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The comparison reads the same evidence fields used by broker profiles, so users can scan scores, regulation, costs, platforms, withdrawals, and caveats side by side.

Broker 1

Broker 2

VS field	Merrill Edge merrilledge.com Stock BrokerETF BrokerBond	DEGIRO degiro.com ETF BrokerMulti Asset BrokerETF
Decision summary
Overall score

Trust score	93	100

Cost score	86	92

Platform score	82	92

Withdrawal score	80	89

Best for	U.S. self-directed investors · Bank of America banking customers · Stock, ETF, mutual fund, bond and options investors	European self-directed investors seeking low-cost access to stocks and ETFs · Investors who prefer web/mobile platforms and exchange-traded products

Watch out	Needs verification	Needs verification

Trust & regulation
Regulators	Registered with the SEC as broker-dealer and investment adviser; member FINRA and SIPC. Source	Primarily supervised by BaFin and Bundesbank in Germany; Dutch branch registered with DNB and supervised by AFM and DNB. Source
License numbers	Official Merrill/BofA sources reviewed did not disclose SEC/FINRA registration or CRD numbers in the captured evidence. Source	Financial licence number not disclosed in reviewed official sources. Commercial registrations found: flatexDEGIRO Bank SE HRB 141330 on flatexDEGIRO Bank SE imprint; DEGIRO UK footer states HRB 105687; Dutch Branch KvK 82510245. Source
Regulated entities	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (MLPF&S) and Managed Account Advisors LLC (MAA). Source	DEGIRO is operated by flatexDEGIRO Bank Dutch Branch, a branch of flatexDEGIRO Bank SE; flatexDEGIRO Bank SE is a licensed German bank headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. Source
Negative balance protection	No retail negative-balance protection disclosed; margin agreement warns clients can lose more funds than deposited and remain responsible for shortfall. Source	No negative balance protection found. Official account-profile page warns losses can exceed deposit and result in a negative Balance for derivatives, margin and short-selling services; margin profiles are legacy-only. Source
Investor compensation	Member SIPC; investment products are not FDIC insured or bank guaranteed and may lose value. Source	Cash in flatexDEGIRO Bank SE Cash Account protected up to €100,000 per customer under German Deposit Guarantee Scheme; investor compensation covers up to 90% of non-returned assets, max €20,000 per customer; UK FSCS does not apply. Source
Restricted countries	Agreement effective only when accepted in the United States; no country restriction list disclosed. Source	Available via listed country selector in Europe/UK; US persons are not accepted; UK onboarding for new clients was temporarily unavailable on the reviewed UK page. Source

Trust & regulation

Regulators

Registered with the SEC as broker-dealer and investment adviser; member FINRA and SIPC.

Source

Primarily supervised by BaFin and Bundesbank in Germany; Dutch branch registered with DNB and supervised by AFM and DNB.

Source

License numbers

Official Merrill/BofA sources reviewed did not disclose SEC/FINRA registration or CRD numbers in the captured evidence.

Source

Financial licence number not disclosed in reviewed official sources. Commercial registrations found: flatexDEGIRO Bank SE HRB 141330 on flatexDEGIRO Bank SE imprint; DEGIRO UK footer states HRB 105687; Dutch Branch KvK 82510245.

Source

Regulated entities

Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (MLPF&S) and Managed Account Advisors LLC (MAA).

Source

DEGIRO is operated by flatexDEGIRO Bank Dutch Branch, a branch of flatexDEGIRO Bank SE; flatexDEGIRO Bank SE is a licensed German bank headquartered in Frankfurt am Main.

Source

Negative balance protection

No retail negative-balance protection disclosed; margin agreement warns clients can lose more funds than deposited and remain responsible for shortfall.

Source

No negative balance protection found. Official account-profile page warns losses can exceed deposit and result in a negative Balance for derivatives, margin and short-selling services; margin profiles are legacy-only.

Source

Investor compensation

Member SIPC; investment products are not FDIC insured or bank guaranteed and may lose value.

