1

Thank you. Do you consider transaction fee as well? It's 15.5 HKD for me per transaction. Rate should be good.

you pay an outbound fee regardless 1 or 2 right?...with instarem you're paying additional commission...

for any meaningful amount, 1 is better

they doing a local deposit... that's why

You can deposit in HKD directly from instarem/mmoneymatch/TW. You can use the deposit HKD straight to buy HK stocks. You do not need to change it to SGD unless you want to buy SG stocks.

IB rate is always better than instarem/mmoneymatch/TW anytime anyday cause it's spot rate. Real time, real rates.

https://www.cimbbank.com.sg/en/personal/for...fastsaver.html#!

u will have better context here

I don't plan to buy any HK stocks because:

(i) They are too expensive as in large capital is needed per board lot (usually 1000-5000 shares and each one costs 50 (as in Link REIT) to around 200/500 as in (Alibaba/Tencent))
(ii) Most are H-shares which I already have a stake through my FSM MY mutual fund investment

Thanks dwrk and Ramjade for your advice and answers, very helpful.

During my Maybank SG account opening in Malaysia, I voluntarily submitted my IBKR account statement to prove that I really have investment in SG. Though not required, the officer took it anyway. So, I would suggest you to print a copy of your brokerage account statement specifying your investments in SG, that would certainly help increase your success rate of opening an SG bank account.

This post has been edited by TOS: Sep 15 2020, 08:30 PM

HK got lots of good stocks.
Suggest you to keep until you have SGD4k then invest.

Stuff like Shenzhen international, yuexiu transport, CK infrastructure, hysan dev are good stuff.
HK stocks are way better than sg anytime.

This post has been edited by Ramjade: Sep 15 2020, 08:54 PM

all the mentioned ones not subjected to Chinese 10% witholding tax?

As far as I know, no tax.

Those with Singapore savings account can use FAST to transfer fund (denominated in SGD) to Citibank N.A..

It is just weird that Interactive Brokers cannot use FAST to transfer fund (denominated in SGD) from Citibank N.A., to the Singapore savings account of IBKR customers. Citibank N.A. Singapore should be Singapore branch of Citibank, so local fund transfer should be able to be performed, without Telegraphic Transfer.

This post has been edited by kart: Sep 16 2020, 10:02 AM

duplicate

This post has been edited by Liamness: Sep 16 2020, 03:46 PM

Thanks for confirmation. I guess I need to email IBKR to look into this possibility. As dwrk mentioned before, though CIMB Fastsaver SG exists for the moment, there is a chance that with the low-rate environment persisting, CIMB may start to impose charges on inward remittance.

Currently I think they earn more from NII, as their loans in SGD are around 3%-3.5% but they pay interest of around 0.5-1%.

It makes me wonder, apart from moving money back and forth between IBKR and an SG bank account, are there any other reasons one would need to maintain an SG bank account.

What if CIMB SG starts charging say 10 SGD for each inward remittance, and IBKR hasn't made FAST available yet, so now it's a one-way communication (SG bank -> IBKR but not vice versa), will you guys still maintain an SG bank account?

Just a thought question.

it is not just for ibkr actually

tt is universal ah...ibkr as a big Corp probably has standardized and automated withdrawal using it... fast is maybe just sg specific... they not even charging for withdrawals unlike most brokers...

you over thinking too much liao ah...

enjoy while it last... don't sweat what you cannot control

edit: imho keeping an offshore account gives you some flexibility in moving/managing funds...not always about saving money...

This post has been edited by dwRK: Sep 16 2020, 05:14 PM

Well, I think you should always plan ahead. You don't buy a stock because it goes up tomorrow then nosedives thereafter.

The banking industry is oligopolistic in nature, each follows others very closely in product and service differentiation and they follow very similar policies. If Maybank has done so, once CIMB reach the same size as Maybank (at least in Singapore), the waiver on inward remittance fee may be withdrawn anytime.

It's very clear to observers like us that CIMB SG is trying to steal Maybank SG's customers, so they offer such privileges. But this isn't for ever.

What I posted above isn't completely unthinkable, for those who study a bit or two on economics.

I agree with you that it's not always about saving money. Interest rate below 1%, can't really make a lot of money by putting them in banks.

The thing is, if inward remittance from IBKR SG to BOTH CIMB SG and Maybank SG involve charges, what is/are the rational(s) of keeping an SG bank account then? Every transfer from IBKR to your SG bank account will be charged 10 dollars or more. Moving funds can cost a lot of money then.

You don't work, study or stay in Singapore and now lose another reason to own a bank account, what other reasons to justify maintaining an offshore bank account? Not to mention all kinds of risks associated with it, especially regulations, compliance costs, change in laws, MAS audit/scrutiny etc. Your money is in another country and in someone else's hand. Unless the rule of law and regulations there please you, otherwise you won't sleep well at night.

After 1MDB, it's hard to have an offshore bank account these days in Singapore. not sure true or not.

This post has been edited by TOS: Sep 16 2020, 05:44 PM

They charge if you do >= 2 withdrawal a month. If you do only one it's free.

You need to know that maybank is one of the important banks in singapore and cimb is not. Hence cimb only have one branch while maybank have a few branches around SG.

Rational: I still have somewhere to keep my SGD. I am not going to hold RM.

Moving funds can cost a lot of money then. Yes if you keep moving funds. No if you don't move your money at all/move once in bulk.

If you don't feel safe keeping money in sg, then try HK. With China tightening grip over HK, I wouldn't want a bank account in HK.

Sg is not goiing to spoil their reputation is Switzerland of SEA.

Your bank account in singapore is your offshore bank account.

This post has been edited by Ramjade: Sep 16 2020, 06:18 PM

tos very simple... do we need an sg, hk or other offshore account? 100% honest answer is no

imho ppl who want to open sg account because 1) easy/backup 2) bypass bnm scrutiny 3) save some fx spread and xfer fees

#3 only came about lately because more US brokers setting shop in sg, and banks having promo and people just wanna save every penny

For me honestly yes. I need it. Cause how am I going to hold my money if I don't have a bank account?
I am certainly not going to hold RM in Malaysia and watch it depreciate.