Throw away sembcrop. Lousy. Better choices available exist such as CKI HK, CLP HK, JLEN Plc, TRIG Plc, HICL, plc (note all 3 plc are debt free and giving around 5%p.a dividend)., Brookfield renewable, Brookfield infrastructure, Fortis, Algonquin are way better anytime anyday compare to sembcorp. Have your pick.
Throw away SATS also. Reason is even with monopoly in sg, before pandemic have very weak pricing power. Better alternative like Shenzhen international. I thought sats was good company but one Singaporean showed me they are actually lousy despite having monopoly.
No way to avoid. Bite the bullet. One way I am doing to get around the 30% tax is buy 100 shares of the company. Then sell weekly covered calls on it. When you sell a covered call, you get paid for the contract. Premiums you get paid are tax free as it's counted as capital gain tax. There's no capital gain tax on foreigner from US side and there's no dividend or capital gain tax for stocks from Malaysian side.
Give you one eg.
I owned 100 visa shares. Yes the visa card company. I do covered calls on it and getting paid USD 50-70/week tax free. In one year time, that's is USD2600-3640.

Assuming one visa share price now is USD224.91 and you need 100 shares to do what I am doing, cost would be USD22491. USD2600-3640/USD22491 x100% = 11-16%p.a tax free. Yes you get to keep the whole 11-16%p.a and US govt is not taking a cut from it. More than any dividend you get paid. Best part is if your share don't get sold away (assuming the current market price is below the strike price of your contract), you can rinse and repeat in weekly basis. That's why I don't bother doing dividend investing anymore. With dividend investing, I was limited by
1) companies I can buy
- die die must buy dividend paying companies last time. Not anymore.
2) geography
- I can now i vest in US companies and don't get tax 30%
3) slow growth
- I can now have both high capital gains and high DIY tax free dividends

You can do it on any company like Microsoft, Apple, Google, SEA ltd (owner of shopee).

Keep in mind tiger and moomoo are not ideal platform to do the above. If you really want to do what I am doing, go open interactive broker, TD, or first trade.
Interactive broker
Can use your sg bank account and deposit SGD
Spot exchange rate (real time without any markup)
-better than what any priority Banking with banks/money changer can give you.
Very cheap cost for buying shares at USD0.35/transaction.
Multiple markets (US, Canada, UK, Europe,HK, SG, AU)
One free withdrawal a month
Expensive commision for options
- around USD1.00-1.50
Lousy interface
No free live data. Need to pay for it.

TD
Nice interface
Cheap comission for options at USD0.70
Free live data if you have USD500 or more with them
Unable to deposit SGD unless you have DBS SG
Higher markup for currency conversion Vs interactive broker q
Only have US market.
Long waiting time to open acocunt around 3 months.
USD25/withdrawal. No free withdrawal.
Banned by Malaysian govt as they deem it as illegal platform.

First trade
Everything is free (zero commision on stocks, options)
Free live data
US based which means you will lose money when you transfer money to them or from them (as you can only use banks)
US35/withdrawal.
US market only.

2. Buy Ireland domiciled etf from London stock exchange and get taxed 15% Vs 30%.

3. Buy stocks in tax free country like
SG, HK, UK.
Accept 15% tax cut and buy stocks from country like Canada, Germany, France.

Hope the above help you.

Forget about investing in sg market. You want slow growth, low risk, go buy apple, microsoft, Costco, Lockheed Martin and home depot in us market.

If you die die must buy sg stocks, mapletree commercial trust, mapletree logistics trust, frasers logistics trust, elite commercial trust.

for investing in UK market,
which is the next choices after IB?

Agree. SG market is too stable and the growth is too freaking slow...

Forget about investing in sg market. You want slow growth, low risk, go buy apple, microsoft, Costco, Lockheed Martin and home depot in us market.

If you die die must buy sg stocks, mapletree commercial trust, mapletree logistics trust, frasers logistics trust, elite commercial trust.

what's Ramjade view on VISA/MASTER? 

Ok, before I proceed, let me tell you something: Some of the branches may have moved or closed down or have their phone number changed. (At least for my case, the Butterworth SSC branch in Penang was relocated from the Jalan Selat area to the main Jalan Bagan Luar road further south, so the address in the application form was the old one and the phone number has changed as well).

You should NOT rely solely on the branch address and phone numbers stated in the application form without verifying the branch existence on Google Map, i.e. you need to so do some homework. I am not sure about your area, but in any case, don't follow the application form's address and phone number blindly.

Back to your question, for my case, I brought a lot of documents related to my university (I am still a uni student) such as my offer letter, hostel's address proof etc. but the branch officer said there's no need for them.

