Offshore online broker for ex-pats - new legislation

[diagram-p]

Hi all,

I am an non-domiciled UK resident with funds in Jersey, Singapore and Australia. I am looking for an offshore broker platform that will allow me to trade ETFs on the London Stock Exchange. I have opened an internaxx account but they do not autoquote the ETFs quoted is USD so I cannot place my own stops/limit orders. In addition their fees for trades of value £50,000 are about 180 EUR. Since the new tax legislation changes proposed for April 2008 target non-dom UK residents I was considering Singapore but the fees there seem to be quite high as well and don't offer access to all of the markets.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[bendlikon]

For cheap commissions I would look at Interactive Brokers (interactivebrokers.co.uk or interactivebrokers.com). I believe they charge 6£ flat up to a trade value of 50,000£. I have no idea how your offshore requirements are, but I would think you could have your account in the US rather than the UK.

Another option I saw is Saxo Bank (saxobank.com) out of Denmark. They charge 0.1% to 0.2% of trade value depending by market.

BTW, why would you purchase ETFs in London, don’t you pay 0.5% stamp tax there?

Please let me know how happy you are with internaxx in general.

 

[diagram-p]

Hi Bendlikon,

I was just on the phone with Interactive Brokers after reading through some other posts: the US account looks promising but they're customer service seems a little lacking. So far I have not been all that chuffed with internaxx since they don't offer autoquoting of the USD ETFs which means I can only place market orders. I will have a look at the Saxobank option, but IB looks like it might be the go. It's a good point about the stamp duty (one which I hadn't thought of until getting off the phone with IB). Do you still pay stamp duty on the NYSE based ETFs?

 

[bendlikon]

Interactive Brokers (IB) is a deep discount broker, not a lot of hand-holding there. However, their rates and worldwide market access make more than up for this in my opinion.

There are not many countries that impose stamp duties. I am aware that if you trade non-Swiss stocks/ETFs with a Swiss broker you pay 0.15% Swiss stamp tax, but with a broker in the US or Denmark I would assume you don’t pay anything other than commissions.

I couldn’t find much feedback on internaxx on the internet so far and your comments are not encouraging. Too bad it would be interesting to have a European based alternative to IB.

 

[diagram-p]

I agree...being in the UK I was hoping to deal with a European broker. I will give you some more feedback when they update their pricing next week.

 

[macthibuoi]

UBS Private Banking

I agree...being in the UK I was hoping to deal with a European broker. I will give you some more feedback when they update their pricing next week.

I use UBS in Singapore for buying funds, stocks, etfs etc. excellent service although the minimum investment levels are rather high.

 

[bendlikon]

The service a private banks offers you comes at a cost.

If you ask UBS to buy you UK stocks for £50,000 they will charge you 80 times more than the £6 IB charges (if you haven’t negotiated better terms with them).

In addition, they charge you annual account administration fees of between 0.1% to 0.2% of your average deposit value, which IB doesn’t.

 

[macthibuoi]

The service a private banks offers you comes at a cost.

If you ask UBS to buy you UK stocks for £50,000 they will charge you 80 times more than the £6 IB charges (if you haven’t negotiated better terms with them).

In addition, they charge you annual account administration fees of between 0.1% to 0.2% of your average deposit value, which IB doesn’t.

very true, i just don't have the time to do it myself....and if i'm honest, the expertise. I don't mind paying as long as i'm getting reliable service and communication. Also, they can buy just about any security on any exchange.

 

[diagram-p]

Having worked for MOrgan Stanley in private banking, I figured the PB style is inevitably to build a portfolio combining fixed income, commods and equities based on the clients risk profile. I would rather trade my own stocks and take advantage of market volatility in the commodities arena.
So far I have investigated InvestorsEurope, Internaxx (both completely offshore but with quite high commisions), POEMS in Singapore (have not been able to contact them since it's Chinese New Year), IB and optionsxpress (both obviously allowing you to trade USD quoted stocks via a US broker). Have any of you used optionsxpress before? If so how do they compare with IB?

 

[filipand]

I've got similar tax considerations as the original poster, looking at Internaxx as well. My impression is that Internaxx is just an offshore wrapper - their stock broking is actually done through TD Waterhouse (one of their shareholders) and their CFD/derivatives platform is nothing more than Saxo Bank.

