Appearance
SIPC(Securities Investor Protection Corporation)
SIPC was created under the Securities Investor Protection Act as a non-profit membership corporation in 1970.
SIPC oversees the liquidation of member firms that close when the firm is bankrupt or in financial trouble, and customer assets are missing.
In a liquidation under the Securities Investor Protection Act, SIPC and the court-appointed Trustee work to return customers’ securities and cash as quickly as possible.
Within limits, SIPC expedites the return of missing customer property by protecting each customer up to $500,000 for securities and cash (including a $250,000 limit for cash only).
It is important to understand that SIPC is not the securities world equivalent of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which insures depositors of insured banks.
List of Members
SPIC Logo
Always look for the SIPC logo or "Member SIPC" when looking at brokerage firm advertising. The logo or "Member SIPC" should appear in signs and ads of SIPC members.
SPIC Fund
The SIPC Fund was established in 1970.
The target level of the Fund is set out in SIPC’s Bylaws and has increased from an initial target of $150 million in 1970, to the current target of $5.0 billion as measured in unrestricted net assets.
SIPC also has a $2.5 billion line of credit with the U.S. Treasury.
SIPC member assessments and interest on U.S. Government Securities bought by SIPC are deposited into the Fund.
When the Fund falls below a target level, SIPC members are assessed on a percentage of their revenues.
Track Record
From its creation by Congress in 1970, SIPC advanced $3.6 billion in order to make possible the recovery of $143.8 billion in assets for an estimated 773,000 investors.