I prefer opening a trading account and bank account in Singapore. Long run, it should be a lot cheaper.

I use UOB Kay Hian and DBS. I made a trip to Singapore and sort out both accounts in 1 morning...

After that, did everything else online.. Never have to make another trip there so far..

This post has been edited by Anic: Sep 28 2012, 03:26 PM

For DBS, I open a DBS Saving Plus account. I just brought my passport, IC and SGD. At that time, it was ok as the ac min balance was SGD500 and if below, there is a fee of SGD2 per month but now, looks like they have revised the min deposit to SGD5000 :
http://www.dbs.com.sg/personal/deposit/sav...gners/fees.page?


I also looked at Standard Chartered Bank and their Esaver account is pretty good. No min deposit/balance, no monthly fees.
In addition, I have heard that if one TT from their Malaysia Standard Chartered Bank account to their Sing Standard Chartered Bank account, there are no charges. I have not tried this myself.

http://www.standardchartered.com.sg/person...ver-account/en/

From their website:
High Interest Rates
No lock-in period
No monthly fees
No minimum deposit
No minimum balance
No fixed term
No hardcopy statements to file
No ATM cards, passbooks or cheque books to lose


I think when you choose a bank, other than considering the bank fees/min balance, it is important that they are one of the below banks (maybe these are all the banks in Sing? I have no idea):
For Uob Kay Hian, to open an account, you need your IC & Income statements:
http://www.uobkayhian.com.sg/page/site/pub...copenSGXfr.html

If you don't have a CDP account, they will do it for you too. In Singapore, only 1 CDS account... not like in Malaysia. 1 CDS account for each broker.. pensang.

Anyway, found this useful thread:
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/stocks-s...-a-3628498.html

Hope this help.

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Added on September 30, 2012, 9:03 amThanks for the alert...

I like to check out comparison table in this blog http://mystocksinvesting.com/:
http://mystocksinvesting.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Singapore-undervalued-REIT-stock-comparison-5-Sep-2012.png

This post has been edited by Anic: Sep 30 2012, 09:03 AM

I think it depends on how soon you need to spend the RM...

I am not concerned about interest rate risk/currency risk/forex risk (whatever it is.. )
1) I am in for longer period and the money is for retirement..
2) I have only seen SGD getting more expensive to buy and haven't seen it become cheaper yet... Is there a possibility of the trend will reverse? I doubt it but I can't say there is zero risk...

Let us know which one you choose..

This post has been edited by Anic: Oct 1 2012, 09:16 PM

I have to buy some more Singapore dollar..

For those who are interested with SC, worth reading this post:
http://help-your-money.blogspot.com/2011/0...ine-shares.html

Glad that it helps..

Yes, over the counter. I didn't face any problem opening the bank account. DBS officer just asked what is the purpose, and I said for investment. Can't remember if Standard Chartered Bank officer asked the same question.

I don't think there is such restriction. Though I haven't done it myself but my friend did it before. If this is not allowed, how do Malaysian parents TT money to Children studying in Singapore?

I use UOB Kay Hian. I didn't shop around at that time when I opened the ac. I was new then and didn't pay attention to fees etc..

This post has been edited by Anic: Oct 4 2012, 11:10 AM

Wasn't thinking at that time..

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Added on November 25, 2012, 9:37 pmthere is some information about this here: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/stocks-s...-a-3628498.html

This post has been edited by Anic: Nov 25 2012, 09:37 PM

em... this requirement wasn't there when i opened my account.

I checked DBS website and their requirement for foreigner is much simpler, however there is monthly fee though for below S$5K balance:
http://www.dbs.com.sg/personal/deposit/sav...equirement.page?

For those with CDP account and address is outside of Singapore, the right issue address has to be Singapore address to receive the document.

Login to CDP online, under My Profile->”View & Update Profile”, there are the below addresses:

1) Mailing Address
2) Residential Address
3) Rights Mailing Address -
If you're maintaining foreign mailing address, you will need to provide a Singapore rights mailing address in order to receive documents for rights issue.

So to receive right issue docs, update No 3 above...