Malaysian banking group CIMB bought the stockbroking division of Singapore’s GK Goh in 2005 and more recently has been expanding its international trading service. The iTrade CIMB @SG service now offers online trading in six markets at relatively competitive rates.
However, international investors should note the firm apparently demands that non residents of Singapore use a CDP Sub-Account with an quarterly maintenance fee of S$20 to hold their Singapore shares. Most other Singapore stock brokers will get non residents to open a personal CDP account, which carries no charges, so it’s hard to understand why CIMB chooses to impose an unnecessary extra cost.
Markets available
| Online trading | Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, USA |
| Telephone trading | As above |
Dealing commissions and charges
| Typical online | min ~S$8-25 |
| Online details | Hong Kong 0.25% (min HK$50), Indonesia 0.4% (min IDR150,000), Malaysia 0.6% (min MYR60) Singapore 0.18-0.275% (min S$25), Thailand 0.4% (min THB500), USA 0.3-0.4% (min US$18-20) |
| Typical telephone | min ~S$12-40 |
| Telephone details | Hong Kong 5% (min HK$75), Indonesia 0.75% (min IDR300,000), Malaysia 0.5-0.75% (min MYR80) Singapore 0.25-0.5% (min S$40), Thailand 0.75% (min THB1,000), USA 0.4-0.55% (min US$25-28) |
Other fees and charges
| Account fees and inactivity fees | None for Singapore residents, S$20 per quarter maintenance fee for CDP Sub-Account for non-residents |
| Custody charges for stocks | Non-Singapore shares custody charges: S$2 per holding per month, if fewer than two trades in month or six trades in quarter (max $150 per quarter) |
| Dividend charges | Non-Singapore shares dividend handling fee of S$3 (credit to CIMB brokerage account), S$5 (direct credit to other bank), S$10 (cheque) |
| Corporate action charges | Cash offer S$10, rights issue/warrant exercise S$30 |
Currencies
| Currency conversion charges | Not stated |
| Hold cash in foreign currencies | Yes |
| Currencies allowed | AUD, GBP, HKD, JPY, MYR, SGD, USD |
Other details
| Tax-advantaged accounts | CPF, SRS |
| Other products and services | None |
| Minimum account size | Npone |
| Company location | Singapore |
| Further information | Go to the CIMB Securities Singapore iTrade website |
Compare CIMB Securities Singapore iTrade with another broker