I see. That's unfortunate. Could you go to another branch of HSBC and talk to a different staff?
Some staff are more lenient.

I notice that HSBC gives 2.6% p.a for 3-month USD FD. That's higher than the US Fed's interest rate and this means HSBC desperately need USD now.
As a last resort, you can open a USD account at another bank and initiate a TT to transfer your USD over to your new account. But first make sure that this bank will not bar you from transferring fund to IB.



Attached thumbnail(s)

How did it go with the bank? Curious to know whether you can argue your way through.

Went to a different branch, and voila, transfer went thru without any hassle. No questions asked, just filled in the necessary paperwork.

Now that my funds are in IB, I want to start buying Irish-domiciled ETFs (to reduce witholding taxes). Does any know if all the USA-based ETFs' listed on LSE are Irish-domiciled or not necessarily so? I can't seem to find this info.

Just search for the ticker on the ETF managers website and you’ll see all the info including domicile.

Eg Vanguard from memory, are all Irish domiciled.

Here for example is fact sheet for VUSD

https://global.vanguard.com/portal/site/loa...y=be&docId=2108

rjb123, what broker to you recommend to gain access to UK, Europe exchange?

Is Exante good? Also can one open a Degiro account?

Not IB as no money for IB.

Not sure if I’m honest - I used to use Fidelity I think previously for UK but that’s was like 13 years or so ago ... the only other accounts I’ve held since were TDAM and IB, and as IB covered every market I didn’t have any reason to look for any other brokers.

Degiro redirects me to a page of 18 countries, I assume that’s because they don’t take international clients.

I emailed them and they send me to that page

Well according to their FAQ

No problem there since Transferwise have UK and EU account under our name.

Then should be all good I guess.

Didn’t realise they actually did accounts now too - normally these forex companies will just use segregated accounts.

Anyway it probably isn’t too difficult to open an account in one of the supported countries

That's if one can get on a plane to that country to get a bank account. If can't the only option I can think of is Transferwise.

Any reviews about Exante?

I’ve opened accounts without ever visiting and applications by post/courier are possible

Not heard of Exante prior to this, but a very quick google doesn’t seem very promising, and appears to be marketed as more of a forex broker. I’d prefer Degiro being from Netherlands vs Malta too

And found this on another website RE Degiro

The question is can they accept my transferwise account

Which bank is the account in, in which country? Seems to be the deciding factor here.

You can give Degiro a call, see what they say.

I opened up UK and EU account with Transferwise.

Cheers for this.

Since withholding taxes only apply to dividends and not capital gains, that would mean instead of buying Irish-domiciled funds, we can buy US-domiciled accumulating funds, correct? Or are the dividends which are reinvested also subjected to 30% withholding tax?

I don't believe there are accumulating ETFs that are US domiciled for that reason, although not really researched this recently.

I fear my foray into the US ETF market couldn't have come at a worst time. Market at an all time high ready to pop soon. Everything is overvalued. Not quite sure if should buy into in now.