Is DEGIRO Safe? Regulation, Deposit Protection and What Happens to Your Investments
Yes, DEGIRO is a safe and legitimate broker. It operates as part of flatexDEGIRO Bank AG, a German bank supervised by BaFin, holds your securities separately through a dedicated entity, and covers cash under the German Deposit Guarantee Scheme up to €100,000, with securities under the German Investor Compensation Scheme at 90% up to €20,000. Capital at risk.
Reviewed by Yaniv Barshaf · Fees verified June 2026 · Our methodology
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Who regulates DEGIRO?
DEGIRO is not a standalone firm but the trading brand of flatexDEGIRO Bank AG, a fully licensed German bank. As a bank, it is supervised by BaFin, Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, and by the Deutsche Bundesbank, which brings it within the strict prudential and conduct rules that apply to credit institutions. Because DEGIRO also serves Dutch and other EU clients through a branch structure, conduct supervision in the Netherlands involves the AFM and DNB as well. This layered oversight means DEGIRO must meet German banking capital requirements, follow rules on how client money and securities are held, and report regularly to its regulators. Regulation does not remove investment risk, but it firmly places DEGIRO among supervised, accountable institutions rather than unregulated operators. As of July 2026, flatexDEGIRO Bank AG remains a BaFin-supervised bank. Because your protections depend on the entity you contract with, it is always worth confirming you are dealing with the official DEGIRO service for your country. Capital at risk.
What happens to your cash if DEGIRO fails
Cash and securities are protected in two different ways, and it helps to treat them separately. Any money you hold on a DEGIRO Cash Account sits as a deposit with flatexDEGIRO Bank AG. Because that entity is a German bank, this cash falls under the German statutory Deposit Guarantee Scheme, which protects eligible deposits up to €100,000 per person if the bank fails, as of July 2026. This is the same class of protection that applies to ordinary bank deposits across the EU under the harmonised €100,000 deposit-guarantee framework. It is a meaningful backstop for the uninvested cash portion of your account. What it does not do is protect the value of your investments, which are covered under a separate scheme described below. Understanding that cash and securities have different safety nets is the key to judging DEGIRO's overall protection accurately. Capital at risk.
How your securities are held and protected
Your shares and ETFs are not owned by DEGIRO. They are held through a separate legal entity, a special-purpose vehicle whose sole task is to administer and safeguard client investments, keeping them segregated from DEGIRO's own assets. This ring-fencing means that, in the unlikely event flatexDEGIRO Bank became insolvent, your securities are held for you rather than treated as assets available to the firm's general creditors, and the aim would be to return or transfer them. As a backstop, if segregated assets could not be returned, DEGIRO falls under the German Investor Compensation Scheme, which compensates for non-returned securities at 90% of the claim up to a maximum of €20,000 per person, as of July 2026. So the structure is layered: segregation through the special-purpose entity comes first, and the investor-compensation scheme is the safety net if there is a genuine shortfall. Note the securities limit of €20,000 is much lower than the €100,000 cash deposit guarantee.
A note on the €20,000 securities limit
The most important nuance for larger investors is the gap between the two schemes. Uninvested cash enjoys deposit protection up to €100,000, but the investor-compensation cover for securities is only 90% up to €20,000, which is modest against a substantial portfolio. It is essential to understand what this figure means and does not mean. The €20,000 limit applies only to the narrow scenario where the firm fails and your segregated securities cannot be returned, not to the everyday value of your holdings. Because your securities are segregated through the special-purpose entity, the first line of defence is that they should be returned to you in full regardless of the €20,000 figure; the compensation scheme only steps in for a genuine shortfall in that process. Even so, cautious investors with large balances sometimes prefer to understand that the statutory securities backstop is capped, and to weigh that alongside the segregation structure. Capital at risk.
A financially solid, listed group
DEGIRO was founded in 2013 and became part of the flatexDEGIRO group, whose parent, flatexDEGIRO SE, is publicly listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. A listing brings additional scrutiny, because a listed company must publish audited financial statements, disclose material events, and answer to shareholders and market regulators, making financial trouble far harder to conceal than at a private, opaque operator. Being part of a licensed German bank rather than a lightly regulated broker also means the business sits under banking-grade capital and prudential requirements. None of this eliminates investment risk, but a regulated, listed, bank-backed group is a very different risk proposition from an unregulated newcomer. As of July 2026, DEGIRO continues to operate as the trading service of BaFin-supervised flatexDEGIRO Bank AG. The main things to keep in mind are the modest €20,000 securities-compensation cap and the fact that no scheme covers market losses. Capital at risk.
The bottom line
DEGIRO is a safe, legitimate broker. It operates as the trading service of flatexDEGIRO Bank AG, a BaFin-supervised German bank, part of a Frankfurt-listed group, keeps client securities segregated through a dedicated entity, protects cash under the German Deposit Guarantee Scheme up to €100,000, and covers securities under the German Investor Compensation Scheme at 90% up to €20,000, as of July 2026. The main caveats are the modest €20,000 securities-compensation cap versus the €100,000 cash guarantee, and the fact that no scheme covers market losses. Capital at risk.
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Capital at risk. This is not financial advice. Investing involves risk of loss.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is DEGIRO regulated?
Yes. DEGIRO is the trading brand of flatexDEGIRO Bank AG, a German bank supervised by BaFin and the Bundesbank, with conduct oversight also from the AFM and DNB in the Netherlands, as of July 2026. That places it within banking-grade capital, client-asset and reporting rules.
Is my cash protected at DEGIRO?
Cash on a DEGIRO Cash Account is a deposit with flatexDEGIRO Bank AG and is covered by the German Deposit Guarantee Scheme up to €100,000 per person if the bank fails, as of July 2026. This does not cover the value of your investments, only cash deposits.
What happens to my shares if DEGIRO goes bust?
Your securities are held through a separate special-purpose entity, segregated from DEGIRO's own assets, so they are held for you and should be returned or transferred. If there were a shortfall, the German Investor Compensation Scheme covers 90% up to €20,000 per person. Capital at risk.
Why is the securities protection only €20,000?
The German Investor Compensation Scheme caps securities cover at 90% up to €20,000, lower than the €100,000 cash deposit guarantee. It only applies if segregated securities cannot be returned after a failure; segregation means your holdings should be returned in full first. Market losses are never covered.