Just to let you know that some Taiwanese shares, especially the semiconductor ones have ADRs in the US. If you really can't find any way to invest directly in Taiwanese shares, your best alternative is to invest in ADRs of these shares. I know TSMC has a very active ADR.

Also, Taiwan has strict capital control, something you need to take note if you invest directly there.

This post has been edited by TOS: Apr 23 2021, 11:47 AM

I can't comment much on other platforms since I don't use them. Others will offer a better perspective.

I will share my experience on Tradestation Global. I was introduced to this by Ramjade (and others in the IBKR thread). I have been using TSG for more than a year now.

I only invest in SG shares at the moment. So for me the SG commissions and charges matter more, for your case, you may want to take a more holistic view if you want to get exposure in many markets. There is also the possibility of using different brokerages for different markets, I think Ram is using FSM SG for SG counters and TSG for US counters, last time I heard.

In terms of commissions comparison,

TSG: https://www.tradestation-international.com/...ng-commissions/
Moomoo: https://support.futusg.com/en-us/topic118
Tiger Brokers: https://www.tigerbrokers.com.sg/commissions/fees/stocks_etf


1. A few things to note about commissions:

The brokerage business is under intense competition especially in Singapore. New entrants like Moomoo and Tiger Brokers are undercutting existing players' market share (TSG, IBKR, POEMS, Saxo Bank etc.). Hence many will waive minimum commissions and charge low brokerage fees for now. You want to be careful as once they have enough market share they may raise the fees again.

This happened in HK's virtual bank space last year. When I opened Mox Bank account last year, virtually (no pun intended) all virtual banks in HK offer very high deposit rates of 1-2% p.a. to attract customer (for Mox, it's 1% p.a.), then after the customer base stabilized around end of 2020, the deposit rate was cut to 0.65% p.a. this year. Other virtual banks did the same too. So, be careful of this.

These days, firms are not just good at innovating technology, their business/marketing strategy has improved much more than that.

Beware of "platform fees" and charges such as custodian fees, dividend handling charges etc (if applicable). And also, when they claim to "waive" fees temporarily, always assume that that fee will be incurred in future transactions. Free things won't last forever, (there is no such thing as free in this world), and you will top-up your investment some time later, not just invest today and watch your portfolio grow. Minimum fees are always needed to keep the brokerage firms survive to sustain costs. Don't be too naive to think that free AAPL shares will last forever. You want a brokerage firms that serve you well for years to come, assuming that you are a long-term investor.

Of course commission is one thing, user experience is important too. If you find moomoo and Tiger good and easy to use, by all means go ahead. I don't discriminate cheap platforms, but be wary of their business strategy.

2. As for which platform cover more stuffs, IBKR/TSG covered many of them. Since you mainly focus on shares, you should be fine with either of the platforms. However things are different for derivative products.

IBKR/TSG offer the widest coverage so far. Moomoo only offers stocks/ETFs in US, SG and, HK, no derivative products are available for trading. Tiger brokers don't offer options for SGX.

3. Many users complained about the IBKR/TSG interface. It is known to be the least user-friendly as it is geared towards professional settings (used by fund managers, traders etc.). Moomoo, Tiger and TD Ameritrade are retail investor-focused, hence their platform are much simpler for a beginner to understand. For those who use TSG, they will use IBKR's Trader Workstation software instead as TSG's platform is a bit complicated to use. For daily investment needs, IBKR's Trader Workstation software is more than enough. You just need to know a few functions and do some charting if you are interested. You don't have to use all of the software function.

4. For TSG/IBKR, deposit 11 p.m. yesterday, next morning before SG market open at 9 a.m., money already in. It usually appears within one hour to two after the fund is transferred out of your bank account. For first time transfer, expect some more time for verification, maybe an additional hour. For withdrawals, my experience is it's as fast as depositing the money. Take note that IBKR/TSG allow 1 free withdrawal per month only. Subsequent withdrawals will incur charges. Moomoo/Tiger don't have that yet, for now.

5. Not qualified to comment on this since I only have one foreign brokerage account.

Other things to note:

Customer service is also important. My experience with TSG/IBKR has been a pleasant one, although the secure messaging system locked me out of communication with IBKR when their messaging system is down, I managed to keep in touch with TSG throughout those days. TSG has quite a helpful team of customer service reps. And they response within one working day (my experience).

Hope that helps. Others feel free to correct me if I am wrong in any of the info above.

Fair disclosure: I am not a shareholder of Tencent, Futu, Tiger Brokers, IBKR or TSG and have no direct vested business interest with the companies.