Source

Cash in flatexDEGIRO Bank SE Cash Account protected up to €100,000 per customer under German Deposit Guarantee Scheme; investor compensation covers up to 90% of non-returned assets, max €20,000 per customer; UK FSCS does not apply.

Source

Restricted countries

Agreement effective only when accepted in the United States; no country restriction list disclosed.

Source

Available via listed country selector in Europe/UK; US persons are not accepted; UK onboarding for new clients was temporarily unavailable on the reviewed UK page.

Source

Costs & account conditions
Minimum deposit	Self-Directed: no balance minimum; Guided Investing: $1,000 minimum; CMA: $20,000 minimum funding, not applicable to MESD/MGI/MGI with Advisor/MEAA. Source	No fixed minimum deposit identified; DEGIRO homepage says users can add any amount of money to the account for free. Bank-account verification search result states minimum EUR 0.01 for linking a new bank account. Source
Spread from	Not applicable to this stock/ETF investment broker profile; no CFD/FX spread schedule identified as a core product in reviewed sources. Source	Not a quoted-spread CFD/FX broker field. DEGIRO discloses that bid-ask spreads are implicit market costs and not direct broker costs. Source
Commission	Self-Directed online stock/ETF/options commission $0; options $0.65/contract; broker-assisted fee lower of $29.95 or 5.00% of principal. Source	Examples from UK fee page: US stocks €1 + €1 handling; LSE £1.75 + £1 handling; selected ETFs €0 + €1 handling; global ETFs €2 + €1 handling; options €0.75 commission. Currency, connectivity, external product and spread costs may apply. Source
Maximum leverage	No fixed maximum leverage ratio was disclosed; margin requirements vary by security/transaction and are subject to change. Source	DEGIRO currently does not allow new changes to margin-trading profiles; legacy Active/Trader/Day Trader accounts may have Debit Money / derivatives risk but maximum leverage was not disclosed in reviewed sources. Source
Deposit fee	Returned deposit/ACH-related fees listed at $0 in Merrill Edge Self-Directed fee schedule; standard deposit fees not separately disclosed. Source	No deposit fee disclosed on UK fee page and homepage; deposits listed as FEE €0 / no deposit-withdrawal fees. Source
Withdrawal fee	Wire $24.95; ATM transaction $0; full ACAT/account transfer $49.95; closeout $49.95 for BASIC/IRA/IRRA/ROTH/SEP/SIMPLE. Source	No withdrawal fee disclosed on UK fee page and homepage; withdrawals listed as FEE €0 / no deposit-withdrawal fees. Source
Inactivity fee	No inactivity fee was listed in the official Merrill Edge Self-Directed miscellaneous account/service fee schedule extracted, but the official source did not explicitly say 'no inactivity fee'. Source	No inactivity fee; UK fee page lists inactivity fee as €0. Source

Costs & account conditions

Minimum deposit

Self-Directed: no balance minimum; Guided Investing: $1,000 minimum; CMA: $20,000 minimum funding, not applicable to MESD/MGI/MGI with Advisor/MEAA.

Source

No fixed minimum deposit identified; DEGIRO homepage says users can add any amount of money to the account for free. Bank-account verification search result states minimum EUR 0.01 for linking a new bank account.

Source

Spread from

Not applicable to this stock/ETF investment broker profile; no CFD/FX spread schedule identified as a core product in reviewed sources.

Source

Not a quoted-spread CFD/FX broker field. DEGIRO discloses that bid-ask spreads are implicit market costs and not direct broker costs.

Source

Commission

Self-Directed online stock/ETF/options commission $0; options $0.65/contract; broker-assisted fee lower of $29.95 or 5.00% of principal.

Source

Examples from UK fee page: US stocks €1 + €1 handling; LSE £1.75 + £1 handling; selected ETFs €0 + €1 handling; global ETFs €2 + €1 handling; options €0.75 commission. Currency, connectivity, external product and spread costs may apply.

Source

Maximum leverage

No fixed maximum leverage ratio was disclosed; margin requirements vary by security/transaction and are subject to change.

Source

DEGIRO currently does not allow new changes to margin-trading profiles; legacy Active/Trader/Day Trader accounts may have Debit Money / derivatives risk but maximum leverage was not disclosed in reviewed sources.

