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Safety of Securities if Broker should Fail
I am wondering how safe securities are if held by a broker with SIPC insurance should the broker go bankrupt.
For sake of example say I own T-Bills in a brokerage account. I realize the securities (in this case T-Bills) are backed up by the government but is the government going to make me whole or the broker whole? Would I have to rely on SIPC insurance to become whole or would the securities eschew to me independent of the bankruptcy?
It can be argued that the assets were purchased by the broker and I have an interest in a broker's account, not the actual securities. In that case if the broker goes belly up my claim is against the value in the account not the securities owned by the account, much like a bank that is taken over by the FDIC.
When a broker holds t-bills is it like a bank holding assets in a safe deposit box, where the contents are mine, or is it like money held in a bank, the money is the bank's and my claim is against the bank's overall assets?
Thanks in advance.
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