How Do I Trf Money To E-Trade?

[d_e_s_i]

Hi Guys,

I'm a newbie in investive, earlier i used to trade on a website which was more on foreign exchange trade side and also accepted payment through credit card. However now i have a bit of experience and thought to register with E-Trade. My account is opened, now i have to transfer funds into it right. So i went to kaskorn bank the other day and told them to transfer money into the account etrade provided me, kasikorn first asked me what was the money for? So i said its for Goods, to which they replied they need to see an invoice. So i came clean, i said okay, its for a Stock market website abroad. To which they plainly rejected, they said that Thai national cannot transfer money abroad to buy stocks.

I contacted E-trade to ask them if they knew of any way to do this, but they cannot suggest me anything. However, they said they have a lot of Thai National customer who have accounts with them. I would like to ask if you all know any method of tackle this and tranfer my money to E-trade in Singapore?

Best Regards,

Robin V.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

Let me get this straight - you are a Thai national - you speak Thai, hold a Thai passport etc?

And you are posting here for advice on how to circumvent your government's restrictions on its citizens wrt overseas investment?

I'm sure you can get much better advice talking to your fellow Thais in the legal/financial arenas.

That said, personally, I'd pop over to Singapore with untraceable liquid assets in my pocket, but that may have a higher percentage cost in transactional friction/overhead than what you're looking for. . .

[d_e_s_i]

Let me get this straight - you are a Thai national - you speak Thai, hold a Thai passport etc?

And you are posting here for advice on how to circumvent your government's restrictions on its citizens wrt overseas investment?

I'm sure you can get much better advice talking to your fellow Thais in the legal/financial arenas.

That said, personally, I'd pop over to Singapore with untraceable liquid assets in my pocket, but that may have a higher percentage cost in transactional friction/overhead than what you're looking for. . .

I am Indian by Race, born in Thailand and got my Thai nationality just a few years back. Even i was thinking to open a bank account in Singapore, is it easy to open one for foreigner?

[wana]

Let me get this straight - you are a Thai national - you speak Thai, hold a Thai passport etc?

And you are posting here for advice on how to circumvent your government's restrictions on its citizens wrt overseas investment?

I'm sure you can get much better advice talking to your fellow Thais in the legal/financial arenas.

That said, personally, I'd pop over to Singapore with untraceable liquid assets in my pocket, but that may have a higher percentage cost in transactional friction/overhead than what you're looking for. . .

I am Indian by Race, born in Thailand and got my Thai nationality just a few years back. Even i was thinking to open a bank account in Singapore, is it easy to open one for foreigner?

probably not ,im sure singapore has to comply with the same anti-money laundering laws as the rest of the wiorld

that probably means you need a reason for opening the account as well as all the appropriate documentation

[kerryk]

No problem opening an account in Singapore. I had one for years and I am not a Singapore national. Best to talk to the banks and not the looney toons troops here on Thai Visa.

[wana]

No problem opening an account in Singapore. I had one for years and I am not a Singapore national. Best to talk to the banks and not the looney toons troops here on Thai Visa.

anti money laundering laws probably hadnt been invented at that time

[nietzche]

I've had an E-trade account for around 10 years. Do a wire transfer. What the hell does you're bank have to do with where you transfer money to??? I do wire transfers between U.S accounts and Thai accounts on a regular basis. If they ask you what it's for, tell them to shut the f*#k up and process the dam transfer!

On another note, if you could not figure out a solution to this problem by yourself, I don't think you should be trading stocks in the first place.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

I've had an E-trade account for around 10 years. Do a wire transfer. What the hell does you're bank have to do with where you transfer money to??? I do wire transfers between U.S accounts and Thai accounts on a regular basis. If they ask you what it's for, tell them to shut the f*#k up and process the dam transfer!

That's absolute <deleted> wrt outbound transfers. As a foreigner inbound is never a problem, the Thai government has no interest in where you made your money outside the country.

However for outbound overseas transfers you have to either prove that the money you're sending out was brought in from outside the country, or you have to justify the amount and what it's for, and they may or may not approve the transaction depending on the amount in relation to your legal income here.

If you have normal family/personal expenses overseas, and you're sending regular payments that are a reasonable fraction of your income, no problem.

Otherwise the government doesn't allow the outbound transfers, it could after all be an attempt at money laundering, or evidence that you've been engaging in illegal activities here, even if only working without a permit.

Welcome to the modern world.

WRT Thai nationals they are not allowed to invest overseas, although that of course only affects those that can't afford expensive lawyers or physically carrying untraceable assets themselves.

I am Indian by Race, born in Thailand and got my Thai nationality just a few years back. Even i was thinking to open a bank account in Singapore, is it easy to open one for foreigner?

Don't you have wealthy relations or business contacts you can ask for direct advice based on their experience? You'll probably find they have relatives in Singapore that can help you.

On another note, if you could not figure out a solution to this problem by yourself, I don't think you should be trading stocks in the first place.

I'll agree with that.