This post has been edited by TOS: Apr 24 2021, 09:46 AM

I have not reached sifu status Just TOS will do.

To answer you questions:

1. Yes, I use Transferwise and Instarem mainly. I did frequent transfer last year compared to these year because there were plenty of opportunities last year, good counters traded at sharp discount. After that as things stabilized, less transfer is done.

There are other services like Sunway Money too. Refer to this thread: https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4857608/+160

2. Virtual banks are just like the typical banks you know, the only thing is, they don't have brick-and-mortar store. Everything is done online, usually via phone. I have a HKID card so I can open HK virtual banks, I am not sure if you have one. If you don't you need to wait for Malaysia or Singapore's virtual banks to start operating, then only you can enjoy their services.

Malaysia's Virtual Bank discussion thread: https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4961821 (It's called digital bank here, but the idea is the same.)

The primary benefits of virtual/digital banks are that they offer better FD/deposit rates than traditional banks as they have lower overhead cost. (No need to pay hefty rents for buildings and lower manpower cost). Some banks, based on HK's experience, offer loans and eventually venture into more profitable wealth management products.

As for safety, even visiting a bank to renew FD will risk getting robbed by robbers waiting outside the bank. Digital stuff are safe only if you take good care of your personal devices. There is a chance that your phone will be hacked. So, don't simply install unauthorized apps or unsafe ones etc. This goes into IT security field, I won't comment much here.

3. My plan is continue using custodian account until I accumulate enough money, then switch over to CDS account when I start working in Singapore in the future (by then I will have a SG address). You should mention about your securities account in your will anyway.

Other solutions include:

a. Leave behind your account details/password for the beneficiaries to login and liquidate the securities (require trust and integrity among beneficiaries)
b. Liquidate your holdings gradually towards your old age and move them into safer FD deposits. (This is for dying-of-old-age case.)
c. Transfer to the beneficiaries while you are still alive (require your beneficiaries to have good financial discipline and again integrity)

It is important to remember, for US equity investors, that there will be an estate tax if your estate is greater than 60k USD.

https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloi...dent-aliens.pdf

This post has been edited by TOS: Apr 26 2021, 01:35 PM

Yes you are right. Thanks for the correction, 60k USD is for NRA, the 11 million+ exemption is only for domiciled US resident. My bad, I already rectified my earlier post.

As for TDA SG's case, this is what I found:

https://singaporelegaladvice.com/law-articl...duty-singapore/

and estate tax (estate duty) has been removed in SG: https://www.iras.gov.sg/irashome/Other-Taxe...ty/Estate-Duty/

So I think no tax on assets in SG brokerage accounts after death for foreign persons. Correct me if I am wrong.

1. I would suggest you to compare with other platforms before you perform the transfer. Sometimes TW is better than Instarem, and sometimes it's the other way round. There is no absolute answer as to which platform is the cheapest in terms of transaction costs. Always compare before you transfer, that's the best way. Other sifus will provide you better info on this.

From my experience last year, Instarem is kind of cheaper than Transferwise. But some members observe otherwise.

2. There is no digital bank in Malaysia at the moment. My quote in the previous post was HK's virtual bank. The interest rate in HK is low compared to Malaysia, traditional retail banks offer around 0.001% p.a. for saving accounts (yes, it's 0.001%, not a typo). Virtual banks like Mox offer 0.65% p.a.

You need to wait for digital/virtual banks in Malaysia/SG to start operating in order to know their deposit rates/interest rates.

1. You need to know what is estate/inheritance tax. This is not capital gain tax. The 60k USD limit is imposed for non-US residents like us when we die and our designated (or by law, if you don't have a will) beneficiaries claim our assets.

So, after you die, your son/daughter etc. will claim your assets from your brokerage account. Before IBKR/TSG transfer the money to your son/daughter etc. (or most probably, their lawyer(s) ), they (on behalf of you, since you already died) will need to pay an inheritance/estate tax of 18% - 40% (depending on the amount) of your shares/bonds/ETFs etc. in TSG/IBKR, with the first 60k USD of your assets exempted from being taxable.

2. For now, in Singapore, there is no inheritance/estate tax, even if you buy US shares via say, Moomoo, Tiger or IBKR Singapore. There reason is these brokerage account are domiciled in Singapore, even though they are US companies, or have HQs in US, or have substantial business in the US. So in this case, they follow Singapore's tax law, not US's.

