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Core Pacific – Yamaichi

This Hong Kong brokerage was originally founded in the early 1990s by Taiwan’s Core Pacific Group, now best known internationally for being behind one of the world’s oddest looking shopping malls. It subsequently acquired the Hong Kong operations of Yamaichi Securities – formerly one of the Japanese ‘big four’ brokers – when the latter went bankrupt in 1997, merged with the Hong Kong arm of Taiwan’s Yuanta Securities in 1999 and then got caught up in a lengthy court battle when Core Pacific and Yuanta fell out.

Today, the firm offers trading in most Asian markets and a few others outside the region. However, fees are high and it looks like most investors can get a better deal elsewhere. It’s included in the directory to help with comparisons, but there is no customer feedback available so far.

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BOCI Securities

The international securities arm of Bank of China seems to be a fairly popular choice for online trading of Hong Kong stocks, but I haven’t had any feedback from users who’ve used the fairly extensive list of foreign markets it claims to deal by telephone.

Its website gives absolutely no indication of commission levels, simply saying “Commission rate will be determined and agreed between customer & BOCI Securities”. Some details of custody and other fees are given, but may be unreliable – the claimed custody fees for Malaysia and Thailand are incomprehensibly high.

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UOB Kay Hian

Singapore’s largest stock broker offers a wide range of Asian markets for online and broker-assisted trading. However, I haven’t received much feedback about this firm and my impression when looking for a Singapore stock broking account was that it probably the weakest of all the major Singapore brokers from an international perspective.

The firm doesn’t provide the same amount of information on its services and charges upfront, which is frustrating when trying to compare accounts. Customer service staff tried to be helpful, but seemed less well informed than staff at most of its rivals. Unless you have a particularly compelling reason to favour this firm, international investors looking for a Singapore brokerage account should probably consider OCBC Securities and Phillip Securities first.

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Phillip Capital Singapore

The last big remaining Singapore independent broker after Kim Eng was purchased by Maybank, Phillip Capital offers a wide range of regional markets. Notably, the line-up now includes Sri Lanka, making it the first multimarket stock broker to offer this to retail investors.

Commissions are very competitive and the fund supermarket could also interest anyone looking to invest in Singapore-based mutual funds. The main weakness is that most markets are not available for online trading – OCBC Securities is stronger in this respect, although Phillip is steadily moving more markets to its online system. Overall, Phillip and OCBC currently seem to be the two firms to consider first if you’re looking for a Singapore brokerage account.

If you’re comparing brokerage accounts regionally, be aware that the Singapore firm is run separately from Phillip Securities Hong Kong and the two divisions offer slightly different services. The Singapore arm is probably a better choice for international investors.

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OCBC Securities

OCBC’s online brokerage division is only a few years old, but the firm has developed a strong regional stock broking service very quickly. It offers more markets online than any other Singapore broker and only Phillip Securities rivals it for overall range.

Costs are reasonably low (although it is now charging dividend handling fees on dividends from foreign stocks) and customer service is good. Given the advantages of having a bank and brokerage account with the same group, OCBC is one of my top recommendations for international investors looking to open a bank account and brokerage account in Singapore (although Phillip Securities is also worth considering).

Some investors from outside Asia occasionally assume that OCBC’s full name – Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation – implies the firm is from mainland China or confuse it with ICBC (Industrial and Commercial Bank of China). However, there’s no connection – OCBC is Singapore-based and operates mostly in Southeast Asia.

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Lim & Tan

This smaller Singapore broker offers a wide range of Asian markets for online trading. However, the service is provided by a foreign intermediary – probably Boom Securities in Hong Kong. Hence investors might as well save the extra fees and go directly to Boom.

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Maybank Kim Eng

Singapore-based Kim Eng has been in business for around four decades and you’ll come across clients who’ve been with it almost from the beginning. The firm has a reputation for excellent service at reasonable rates and is clearly good at establishing personal relationships with its customers.

I’ve certainly been impressed when I’ve had any contact with them. The downside is that the service is looking a little limited these days: while it was a pioneer in linking up Asian markets, others now offer more in terms of countries covered and what can be done online.

Hopefully, its recent takeover by Malaysian banking group Maybank will give it the investment and strategic partner to expand. Until then, international investors wanting to cover as much of Asia as possible might be better off with OCBC Securities and Phillip Securities in Singapore or Boom Securities in Hong Kong.

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Polaris Securities

I have received little feedback on this broker. If you would like to add any comments, please email me.

This is the Hong Kong arm of one of Taiwan’s largest stock brokers. While it provides services in English, it seems to be little used by English-speaking international investors.

Polaris offers a wide range of Asian markets, mostly for broker-assisted trading. It’s not especially cheap, but the inclusion of Vietnam is noteworthy – it seems to be the only international multimarket stock broker offering this country.

I understand that to trade in Vietnam you still need to have a local account and unique investor ID, which requires a visit to the country to register in person. From the details provided, it’s unclear whether you still need to have applied for your own account and ID before trading or whether Polaris has managed to get around these restrictions – investors considering using the firm to trade Vietnam will need to get a definitive answer to this before opening an account.

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Phillip Securities Hong Kong

International investors comparing brokerage accounts in Asia should be aware that Phillip Securities Hong Kong and Phillip Capital Singapore seem to be run independently of each other and offer different services.

The Hong Kong arm offers more markets online than the Singapore division, but less markets overall. International investors looking for an offshore account to trade Asian markets may do better through its sister firm or OCBC Securities in Singapore.

However, this is still one of the better multimarket brokers around and worth considering, especially if you need to invest in Japanese markets other than Tokyo which are rarely offered by international retail stock brokers (fellow Hong Kong broker Boom Securities is also worth considering for this purpose).

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Haitong Securities (Taifook Securities)

I have received little feedback on this broker. If you would like to add any comments, please email me.

Formerly known as Taifook Securities, the firm was part of the New World conglomerate, controlled by billionaire Cheng Yu-tung. In 2009, it was bought by the Hong Kong arm of mainland brokerage Haitong Securities and renamed.

The company is a major provider of investment services into Hong Kong shares for mainland residents. Although it offers a good range of international markets, it is not routinely used by international investors.