH-1.0 § 20 (PI light methodology) | https://integritybureau.org/methodology/#s20 | 2026-04-16 |
| EV-08 | TIB Framework — TIB-FRM-1.1 § 27 (PI category) | https://integritybureau.org/standards/framework/#s27 | 2026-04-16 |
§ 9Reviewer signature
Approved this Public-Information Assessment as compliant with TIB-MTH-1.0 § 20 and TIB-FRM-1.1 § 27. No conflicts of interest declared. No commercial relationship with the subject firm.
Independent review of source evidence and findings classification.
§ 10Right of reply & take-down
Pre-publication right of reply (TIB-FRM-1.1 § 27.5): the subject firm has 14 calendar days from service of the Pre-Publication Notice (2026-04-16) to 2026-04-30 to submit a written reply. Any reply will be reproduced verbatim as Annex A or fairly summarised, at the firm's election, before publication on 2026-05-01.
Post-publication correction (§ 27.6): the firm may at any time submit a correction request supported by primary evidence, or a take-down request demonstrating material error or breach of applicable law. TIB will respond within 5 business days.
Conversion to engagement (§ 27.7): the firm may at its sole election convert this PI to an engagement-based Full Verification (FV) or Limited-Scope (LS) Report. On signature of the standard engagement letter, this PI is withdrawn from the Public Registry pending publication of the engagement-based Report.
Contact: registry@integritybureau.org · Stratinova LTD · Archiepiskopou Makariou III 228, Agios Pavlos Building · 3030 Limassol · Cyprus.