3. Firstly, foreign income is NOT taxable in Malaysia (same is true in Singapore). That means all profits/dividends received from your investments outside of Malaysia is not taxable by LHDN (Inland Revenue Board, IRB, in English).

So all your profits/dividends from US shares/ETFs, Singapore, HK, Taiwan etc., you don't have to declare that in your annual tax filling to LHDN. It doesn't matter which broker or where it is domiciled. It can be domiciled in Malaysia, but as long as income/profits is from outside of Malaysia, then not-taxable.

However, things are different if you trade shares in Malaysia, i.e. Bursa Malaysia. (If it's a source of income for you, then this is taxable, however, if you mostly buy-and-hold, you don't need to declare that.) Exactly how to distinguish between whether this is a source of income is subject to legal dispute. Consult other sifus/LHDN for more info.

Additional info: For US-domiciled brokers, there is also this thing called GSTT, Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax. If you transfer your wealth to grandchild (2 generations below you) or to someone else "not related" to you, you pay another 40% on top of the estate tax paid earlier, also first 60k USD exempted for non-US residents.

See slide no. 9 : https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloi...dent-aliens.pdf

Must be very lucky to be born in Malaysia or Singapore.

This post has been edited by TOS: Apr 28 2021, 11:34 AM

OP may want to invest in other markets. Since TDA only opens for US market, it may not be the best choice for him.

And let me remind readers again: There is NO free lunch in this world.

Free commissions actually means higher bid/ask spread. You will not be able to buy at the true low-end of the ask price and sell at the high-end of the bid price. The fees are "internalized" and becomes less transparent. Same way how Robinhood makes money with zero commission.

Also, think about how you would want to fund your account.

https://www.tdameritrade.com.sg/why-td-amer...nd-funding.html

Unless OP has DBS/POSB account, you need to fund by cheque or wire transfer. And for wire transfer, fund transferred via 3rd-party fintech firms like Instarem/TW etc. won't be accepted.

No ACH too.

Looking at here: https://www.aboutschwab.com/financial-reports

Ram is correct, the net interest revenue is slightly higher than the spread earned. 1911 million in 1Q21 versus 1215 million in 1Q21.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/20/e-brokers-d...ns-to-zero.html

Trading revenue still accounts for a large portion of their revenue.

For TSG account, there are 2 possibilities, one of them is you follow US law, since TSG is a whitelabel and your money is really in IBKR's hand. You use IBKR's portal. https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/index.php?f=2334

But looking at below (if you have time to digest that 11 pages of words):

https://www.tradestation-international.com/...IBUK%201220.pdf

It seems like UK law is also applicable.

At least that is what I read. I don't study law, so consult other sifus for more detailed understanding. TSG is domiciled in UK, as far as I know.

Maybe that agreement only applies to the software side. So account still affiliated with IBKR.

This post has been edited by TOS: Apr 29 2021, 02:46 PM

Oh, need to ping wongmunkeong.

That was what he said.

You don't seem wrong though, plausible argument.

Ok ok. You win

Now let's ping our lawyer friend for assistance. Hansel

Edit: I have some contacts in SG. One of them know some bankers. I will contact them and ask about this.

This post has been edited by TOS: Apr 30 2021, 09:37 PM

I found this: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/internation...ate-tax-returns

https://news.bloombergtax.com/daily-tax-rep...in-u-s-equities



https://www.northerntrust.com/japan/insight...es-non-citizens

See section 5:

And bogleheads: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Non-US_inve...ng_US_tax_traps

This post has been edited by TOS: Apr 30 2021, 09:49 PM

So transfer estate/assets like stocks, ETFs etc. to beneficiary brokerage account after one passed away, no need to pay any tax? Just the "transfer cost" between brokerage houses?

or you mean need to transfer before one dies?

Ok, so solution is, as proposed by Hansel: transfer to beneficiary before you die.

Then what is the point? We were discussing whether estate tax is imposed after one died, answer is yes.

So solution is transfer to beneficiary before you die.

Did I get anything wrong here?

Of course, this is just a different purpose. Estate planning differs from person to person. In the end when you die, that million-dollar portfolio still has to go somewhere.

There is also a chance that say, Hansel built his multi-million dollar portfolio by assisting his clients to sue people and plan to left some stuff for his kids yet his kids are too young to open a brokerage account. So anyhow need to use his own account to buy first then only transfer later.

Just an example.

It takes around 24 hours for the change to take effect. So you need to buy the shares on the next day in order to enjoy the low cost.

If the issue still persists, consider taking a screenshot here, so we can diagnose the issue.