In the end, you only bring along:

i) Proof of Address (latest utility bill with your name and mailing address included) (For uni students or those without such bills, you may use your Maybank (they prefer other bank) account statement for the last 3 months)

ii) Proof of purpose to open account (some members here claim that it's optional, but I presented my IBKR account information, including the account confirmation letter and the activity statement and the counter officer accepted it). I believe submitting such documents will enhance your success rate of opening an offshore banking account, at least you show your willingness to co-operate with the bank and not hiding information.

iii) IC (they will print a copy if your IC and verify it, but you can bring along your own copy just in case).

iv) Your thumb. They will take your thumbprint electronically.

Different branch may have different ways of handling such applications, so it's still a good idea to call them in advance. In case you do not know, most branches close earlier during the RMCO period. In my area branches close at around 2:30 to 3p.m.. (They no longer close at 4:30 p.m., which's the usual case). So, you may want to call them in the mornings.

What's the Minimum deposit for Malaysians to open Maybank SG account? is it $500 or $1000?

CIMB SG activated!

Thanks for your encouragement Ramjade and the info provided by Gracie in her blog. polarzbearz

Just a question, do I need to link my CIMB MY account with CIMB SG for the SG side?



Edit: Nvr mind, I found it here. https://www.cimb.com.sg/en/personal/promoti...sfer-promo.html

Yay!    Glad the blog was useful for you!   

p/s for those who need:

I linked mine as well but hasn't really used it - they have competitive rates to bring SGD back into MYR so definitely worth comparing even against fintech like Wise.

Yay!    Glad the blog was useful for you!   

p/s for those who need:

I linked mine as well but hasn't really used it - they have competitive rates to bring SGD back into MYR so definitely worth comparing even against fintech like Wise.

Thanks for the guide! Super useful.
Wondering is there any annual fee for CIMB SG account?
Moving to SG soon, planning to open a temporary account first and apply a permanent one once I reach there.

No annual fee. Just make sure you keep it active, not dormant, Gracie mentioned it towards the end of her blog.

I find the desktop web interface very old and buttons are somewhat like Windows XP style. The mobile app looks more refreshing.

So you feel that CIMB SG to MY is better than Wise/Instarem? Or they are on par?

Thanks for the guide! Super useful.
Wondering is there any annual fee for CIMB SG account?
Moving to SG soon, planning to open a temporary account first and apply a permanent one once I reach there.

No annual fee. Just make sure you keep it active, not dormant, Gracie mentioned it towards the end of her blog.

I find the desktop web interface very old and buttons are somewhat like Windows XP style. The mobile app looks more refreshing.

I only did a quick check once after I linked mine - that time it was almost the same (few RM difference) but I've seen many saying that their rate sometimes beat Wise's (SGD ---> MYR), which makes sense also considering that CIMB's targeting Malaysian abroad (in SG).
No annual fees - but if you're going to SG, for your permanent account, maybe Maybank SG will make more sense. Their ATM presence at least is islandwide (vs. CIMB SG with only like 2 or 3 branches )

But for temporary, it's ok since they don't have annual fee or minimum balance. Easy to open also (fully online + can use Wise/BigPay/Fintech to do the initial 1K SGD deposit)
Windows XP style is already complementing them The whole website looks like the dotcom era in the 90's  oh well at least it's functional...

Thanks for the guide! Super useful.
Wondering is there any annual fee for CIMB SG account?
Moving to SG soon, planning to open a temporary account first and apply a permanent one once I reach there.

Windows XP style is already complementing them The whole website looks like the dotcom era in the 90's  oh well at least it's functional...

I only did a quick check once after I linked mine - that time it was almost the same (few RM difference) but I've seen many saying that their rate sometimes beat Wise's (SGD ---> MYR), which makes sense also considering that CIMB's targeting Malaysian abroad (in SG).
No annual fees - but if you're going to SG, for your permanent account, maybe Maybank SG will make more sense. Their ATM presence at least is islandwide (vs. CIMB SG with only like 2 or 3 branches )

But for temporary, it's ok since they don't have annual fee or minimum balance. Easy to open also (fully online + can use Wise/BigPay/Fintech to do the initial 1K SGD deposit)
Windows XP style is already complementing them The whole website looks like the dotcom era in the 90's  oh well at least it's functional...

Do t bother with CIMB sg if you are moving to sg. It's only good if you are want to bring money back to Malaysia. Then again, if you are in sg lots of fintech can match or have better rated than CIMB sg.

One of them is singx.(highly recommended if you are in sg)..Others are world remit, revolut.

Go with dbs my account.
You don't have fall below fees.
You can use to to received foreign currency
Plenty of ATM Island wide.
I have dbs my account and I only keep SGD0.10 inside. Lol
Quite surprised that their website so outdated Vs CIMB MY site.