I personally don't have MY bank brokerages, but they are certainly safe to consider if you need them. This data is kind of old, but may be useful: https://kclau.com/investment/trade-global-shares/ The main things to care about are dividend handling fees, custodian fees etc. Surely the brokerage fee per trade is expensive already for local bank brokers compared to foreign ones.

There are local non-bank brokerage players like FSM MY, Rakuten Trade, POEMS MY etc. too.

I personally have 2 "secondary" broker to standby in case IB has problems: FSM SG and DBS Vickers SG, both linked to my CDP account. So yes, you are always encouraged to have 2-3 brokers to give you some fall-back options if one goes bust.

People have different concerns mah...

Some prefer Malaysian brokers due to familiarity with the regulatory environment here, especially those nearing old age. prophetful choose Kenanga for similar reason, I believe.

FT 071122: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pb-HmTzyx9...?usp=share_link

FT 081122: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BgtALmFKry...?usp=share_link

FT 091122: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PfOW5YS9By...?usp=share_link



FT Big Read. Asset Management: The big pensions rethink



Police has raided UBS branches in Germany due to alleged ties to "Russian tycoon" money laundering.

ASNB sent me ASM2's complete investment portfolio up to 31 August 2022 this afternoon.

I have added GICS industry classifications and done some simple statistics.

You may find the file uploaded to ASNB FP funds' thread: https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopi...ost&p=105798716

FT 101122: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lkIaRwWcs0...?usp=share_link

FT 111122: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Bi1L1y9VAN...?usp=share_link

FT Weekend 12-131122: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_8bRlSsVRa...?usp=share_link

There are 2 pages of FTX-news stuffs. I like the fact that at one point, they thought "Buying Goldman Sachs was 'not out of the question at all' ".

FT House & Home: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I-_k7wCF9X...?usp=share_link

FT Life & Arts Part 1: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qx6Pv9EWZ7...?usp=share_link

Another GE business book...



FT Life & Arts Part 2: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NZaEldO1V1...?usp=share_link

Enjoy your weekend.

This post has been edited by TOS: Nov 12 2022, 03:13 PM

Can. Let's continue here on SG bank account opening: https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1440794/+4380

This post has been edited by TOS: Nov 12 2022, 03:50 PM

FT 141122: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FhQzABYtNQ...?usp=share_link

Be careful when you borrow money in foreign currency to purchase something, as Poland's housing mortgage "time bomb" showed below:

FT Big Read. Banks: Poland's mortgage time bomb

If you check any IBKR UK account's activity statement, you will find this line at the end of the report in the "Notes/legal notes" section:



Anyway, after seeing what tadashi987 has received from IB earlier, I have applied to convert my account to IBKR US LLC. They replied me the conversion process is a "manual process" which takes 2-3 weeks. You need to open a new IBKR account (under the same username and login credentials) and IB will transfer your funds from your current IB UK account to the new IB LLC account.



This post has been edited by TOS: Nov 14 2022, 11:38 PM

Still in progress. I initiated the transfer last week. Will update you guys here when it's done.

Yes, those who delinked their accounts from TSG ended up with IBKR UK. Those who opened their accounts directly with IBKR ended up with IBKR LLC from the beginning.

This post has been edited by TOS: Nov 15 2022, 10:33 AM

FT 151122: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dkGDiF8nOn...?usp=share_link

Someone PMed me and asked how to transfer from IBKR UK to IBKR US. For the benefit of everyone else, I will just post the steps here.

1. First you need to create a new IBKR account using the same login credentials (with your Malaysian address) and link it to your old/current IB account.

Proceed to settings page and open a new account from there.

You will get a new account number "UXXXXXXX", where X is a digit from 0 to 9 in addition to your existing account number. The application process is pretty straightforward and you will find that most of the account particulars fields are prefilled for you. Double check the trading permissions and source of wealth and make sure they are up to date.



