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ICF

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The Investor Compensation Fund pays up to €20,000 when a CySEC-licensed firm fails. The brokers below are covered by it.

Brokers regulated by ICF

The Investor Compensation Fund is Cyprus's statutory compensation scheme for clients of failed investment firms. Membership is compulsory for Cyprus Investment Firms, which is why nearly every CySEC-licensed broker cites it, and its terms are worth reading precisely because so many traders rely on it.

What it covers

Where a CySEC-licensed firm fails and cannot return client money or financial instruments, the fund pays eligible retail claims up to €20,000 per claimant. Cover attaches to the licensing state, so a client anywhere in the European Economic Area trading with a Cypriot firm is covered by this scheme rather than by their own country's.

What it does not cover

Market losses — the fund exists for property a firm cannot return, not for losing trades. Professional clients and eligible counterparties are excluded, which means opting up to elective professional status to obtain higher leverage removes compensation eligibility along with the leverage cap and negative balance protection. Brokers advertise the leverage; this is part of what it costs.

Clients of a group's non-EU entity are outside the scheme entirely, however prominently the CySEC licence appears on the homepage.

The €20,000 figure in context

It is the EU-harmonised minimum, and Cyprus applies the minimum. The UK's FSCS pays up to £85,000 and Spain's FOGAIN up to €100,000 — so two brokers, both "EU regulated", can differ fivefold in what they return if they fail. Comparing European brokers on the regulator's name alone misses this entirely.

How claims work in practice

CySEC determines when the fund is triggered, invites claims, and the fund assesses and pays. Historical payouts have been slow, measured in years rather than months for some failures, and claims are assessed against the firm's records — which is why the quality of a broker's own bookkeeping affects your recovery even when a scheme exists.

Checking cover

Confirm the exact entity in your client agreement is the CySEC-licensed one on the register. ProForexBrokers.com treats that check as more important than the fund's headline figure, because the figure is irrelevant if the entity holding your money is not covered.