problem with opening IB account

[Treve]

Hi,

I have few questions about opening IB account.
Basically I stuck in the end of the registration where there are question about transferring the money. I want to skip the question as I really don’t understand them, and I simply would like to transfer my money using online banking from my bank. Now I understand that I should transfer the money to the below account:
account-Nr. 40806826
Citibank, N.A. (New York Branch) 111 Wall Street New York, NY 10043 United States of America ABA-Nr. 021000089 SWIFT Code: CITI US 33

1. Once I transfer the money how will I be notified that IB received it and how can I skip the questions about the transfer on the registration page?

2. Secondly, my situation is a bit complicated: I am European, currently living in the Philippines and I would like to trade on US market. What mail address should I provide then? I believe that IB is going to send me some documentation to sign, so I probably have to provide the address in the Philippines?

3. I have two European nationalities and my first name is different from one nationality to another. Now I am going to transfer the money from my bank using one nationality (different first name) to IB using different nationality (different first name). I read on the registration site that the name must be exactly the same from the bank I am transferring the money. Does it mean that the transfer will not work?
Sorry for the confusion.

Thanks!

 

[nine]

I would suggest you figure out a way to make it very simple for IB.

If you make it complicated then their compliance people will get involved and you will not enjoy that. Think of sitting under a picture of George Bush in secondary immigration processing while you don't look because you know that if you look they deliberately put your papers aside for an extra half hour.

You want to be one person, with one identity from one country, with one bank account. Otherwise you can expect some issues

 

[Charlton]

Hi,

I have few questions about opening IB account.
Basically I stuck in the end of the registration where there are question about transferring the money. I want to skip the question as I really don’t understand them, and I simply would like to transfer my money using online banking from my bank. Now I understand that I should transfer the money to the below account:
account-Nr. 40806826
Citibank, N.A. (New York Branch) 111 Wall Street New York, NY 10043 United States of America ABA-Nr. 021000089 SWIFT Code: CITI US 33

1. Once I transfer the money how will I be notified that IB received it and how can I skip the questions about the transfer on the registration page?

2. Secondly, my situation is a bit complicated: I am European, currently living in the Philippines and I would like to trade on US market. What mail address should I provide then? I believe that IB is going to send me some documentation to sign, so I probably have to provide the address in the Philippines?

3. I have two European nationalities and my first name is different from one nationality to another. Now I am going to transfer the money from my bank using one nationality (different first name) to IB using different nationality (different first name). I read on the registration site that the name must be exactly the same from the bank I am transferring the money. Does it mean that the transfer will not work?
Sorry for the confusion.

Thanks!

The questions about transfer are to ensure that the funds you deposit in their account are correctly allocated against your IB account, so you should not ignore them.

Certainly in the UK International Monetary Transfer forms from high street banks don't seem to be well-suited to US recipient banks and UK staff are not used to handling them. It may be easier in the Phillipines, but don't make it difficult for your funds to reach the right place.

The reason behind the matching of names on the bank account from which you are sending funds is to do with money laundering regulations and again to assist in allocating funds to the correct IB account. You need to ensure that the name that you use for the IB account will match the name of the bank account from which you transfer. Again why make things difficult.

If in doubt just phone them up and explain your situation. They should be more than happy to help you open and fund your account, but they are obliged to comply with US financial regulations

Charlton

 

[timsk]

If you think opening an account with IB is hard work - wait 'til you try and close one. Trust me, it takes a herculean effort combined with the patience of a saint!

Tim.

 

[Treve]

Thank you!
If it is so difficult to open an account with them, is there an alternative provider other than IB that has a stable platform, and fees are as low as by IB?

 

[Charlton]

Thank you!
If it is so difficult to open an account with them, is there an alternative provider other than IB that has a stable platform, and fees are as low as by IB?

I really don't think it is difficult and if you want to open an account with any other US broker, such as Tradesation, you will have to supply the same information, because of US regulations governing Money Laundering.

Opening an account is probably the least most difficult process in trading

Charlton

 

[Trader333]

If you think opening an account with IB is hard work - wait 'til you try and close one. Trust me, it takes a herculean effort combined with the patience of a saint!

Tim.

What problems are or were you having ?


Paul

 

[timsk]

What problems are or were you having ?

Hi Paul,
It's all done and dusted now, but it was a long winded affair and, to my way of thinking, unnecessarily complicated. I found the account closing procedure on the website difficult to follow which necessitated several phone calls to Switzerland. I was able to withdraw the bulk of my account but was unable to close it in one go, leaving a balance of $100 dollars or so. I could only withdraw this and close the account completely once I'd returned the security card which I was told I had to send to Switzerland. However, because there is a limit of only making one withdrawal per month (without incurring costs), I'd have to wait another month to close the account for good. I returned the card as I'd been instructed, only to receive a phone call saying that that wasn't necessary! In the meantime, I'd incurred an inactivity fee, which I think is harsh as I no longer had access to the exchanges, let alone sufficient funds to trade! To be fair to IB, the bit in between opening and closing the account was fine. No problems with the platform, the smart order routing worked fine, fills were very fast and slippage was minimal (and usually the result of poor timing or poor choice of order on my part). Famously, their commissions are among the lowest in the industry so, all in all, no complaints. Being with IB is a bit like flying: take off and landing are scary; the bit in the middle is absolutely fine.
Tim.