Is Charles Schwab available in Europe? Alternatives in 2026

Charles Schwab is one of the best-known investment companies in the world. It bought TD Ameritrade in October 2020 and finished moving the last Ameritrade clients across in May 2024, and it now reports 40.1 million active brokerage accounts and $13.41 trillion in client assets as at 31 August 2026. So it’s no surprise that investors from France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and the rest of Europe want to know if they can invest with it.

Keep reading to find out whether Charles Schwab is available to investors in Europe and the EU, what you need to know before opening an account, and which alternatives may suit you better.

Is Charles Schwab available in Europe?

Yes, residents of some European countries can open a Charles Schwab International brokerage account (called Schwab One International). The account was still open to new applications when we checked in September 2026. But not every country has access, and there are some important things European investors need to understand before using it.

The main drawback is that the account only works in US dollars (USD). Schwab describes funding it through its Foreign Currency Wire Transfer Service with “competitive exchange rates, no transaction fees”, without publishing the spread it applies. The binding figure is in the Schwab Pricing Guide for Individual Investors, the document Schwab points international clients to, which sets currency conversion at “up to 300 basis points (3%) of principal”.

The 1% figure often quoted for this account belongs to a different Schwab product. The tiered 1% schedule belongs to the Schwab Global Account, which is for US residents trading directly on foreign exchanges, not to the Schwab One International account a European investor would open. At up to 3%, that is several times what a European broker charges to do the same thing.

How to use Charles Schwab in Europe

If your country is on the eligible list further down this page, opening a Charles Schwab account from Europe needs the following:

• Your tax identification number: the one issued in your country of residence;
• A valid ID: usually your passport, or another accepted form of identification depending on your country;
• Proof of address: a recent utility bill or similar document showing your full name, address and date;
• Employment details: the name and address of your current employer;
• A printer and a scanner: Schwab’s own checklist asks for these, because some forms have to be printed, signed and uploaded.

Along with these documents, Charles Schwab has some strict requirements and limitations for European investors using its Schwab One International account.

Which European residents can invest with Charles Schwab?

Schwab does not publish a list of eligible countries anywhere on its site. The country dropdown in its account application contains every country in the world, and only sends you to the application itself if your country is accepted. Everyone else lands on one of two dead-end pages.

We worked through that dropdown country by country. The lists below record which countries Schwab’s own application form accepted on 28 September 2026. Schwab can change them at any time and gives no notice when it does, so check before you apply.

European countries that can apply

• Austria
• Belgium
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Finland
• Germany
• Greece
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Luxembourg
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• United Kingdom

Jersey is also accepted.

Note that the form sends UK residents to the same international application as everyone else, not to a separate UK product. Charles Schwab, U.K., Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), firm reference number 225116, but the account it opens for you is held in the United States with Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. Schwab states plainly that “the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the U.K. will not apply to your account”.

European countries that cannot apply

• Albania
• Andorra
• Belarus
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Estonia
• Faroe Islands
• France
• Gibraltar
• Guernsey
• Hungary
• Isle of Man
• Italy
• Kosovo
• Latvia
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Malta
• Moldova
• Monaco
• Montenegro
• North Macedonia
• Romania
• Russia
• San Marino
• Serbia
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Turkey
• Ukraine
• Vatican City

Not offered is not the same as banned

This distinction matters if you are waiting for your country to be added. Schwab’s form has two different rejection pages, and only four countries in the world get the harder one.

Residents of Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Syria see: “Your request to open an account has been denied. Due to U.S. federal laws and regulations, Schwab cannot accept applications from residents of your country/region.”

Every other country, including France, Italy and each EU member missing from the list above, gets a softer message: “Schwab currently cannot open accounts for residents of your country/region. Please check back with us in the future.” For most of those countries that is a commercial decision rather than a legal prohibition, which is why the list moves around. Sanctioned jurisdictions such as Russia and Belarus are a separate case.

Other things you need to know about using Charles Schwab in Europe

Some points to consider before opening a Charles Schwab account from Europe:

• Minimum deposit: there isn’t one. Schwab states on three of its own sites that “there is no minimum deposit required to open an individual or joint account”, and its homepage headlines “US$0 account minimum”. You may still read that this account requires $25,000. We could not find that figure in any Schwab document, past or present, so treat it as unverified;
• Currency: the account only works in US dollars, so euros and pounds have to be converted both ways;
• Commissions: online trades in US-listed stocks are commission-free, with no per-trade minimum. Schwab advertises commission-free US ETFs too, but as the next point explains, European retail investors cannot buy them. Watch the exclusions, which Schwab spells out: the $0 commission “does not apply to over-the-counter (OTC) equities, transaction-fee mutual funds, futures, fixed-income investments, or trades placed directly on a foreign exchange or in the Canadian market”. Options cost $0.65 per contract, broker-assisted trades $25, and an outgoing wire $25. There is no account opening, maintenance or inactivity fee;
• Limited choice for EU investors: European retail investors cannot buy US-domiciled ETFs because of the Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products (PRIIPs) rules, which require a key information document that US issuers do not produce. There is a workaround Schwab does not advertise: it offers ETFs authorised as Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) in the EU, but these can only be traded by telephone through a Global Investing Services specialist, and each trade carries a $50 foreign transaction fee;
• UK investors face the same wall: Schwab states that UK residents “are no longer able to purchase U.S.-registered exchange traded products” and “may only hold or liquidate existing” positions. The UK has since replaced PRIIPs with the Consumer Composite Investments regime, which commences on 6 April 2026 with full compliance required from 8 June 2027, but that changes which disclosure document a manufacturer must produce. It has not reopened US-domiciled ETFs to UK retail investors, and Schwab’s restriction was still in force in September 2026;
• Your money is protected under US rules, not European ones: your account is held in the United States, so you are covered by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) “up to US$500,000, including a US$250,000 limit for cash”, plus Schwab’s excess insurance up to an aggregate $600 million. You are not covered by the FSCS in the UK, and not by any EU investor compensation scheme. SIPC covers the broker failing and losing your assets. It does not cover investment losses;
• Taxes: as a US broker, Schwab will not handle your local tax reporting, so you will have to declare your income and gains yourself. You will also need to file a W-8BEN form to bring US dividend withholding down from 30% to your treaty rate.

Charles Schwab alternatives in Europe

If you live in Europe and want more choice and flexibility, there are alternatives to Charles Schwab that let you invest in euros, access European markets and pay lower conversion costs.

Here are some of the best brokers available in Europe that may suit you better than the Charles Schwab international account:

Bottom line on Charles Schwab in Europe

You can open a Schwab One International account if you live in most of western and northern Europe, including Germany, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and the UK. You cannot if you live in France, Italy or most of central and eastern Europe.

Even if Charles Schwab accepts residents of your country, it may not be your best option. You will convert euros to US dollars at a cost Schwab’s own pricing guide caps at 3%, handle your own tax reporting, and accept a narrower choice of investments, since EU rules stop you buying US-domiciled ETFs and the UCITS alternative is phone-only at $50 a trade. Your account is also protected by US SIPC rather than by the FSCS or an EU compensation scheme.

European investors have plenty of alternatives: brokers with strong reputations, accounts in euros, far cheaper currency conversion, European investor protection and a wider choice of investments, including the UCITS ETFs a European portfolio is usually built on.

So, Charles Schwab isn’t your only option for investing from Europe, and for most European investors it isn’t the obvious one either.