Source

Deposit fee

Returned deposit/ACH-related fees listed at $0 in Merrill Edge Self-Directed fee schedule; standard deposit fees not separately disclosed.

Source

No deposit fee disclosed on UK fee page and homepage; deposits listed as FEE €0 / no deposit-withdrawal fees.

Source

Withdrawal fee

Wire $24.95; ATM transaction $0; full ACAT/account transfer $49.95; closeout $49.95 for BASIC/IRA/IRRA/ROTH/SEP/SIMPLE.

Source

No withdrawal fee disclosed on UK fee page and homepage; withdrawals listed as FEE €0 / no deposit-withdrawal fees.

Source

Inactivity fee

No inactivity fee was listed in the official Merrill Edge Self-Directed miscellaneous account/service fee schedule extracted, but the official source did not explicitly say 'no inactivity fee'.

Source

No inactivity fee; UK fee page lists inactivity fee as €0.

Source

Markets, platforms & payments
Tradable assets	Stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, fixed income/bonds, options, brokered CDs, and cash sweep/cash management products. Source	Shares, ETFs, bonds and derivatives such as options and futures; DEGIRO product pages also describe investment funds availability. Source
Trading platforms	Merrill Edge online/web, Merrill Edge MarketPro, and Merrill mobile apps. Source	DEGIRO provides a web/desktop trading platform (Webtrader) and mobile apps for iOS and Android. Source
Account types	Self-directed, guided/advisory, general investing, retirement, education and small business account options, including CMA/BIA/IRA/ROTH/SEP/SIMPLE/529 account types. Source	DEGIRO account/profile types include Basic, Active, Trader, Day Trader and Custody. Active, Trader and Day Trader are legacy-only and new margin profiles are no longer available. Source
Deposit methods	Bank of America transfers, external financial institution transfers, mobile check deposit, direct deposit/EFT, and account/securities transfers. Source	Manual bank transfer from a verified linked/reference bank account; deposits must use the account base currency. Source
Withdrawal methods	EFT, checks/check-writing, debit card, wire transfer and linked Bank of America/Merrill transfers. Source	Withdrawals go back to the primary registered/linked bank account; only uninvested cash in the Cash Account can be withdrawn. Source
Withdrawal processing time	Public official sources reviewed did not disclose a standard withdrawal processing time for Merrill Edge Self-Directed withdrawals. Source	Withdrawals may take up to 2-4 working days; transfers can take up to 2-3 working days to complete. Source

Markets, platforms & payments

Tradable assets

Stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, fixed income/bonds, options, brokered CDs, and cash sweep/cash management products.

Source

Shares, ETFs, bonds and derivatives such as options and futures; DEGIRO product pages also describe investment funds availability.

Source

Trading platforms

Merrill Edge online/web, Merrill Edge MarketPro, and Merrill mobile apps.

Source

DEGIRO provides a web/desktop trading platform (Webtrader) and mobile apps for iOS and Android.

Source

Account types

Self-directed, guided/advisory, general investing, retirement, education and small business account options, including CMA/BIA/IRA/ROTH/SEP/SIMPLE/529 account types.

Source

DEGIRO account/profile types include Basic, Active, Trader, Day Trader and Custody. Active, Trader and Day Trader are legacy-only and new margin profiles are no longer available.

Source

Deposit methods

Bank of America transfers, external financial institution transfers, mobile check deposit, direct deposit/EFT, and account/securities transfers.

Source

Manual bank transfer from a verified linked/reference bank account; deposits must use the account base currency.

Source

Withdrawal methods

EFT, checks/check-writing, debit card, wire transfer and linked Bank of America/Merrill transfers.

Source

Withdrawals go back to the primary registered/linked bank account; only uninvested cash in the Cash Account can be withdrawn.

Source

Withdrawal processing time

Public official sources reviewed did not disclose a standard withdrawal processing time for Merrill Edge Self-Directed withdrawals.

Source

Withdrawals may take up to 2-4 working days; transfers can take up to 2-3 working days to complete.

Source

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