Interactive Brokers to pay $11.8M to settle thousands of U.S. sanction violations
By 
Aaron Nicodemus2025-07-18T16:33:00
A Connecticut-based brokerage and investment firm will pay $11.8 million for providing services to individuals under U.S. sanctions, as well as people located in countries sanctioned by the U.S..
In an emailed statement, the firm said that the settlement reflects its “proactive approach to compliance and our commitment to meeting and exceeding our regulatory obligations.” OFAC noted in its enforcement release that the firm “implemented ‘significant remedial measures’ after it discovered and voluntarily self-reported the apparent violations at issue in the settlement,” the firm said. OFAC noted that the firm has spent approximately $10 million to improve its sanctions compliance program.
According to OFAC’s enforcement release, Interactive Brokers self-initiated a sanctions compliance review in 2018 and discovered 12,367 apparent violations that occurred between 2016 and 2024. The review found that certain deficiencies, including a technical bug, prevented its Internet Protocol (IP) address geo-blocking system from adequately preventing customers from sanctioned jurisdictions from accessing its platform.
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