In the event that something were to happen to DEGIRO, the segregation of client assets ensures that your funds and positions will not be affected. Client assets are held separately from DEGIRO assets and are not treated as recoverable assets to DEGIRO's creditors. In the event that something happens to DEGIRO, your assets will still belong to you.
The Dutch Investor Protection Scheme (Beleggerscompensatiestelsel) is applicable, as DEGIRO is a licensed investment firm authorised by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) for the provision of investment services, which safeguards investors in the event that DEGIRO fails to take suitable action to protect client assets.
In this case, the scheme protects individual clients up to €20,000. The scheme applies per individual, and not per account. If a client has multiple accounts with DEGIRO, the scheme protects all their accounts together up until the maximum of €20.000. Information about the Dutch Investor Protection Scheme can be found in English on the De Nederlandsche Bank (Dutch Central Bank) website here.
A common misconception is that the €20,000 cap on the Dutch Investor Protection Scheme means that if something were to happen to DEGIRO (for example in the case of bankruptcy) investors who hold more than €20,000 in DEGIRO will lose everything over that amount.
However, this is not the case. Asset segregation is in place to protect client assets in events such as these.
The investor protection scheme only comes into effect in the case that DEGIRO is found to have failed to take sufficient measures to protect client assets, or in the case of fraud on the part of DEGIRO.