Boom was one of the pioneers of online stock trading in Asia. Starting out as an independent with backing from investment banker William Hambrecht, it was bought by Japan’s Monex Group in August 2010.
Boom offers an extremely good range of Asian markets for online trading at rates far lower than any American or European investor will pay for these using brokers in their home country. Following the acquisition by Monex, it can apparently now deal on the Fukuoka, Nagoya, Osaka and Sapporo stock exchanges, making it one of the few discount stock brokers outside Japan to offer stocks not listed on the Tokyo exchange.
The firm is no longer the clear leader in Asia across the markets it covers – Singapore’s OCBC Securities and Phillip Securities are worth considering as well. However, it continues to get very good feedback for customer service and ease of use, and is still one of the best multimarket stock brokers around.
| Online trading | Australia, China B, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan - Fukuoka, Japan - Nagoya, Japan - Osaka, Japan - Sapporo, Japan - Tokyo, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, USA, USA OTCBB and Pink Sheets |
| Telephone trading | n/a |
| Typical online | min ~HK$88-400 |
| Online details | Australia 0.4% (min A$35) plus A$25, China B 0.37% (min Shanghai US$25, Shenzhen HK$200) plus US$35/HK$150, Hong Kong 0.18% (min HK$88), Indonesia 0.25% (min IDR250,000) plus IDR200,000, Japan 0.3% (min ¥2,500) plus ¥1,500, Korea 0.5% (min KRW40,000) plus KRW40,000, Malaysia 0.5% (min MYR80), Philippines 0.5% (min PHP1,500) plus PHP2,000, Singapore 0.3% (min S$30), Taiwan 0.3% (min NT$1,200) plus NT$2,300, Thailand 0.4% (min THB1,500) plus THB1,000, USA 0.01/share (min US$20) |
| Typical telephone | n/a |
| Telephone details | n/a |
| Account fees and inactivity fees | Account opening fee HK$200, admin fee HK$200 per year |
| Custody charges for stocks | Malaysia custody charges: US$2 per stock per month plus single inactivity fee of US$3 per month if account was inactive that month, Taiwan custody charges: 0.1% per year, paid monthly |
| Dividend charges | Dividend handling charges: Australia A$5, China B Shanghai US$6.5 Shenzhen HK$50, Hong Kong 0.5% (min HK$20), Indonesia IDR45,000, Japan ¥500, Korea KRW6,000, Malaysia 1% (min MYR20), Philippines PHP4,000, Singapore 1% (min S$10), Taiwan NT$200, Thailand 1% (min THB500), USA US$3 |
| Corporate action charges | Corporate action handling charges: Hong Kong HK$100, Philippines PHP1,000, Taiwan NT$1,500, USA US$25 |
| Currency conversion charges | Commission not stated - "A small handling charge will be imposed" |
| Hold cash in foreign currencies | Yes |
| Currencies allowed | AUD, CNY, HKD, JPY, SGD, USD |
| Tax-advantaged accounts | None |
| Other products and services | Limited range of mutual funds |
| Minimum account size | None |
| Company location | Hong Kong |
| Further information | Go to the Boom Securities website |
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