At the end of the application process, you will need to upload your MY passport and MY IC, just like what you did back then when you open your account with TSG. IBKR has a automatic document verification system. But my uploaded documents failed to be verified automatically. So I went for manual verification, which took a longer time for review and approval. If you are lucky enough to hve your documents verified automatically, your account will be approved withint minutes. Otherwise, for manual application, it might take longer. In my case, within 2-3 hours the same day (applied 8 am-9am GMT +8 on a working day, approved by 11am to 12pm GMT +8).

Also, they will ask you for a reason why you need to open a new individual account. You mention to them that you want to "enjoy better investor protection under SIPC", so you switch from IBKR UK to IBKR US LLC. They approve my account with the above reason, for your reference.

From this moment onwards, you will receive notification to fund your new account. Obviously you can just ignore those emails since your new account will soon have the money and stock/bonds etc. holdings transferred in from your old IB UK account.

----------------------

2. Now your new IBKR account is approved and is ready for transfer from the old IBK account. But before you go any further, make sure you verify your new account is indeed under IBKR US LLC and NOT IBKR UK. To do so, head over to the new account's "Other Reports" page. Select your new IBKR account and view the "Account Confirmation Letter".



*Make sure you select the new IBKR account by clicking on the "Add/Edit" button near your account number display to switch from old to new account.



You can select with or without liquidation value. It does not matter.



Now you will see the letter. Check the lower right corner. It should display "Interactive Brokers LLC" with a US address: One Pickwick Plaza Greenwich, CT 06830 USA. This means this account is opened under IB LLC.



However, if you see "Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Ltd." instead, with UK address: Level 20 Heron Tower 110 Bishopgate London EC2N 4AY. Do not panic. Check if you have produced the account confirmation letter from the old account. Switch over to the new account (click "Add/Edit" near the account number in the earlier page) and reproduce the letter.



-------------------------

3. Now you have verified your new IB account is under IB LLC. Proceed to the "Secure Message Center" and create a new ticket with IBKR's customer service representative to request for transfer from your old IBKR UK account to the newly opened IBKR LLC account. My conversation with IB's customer service representative is reproduced below for your reference:



As this is still an ongoing process, I will update you guys from time to time.

This post has been edited by TOS: Nov 15 2022, 09:20 PM

Ya, as showed earlier towards the end of your IBKR account activity statements:



IBKR UK enjoys same protection as IBKR LLC. But the problem is if anything goes wrong, IBKR UK is subject to FCA regulations. IBKR LLC users can claim directly from SIPC, but IBKR UK users have to submit claims via FSCS. https://ibkr.info/article/2012



If I understand correctly, you can't submit directly to SIPC as an IB UK account holder.

To make matters worse, there is a chance that you may be kicked back and forth like a football between US and UK insurance authorities when IB went bust in both UK and US side. That is the last thing an IB user wants to see.

FSCS website isn't very user-friendly when I pretend to make a claim. They asked me some funny questions like:



as if IBKR is my "investment advisor".

The coverage is also low at 85k GBP vs 500k USD from SIPC. SIPC's procedure is more straightforward. You directly claim from https://www.sipc.org/cases-and-claims/open-cases/
and is more transparent.

Considering your accounts may be to the tune of millions, I think switching over to IBKR LLC is a wise investment in the long run for direct coverage under SIPC instead of an "indirect" relationship which could complicate matters during crisis. Getting compensation in USD sounds better than GBP too, consider the fomer's liquidity.

Anyway, just my 2 cents. SIPC has been around for 50 years. FSCS only started back in 2001. I value the former's rich experience.

This post has been edited by TOS: Nov 15 2022, 09:59 PM

FT 161122: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KawU8WlufA...?usp=share_link

FT Big Read. Financial Regulation: The fragile US Treasury bond market

FT 17112: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cnXQtt9J-V...?usp=share_link

Just to inform you guys to be careful when sending USD from IBKR to DBS USD FD accounts. Make sure the amount sent is above 5000 SGD all the time.

I encountered a painful experience of losing 1% of the money due to rejection of FD deposits by DBS as my 3.6k USD is less than 5k SGD last Thursday after the weaker US inflation figures...

Lesson is: Always leave yourself some room for currency fluctuations when you deposit USD in DBS FD accounts.



This post has been edited by TOS: Nov 17 2022, 04:39 PM