Know any US brokers that allow UK citizens?

Traderuk · Jul 22, 2005

Well, the question is in the titile.

Whenever Ive tried some brokers like Etrade, they say that Im not elegible to trade because i am a UK citizen. Know any brokers that will let me?

My Uk nroker, Barclays will let me trade US, but it is akward and expensive, Im looking for a way to save money.

rossored · Jul 22, 2005

thought about someone like IB?

Traderuk · Jul 22, 2005

Who are IB? Tell me more.

rossored · Jul 22, 2005

www.interactivebrokers.co.uk

for US stocks the PDT rules apply (ie $25k+) but no such limits on futures

Traderuk · Jul 22, 2005

Do you use them?

rossored · Jul 22, 2005

I do, and have done for over 2 years. Lots of people on this site and others use them.

Personally, I can't fault them. Sometimes they take a while to pick up the phone so I'm told, but its never been a problem for me.

Hittfeld · Jul 22, 2005

<<Whenever Ive tried some brokers like Etrade, they say that Im not elegible to trade because i am a UK citizen. Know any brokers that will let me?>>

E-trade US won`t accept you, as they`ve got a UK subsidiary. Any other broker (without UK connections) will accept you.

Besides IB, who are to be preferred, I used Ameritrade, Thinkorswim (best following IB), Accutrade and a few others. Just check with elitetrader.

Best wishes

Hittfeld

roguetrader · Jul 22, 2005

Hittfeld said:
E-trade US won`t accept you, as they`ve got a UK subsidiary. Any other broker (without UK connections) will accept you.

Besides IB, who are to be preferred, I used Ameritrade, Thinkorswim (best following IB), Accutrade and a few others. Just check with elitetrader.

Best wishes

Hittfeld

That's slightly inaccurate, there are a number of US brokers who will not accept UK residents. I believe CyberTrader and TerraNova are two such brokers. The fact is not related to whether they have a UK division. A couple of years ago I spoke to Cybertrader rep who was unsure of the reasoning behind the legal technicality.
But you are correct in that there are many who will. IB is probably one of the better deals, though their customer service sucks to high heavens. Alternatively I believe TradeStation still accept UK and DirectAccess Elite

PS Yes the E-trade thing confused me, they have a UK division, so I don't know why you were trying to join E-trade US.

rols · Jul 22, 2005

Traderuk said:
Well, the question is in the titile.

Whenever Ive tried some brokers like Etrade, they say that Im not elegible to trade because i am a UK citizen. Know any brokers that will let me?

My Uk nroker, Barclays will let me trade US, but it is akward and expensive, Im looking for a way to save money.

I used etrade US for a bit (you need $25K minimum to daytrade) but the platform didn't have as much appeal as some others. If you're looking to cut costs take a look at www.rmltrading.com
$.001 per share and you can try out the various platforms. I tried realtick but that has its own problems. In the end found Quotetracker good and inexpensive.

Hittfeld · Jul 22, 2005

roguetrader said:
That's slightly inaccurate, there are a number of US brokers who will not accept UK residents..

Yes, agreed, any US broker might decide not to open accounts for Non Resident Aliens -be they UK residents or swiss residents like me. But if they allow accounts for NRA, it often means excluding residents of countries, where they are obliged by treaties with third parties (for reasons of non competetion etc..)

And even if an account is opened, if sometimes means not for all instruments: With E-trade I was permitted to trade shares and options, but not mutual funds.

Kind regards

Hittfeld

roguetrader · Jul 22, 2005

Hittfeld said:
Yes, agreed, any US broker might decide not to open accounts for Non Resident Aliens -be they UK residents or swiss residents like me. But if they allow accounts for NRA, it often means excluding residents of countries, where they are obliged by treaties with third parties (for reasons of non competetion etc..)

And even if an account is opened, if sometimes means not for all instruments: With E-trade I was permitted to trade shares and options, but not mutual funds.

Kind regards

Hittfeld

Hi Hittfeld, yes from what I can find out there are FSA restriction on what products can be offered in this country to UK nationals by foriegn brokers. It seems some brokers simply modify the sevices they provide to UK customers verses their US customers and that placates the FSA. Others however are not willing to do so and have a policy of offering all services to all cutomers. The result is that they are not given approval by the FSA and therefore cannot do business with UK nationals resident in the UK. The interesting thing I was told was that if you are a US citzen but resident in the UK companies such as Cybertrader may still be able to provide all services for you.

Naz · Jul 22, 2005

You can open a US account with e trade here in the uk,they're based in the city.IB,directaccesselite.com,Tradestation,or even a cfd account with many uk companies that allow you access to US stocks.

Traderuk · Jul 22, 2005

IB are not sending the validation email.

Who are the easiest and cheapest to day-trade with?

Traderuk · Jul 22, 2005

I am trying to open up an account with my UK stockbroker, Barclays. But they seem to be taking ages, and they have some complicated system for opening Foreign Equities accounts.

I tried other US brokers as well, I think it was a big name broker who rejected me .

Traderuk · Jul 22, 2005

Well, I may have to stick with my current broker for now. My mum is in a BAAAD mood at the moment, and she will not be happy about providing all the information that you need for this account.

In fact, even in a good mood she would be pissed.

Hmm...My uncle and Aunt live in D.C. Maybe I could make the account in one of their names?

How old do you have to be to hold ecurities in Your countries you guys?

riwilliams · Sep 14, 2005

ETrade UK office

Edgar Stankus
> International Relationship Manager
> Working hours: 12:00 to 21:00 GMT (London time)
> T: +44 (0) 20 7516 1369
> F: +44 (0) 20 7516 1405
>
> E*TRADE Securities Limited
> 42nd Floor
> One Canada Square
> London E14 5AA=20
[email protected]

Traderuk said:
Well, the question is in the titile.

Whenever Ive tried some brokers like Etrade, they say that Im not elegible to trade because i am a UK citizen. Know any brokers that will let me?

My Uk nroker, Barclays will let me trade US, but it is akward and expensive, Im looking for a way to save money.

djl · Oct 19, 2005

anyone used / tried choicetrade.com?

$5 commission irrespective of amount, accepts foreign citizens (notably UK ones)

Naz · Oct 26, 2005

E trade and GNI are great for Uk traders wishing to trade the US markets.

Cableguy · Oct 26, 2005

Naz said:
E trade and GNI are great for Uk traders wishing to trade the US markets.

Yup would recommend ETrade as well, I use the CFD platform which aggregates most exchanges so you don't have to limit yourself to the UK or US. It's also only 3k to open an account in the currency of your choice.

HTH

jitasb · Oct 27, 2005

The Etrade CFD platform for US Equities : Do you get Level 2 ?
And as I understand it, the min commission is $19.99, is this correct ?

Know any US brokers that allow UK citizens?

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