Charles Schwab Corporation — Ethics Grade C+

Charles Schwab Corporation receives an overall ethics grade of C+ (53/100) on CancelCo's corporate accountability database. Sector: Financial Services. Market cap: Large Cap.

Category scores

• labor: 55
• privacy: 50
• consumer: 35
• environment: 55
• humanRights: 55

Documented incidents (2)

• Cash sweep program controversy (medium, 2023) — Routed client cash to low-interest sweep accounts earning Schwab billions while clients earned below-market returns.
• Robo-advisor cash allocation (high, 2022) — SEC fined Schwab $187M for misleading robo-advisor clients about cash allocations that benefited Schwab at clients' expense.

Documented good deeds

• Financial literacy programs — Schwab Foundation invested $100M+ in financial literacy and economic empowerment for underserved communities.

Ethical alternatives

• Vanguard — Investor-owned structure means profits returned to clients through lower fees. Industry-lowest expense ratios.