Fintech
eToro USA Securities and Alpaca Securities have obtained no-action relief from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff for brokerage accounts that hold no customer cash. Instead, customer funds are kept at a bank or money transmitter. The two letters specify capital requirements and permissible movement of customer money. eToro’s US broker-dealer, which introduces accounts to a clearing firm, may operate with minimum net capital of $5,000. Alpaca, which carries and clears accounts itself, must maintain at least $250,000 or 2% of aggregate debit items, whichever is higher. Both firms are expanding in the US. eToro agreed in August to acquire US equities and options broker TradeZero for up to $231 million in cash, with the deal expected to close in the first half of 2027. Lowenstein Sandler, the law firm that filed both requests, said the accounts can draw on customer bank, crypto, or remittance accounts held with affiliated or third-party providers. This structure can ease foreign exchange conversion and help foreign customers access US markets. Alpaca already sells US market access to brokers abroad. Indonesian broker Valbury began routing its clients’ US stock orders to Alpaca in January. Dutch neobank bunq, which holds customer money under an EU banking license, filed for US broker-dealer registration in April 2025 with plans to add stock trading. The outside account can be held at a bank or at a state-licensed money services business registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Customers must open one as a condition of getting the brokerage account. In eToro’s example, a customer buying one $100 share also instructs the money transmitter to send $100 to the carrying firm. The share is credited when the trade settles one business day later. After a sale, proceeds go back to the external account under a standing authorization the customer signs. Alpaca said it would send them before the close of the next business day. It also agreed to exchange reconciliation reports with the money transmitter daily. Alpaca, which raised $435 million in July, including debt from Kraken parent Payward and BMO, clears trades for its own customers and for brokers it serves.
Raymond Lombardo, acting associate director in the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets, signed both letters. He wrote that the staff position was “based strictly on the facts and circumstances stated in your Letter.” Customer agreements must state that money sent to the external account is not held in the brokerage account and is therefore not protected by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). Funds at the money transmitter may not be mixed with its own money. eToro and Alpaca must also periodically check that the bank or money transmitter keeps its licenses. The relief is a staff position, not a Commission rule. It covers the net capital rule for eToro and, for Alpaca, the customer protection rule’s limits on moving credit balances out of an account. Alpaca’s request leans on a 2014 staff FAQ, updated in 2020, which says a customer can authorize continuing transfers to an outside account with a single instruction. The staff said it took no view on other federal, state, or foreign laws or on self-regulatory organization rules, and that the position can be modified or revoked. eToro’s letter refers to an unnamed carrying firm, while its US disclosures name Apex Clearing as its clearing broker. Both firms will keep offering traditional accounts, according to the requests. Neither gives a launch date. eToro USA Securities began offering commission-free US stock trading in July 2020, after the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) approved its membership.