 

[diagram-p]

I've got similar tax considerations as the original poster, looking at Internaxx as well. My impression is that Internaxx is just an offshore wrapper - their stock broking is actually done through TD Waterhouse (one of their shareholders) and their CFD/derivatives platform is nothing more than Saxo Bank.

That's correct filipand. Since my original posting, I have investiagted the Non-Dom laws a little more... there are some further changes in the pipeline. With the new regulations it makes no difference which offshore region you have your funds stored in as you are liable for tax on the capital gains (dependant on how long you have been in the UK). You are not liable for tax on non-salary funds unless you remit them into the UK. Consequently I opened an IB account as they offer the cheapest execution. I use Tradestation for my charting but only because I got a free offer...IB's platform should be perfectly adequate for daily charts.

 

[Hittfeld]

Why not look at Lux based whexpert dot com? They offer CFDs (whitelabel of GFT-UK), futures (IB/WhiteLabel of MAN), US stocks&options (penson). Good quality, cheap - and well working customer service.

Regards

Hittfeld

 

[investorseurope]

Hi Try investorseurope out of Gibraltar! investorseurope, offshore brokers, Forex, Fx, offshore derivatives: Trade ETFs Offshore
Brgds
B

 

[wannatrade]

Dear guys,
I am with Internaxx for more than 2 years now. What I can say is:
- Very slow website
- The tools are really bad
- They are very expensive (28 euros per trade is just much)

The question is, why am I still with them?
I am a canadian expat. Don't want to put my cash in Canada so they tax me or anything... I didn't find any other broker for expat that offer something like Internaxx. I am loosing a lot of good opportunities because they charge too much, make me think twice before doing a deal. Especially when it's time to sell... Lost a lot of money because of that. If anyone have a better idea, cheaper, etc... I would be really please to hear about!
Thanks,

Hi all,

I am an non-domiciled UK resident with funds in Jersey, Singapore and Australia. I am looking for an offshore broker platform that will allow me to trade ETFs on the London Stock Exchange. I have opened an internaxx account but they do not autoquote the ETFs quoted is USD so I cannot place my own stops/limit orders. In addition their fees for trades of value £50,000 are about 180 EUR. Since the new tax legislation changes proposed for April 2008 target non-dom UK residents I was considering Singapore but the fees there seem to be quite high as well and don't offer access to all of the markets.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[efwalter]

I am based in China and is non-permanent resident. So, my case is easier. Offshore capital gain is tax free as long as not brought onshore.

For my research done so far, I am considering several options, which may apply for you:

1) Use US based broker like Interactive broker or Charles Schwab for US registered ETF below a 60 KUSD as IRS would charge estate/inheritance tax above 60 KUSD at 45% tax rate. I pay 10% withholding tax on dividend. IB is cheaper than CS and allow investments in many markets but service is poor. On the other hand research and service in CS is outstanding. So, I am almost think to have accounts in both of them to get the best of each of them.

2) For above 60 KUSD, use Charles Schwab offshore mutual funds as not liable of either estate tax or withholding tax on dividend but the management fees is higher than ETF and actively managed and can only be traded through phone/email. Also, minimum investment is 10 KUSD per fund. So not as flexible but might be suitable for medium-long term investor and especially for fixed income/bond/gold funds

3) Use IB to invest in non-US registered ETF in non-us stock market. Therefore, I think no estate tax is payable. However, you will be trading in foreign currencies if your account is in USD. May-be one way is to have EURO account if you only trade let say in French stock market. I am not sure for stamp duties. I assume some stock market does not charge for it if trading through offshore broker.

 

[Dr.T]

Hi all,

I am an non-domiciled UK resident with funds in Jersey, Singapore and Australia. I am looking for an offshore broker platform that will allow me to trade ETFs on the London Stock Exchange. I have opened an internaxx account but they do not autoquote the ETFs quoted is USD so I cannot place my own stops/limit orders. In addition their fees for trades of value £50,000 are about 180 EUR. Since the new tax legislation changes proposed for April 2008 target non-dom UK residents I was considering Singapore but the fees there seem to be quite high as well and don't offer access to all of the markets.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

www.sands-haagen.co.uk They also have representation in the UK

 

[jfdijfdi]

Hi there. I live in Qatar, but will be repatriating to the UK (though I'm a Canadian citizen). I have 10 months to trade offshore, and am more comfortable in the North American markets, but do want to trade across the board. What is your best recommendation, then? IB?

Thank you.