Markets: USA

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HSBC Hong Kong

The default stock broking service offered by HSBC in Hong Kong covers online trading in local and US equities and a small number of other major global markets by phone. Rates for international stocks are not competitive withe best best international brokers operating in Hong Kong. Details below are based on this service.

The group also has a local securities operation that offers a wider range of markets. This is clearly aimed at wealthy clients, but firm does not provide much information on minimum account sizes and fees – it may be worth investigating for investors with larger accounts.  If you’ve used this service and can provide some more information on terms and costs, feel free to send some feedback via the contact form.

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CIMB Securities Singapore iTrade

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.

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AmFraser Securities

The former Fraser Securities, one of Singapore’s oldest stock brokers, was bought out by Malaysia’s AmBank Group in 2006. It now provides international trading for Malaysia and the USA, plus apparently Indonesia through its local associate AmCapital.

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DMG & Partners

A joint venture between Deutsche Bank and Malaysian financial services group OSK, DMG & Partners offers online trading in Singapore and three overseas markets: Malaysia, Hong Kong and the USA. Rates for these markets are competitive with most of the other Singapore stock brokers, but many of those other brokers offer a wider range of other markets as well, giving you greater flexibility.

Applications from non-residents are apparently accepted, but for international investors a provider such as OCBC Securities or Phillip Securities is probably a more useful choice in Singapore.

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Citibank Singapore Brokerage

The Singapore division of this multinational bank offers online trading for Singapore, the USA and now Hong Kong. The S$18 minimum commission for Singapore trades was previously the lowest available, but has now been beaten by Standard Chartered’s offer of no minimum commission. Rates for the USA are high given that it’s Citibank’s home market.

Applications from non-residents will apparently not be accepted, but the service would be unlikely to interest many international investors in any case.

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Standard Chartered Bank Securities Trading

International banking group Standard Chartered has never previously been noted for a strong interest in retail stock trading, but it entered the online trading market in Singapore in mid 2011 with what may prove to be quite a disruptive product. The new service has highly competitive rates compared with other Singapore brokers and – even more significantly – has absolutely no minimum commission on trades, making it very cost effective for smaller investors.

The range of international markets available is somewhat different to most Singapore brokers – instead of focusing on regional markets, concentrates on the major global venues. However, one notable addition is the Osaka Stock Exchange, offered by relatively few discount brokers outside Japan.

There are also no inactivity fees, custodian fees, dividend handling fees and corporate action fees, which are common for foreign stocks in Singapore. On the downside, the currency conversion charges seems to be higher than most other local stock brokers – users report a margin of around 2% on even relatively liquid currencies.

Most Singapore stock brokers welcome clients from almost anywhere in the world, but in this case it’s not clear whether Standard Chartered is willing to accept applications from non-residents. If any readers have received a definitive answer to this, please let me know through the contact form.

The lower rates for Priority Banking customers listed below require an account balance of S$200,000 or housing loans of S$1,000,000.

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HSBC UK InvestDirect Plus

While HSBC has done a reasonable job of bringing together its international banking operations to provide a more useful service for people who need accounts around the world, the same cannot be said for its stockbroking operations. The group offers services under the InvestDirect banner in a number of countries, but what’s on offer in each case differs wildly, with some being far more useful than others.

The UK offering is one of the least useful, in contrast to the extremely wide-ranging Canadian one (which is open only to Canadian residents). Not only does it offer just two markets – the UK and the US – it does so at relatively uncompetitive rates and with a striking lack of coordination.

The basic InvestDirect account, which only trades UK shares, can be linked to a current account, but the InvestDirect Plus account – which adds the ability to trade the US – requires a separate sterling cash account, which needs to funded for each trade (there’s no option to debit your current account directly). Investors can apparently also have euro and dollar denominated accounts to settle trades in those currencies.

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Finasta

Temporary note: As of November 2011, Finasta’s parent company Snoras has been nationalised by the Lithuanian authorities amid allegations of fraud and seems likely to be wound up. Finasta says it is operationally and legally separate from Snoras, will continue to operate as usual and is expecting to be sold as a going concern to a new investor. This entry will be updated with more information when the outcome becomes clearer.

Finasta is the investment and brokerage arm of Lithuanian banking group Snoras. Among other services, it offers online stock trading for a large number of markets in Eastern Europe and beyond at relatively low rates in many cases.

We don’t have any experience of using this firm or comments from other feedback yet. It’s included in the directory because it may be of interest to investors looking to invest in this region, alongside firms such as Brokerjet, Orion Securities and Swissquote. If you have any feedback, you can send us an email using the contact form.

In terms of likely investor security, while Lithuania is not a top-tier financial centre, it is a regulated market and Finasta is overseen by Securities Commission. Lithuania is a member of the European Union and has implemented the EU directive on minimum investor compensation standards, which means that the Deposit and Investment Insurance Fund provides protection of up to €20,000.

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Orion Securities

Orion Securities is a reasonably well-known investment bank and stock brokerage in Lithuania. The firm offers online stock trading for the Baltics, plus broker-assisted trading for a large number of other markets – most significantly, it covers much of Eastern Europe and rates on many are reasonably low.

We don’t have any experience of using this firm or comments from other feedback yet. It’s included in the directory because it may be of interest to investors looking to invest in this region, alongside firms such as Brokerjet, Finasta and Swissquote. If you have any feedback, you can send us an email using the contact form.

In terms of likely investor security, while Lithuania is not a top-tier financial centre, it is a regulated market and Orion is overseen by Securities Commission. Lithuania is a member of the European Union and has implemented the EU directive on minimum investor compensation standards, which means that the Deposit and Investment Insurance Fund provides protection of up to €20,000.

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Swissquote

Switzerland’s leading discount brokerage offers a reasonable range of North American and European markets for online trading and a far larger number for broker-assisted trades. As far as I know, it’s the only retail-orientated brokerage in Europe that offers markets such as Brazil or Japan’s Osaka Stock Exchange (as opposed to the more widely traded Tokyo exchange) – although Daniel Stewart, a UK institutional firm that accepts private clients, can also access these and more, while the Hong Kong-based Boom Securities and Phillip Securities are other cheaper alternatives for Japan.

The main drawback is the fees. Minimum commissions on the broker-assisted markets are so high that they are unrealistic for most retail investors. This may be understandable, since they will be traded via intermediaries. However, even the online markets are not cheap – you will do better through many other discount brokers.

However, there is no minimum account size and admin fees don’t look unbearable. So if you’re aiming to make a handful of long-term investments of at least US$5,000-10,000 each in some of the more inaccessible markets it offers, Swissquote could be worth a look. Feedback on everything except fees has generally been good.

The Hong Kong and Singapore stock brokers may be alternatives for Asia, while Brokerjet, Finasta and Orion Securities may be worth considering for Eastern Europe.