Edited April 23, 2012 by BigJohnnyBKK

[nietzche]

I've had an E-trade account for around 10 years. Do a wire transfer. What the hell does you're bank have to do with where you transfer money to??? I do wire transfers between U.S accounts and Thai accounts on a regular basis. If they ask you what it's for, tell them to shut the f*#k up and process the dam transfer!

That's absolute <deleted> wrt outbound transfers. As a foreigner inbound is never a problem, the Thai government has no interest in where you made your money outside the country.

However for outbound overseas transfers you have to either prove that the money you're sending out was brought in from outside the country, or you have to justify the amount and what it's for, and they may or may not approve the transaction depending on the amount in relation to your legal income here.

If you have normal family/personal expenses overseas, and you're sending regular payments that are a reasonable fraction of your income, no problem.

Otherwise the government doesn't allow the outbound transfers, it could after all be an attempt at money laundering, or evidence that you've been engaging in illegal activities here, even if only working without a permit.

Welcome to the modern world.

WRT Thai nationals they are not allowed to invest overseas, although that of course only affects those that can't afford expensive lawyers or physically carrying untraceable assets themselves.

I am Indian by Race, born in Thailand and got my Thai nationality just a few years back. Even i was thinking to open a bank account in Singapore, is it easy to open one for foreigner?

Don't you have wealthy relations or business contacts you can ask for direct advice based on their experience? You'll probably find they have relatives in Singapore that can help you.

On another note, if you could not figure out a solution to this problem by yourself, I don't think you should be trading stocks in the first place.

I'll agree with that.

Make inbound wire transfers on a monthly basis. Never said I made outbound. Regardless, I was not aware that you could not make outbound transfers????

On another note, who the hell is making enough money in this country to transfer money out??

This place is a cost zone only from my experience.

[h90]

I've had an E-trade account for around 10 years. Do a wire transfer. What the hell does you're bank have to do with where you transfer money to??? I do wire transfers between U.S accounts and Thai accounts on a regular basis. If they ask you what it's for, tell them to shut the f*#k up and process the dam transfer!

On another note, if you could not figure out a solution to this problem by yourself, I don't think you should be trading stocks in the first place.

We are a company and on every outbound money transfer they need the invoice, to prevent money laundry. Once they even asked us month later for the shipping documents of the good we purchased.

Which is f#@$ing ridiculous and a lot of the payments were just 100-200 USD. And you brake that system with the small finger and a printer if you have an IQ over 75.

The law is the same if you transfer 50 USD or 40.000 (didn't try higher amounts yet). Common sense would say make it easy up to a given amount. Say 5000 USD.

You can easily do everything per paypal or credit card without restrictions, just when you enter the bank you make a time-warp and be back in the 1940s....

At the same time there are records of Thai politicians that go with 10 bags full of money with their diplomatic passport to Singapore....

[h90]

No problem opening an account in Singapore. I had one for years and I am not a Singapore national. Best to talk to the banks and not the looney toons troops here on Thai Visa.

I don't know for Singapore first hand, but as it is the center for Asian money laundry there are either not much laws or they are ignored if rich enough.

[nietzche]

I've had an E-trade account for around 10 years. Do a wire transfer. What the hell does you're bank have to do with where you transfer money to??? I do wire transfers between U.S accounts and Thai accounts on a regular basis. If they ask you what it's for, tell them to shut the f*#k up and process the dam transfer!

On another note, if you could not figure out a solution to this problem by yourself, I don't think you should be trading stocks in the first place.

We are a company and on every outbound money transfer they need the invoice, to prevent money laundry. Once they even asked us month later for the shipping documents of the good we purchased.

Which is f#@$ing ridiculous and a lot of the payments were just 100-200 USD. And you brake that system with the small finger and a printer if you have an IQ over 75.

The law is the same if you transfer 50 USD or 40.000 (didn't try higher amounts yet). Common sense would say make it easy up to a given amount. Say 5000 USD.

You can easily do everything per paypal or credit card without restrictions, just when you enter the bank you make a time-warp and be back in the 1940s....

At the same time there are records of Thai politicians that go with 10 bags full of money with their diplomatic passport to Singapore....

That is absolutely ridiculous! Why do the smallest things here require monumental effort? This must be an absolute nightmare for business!

[kerryk]

I've had an E-trade account for around 10 years. Do a wire transfer. What the hell does you're bank have to do with where you transfer money to??? I do wire transfers between U.S accounts and Thai accounts on a regular basis. If they ask you what it's for, tell them to shut the f*#k up and process the dam transfer!

On another note, if you could not figure out a solution to this problem by yourself, I don't think you should be trading stocks in the first place.

We are a company and on every outbound money transfer they need the invoice, to prevent money laundry. Once they even asked us month later for the shipping documents of the good we purchased.

Which is f#@$ing ridiculous and a lot of the payments were just 100-200 USD. And you brake that system with the small finger and a printer if you have an IQ over 75.

The law is the same if you transfer 50 USD or 40.000 (didn't try higher amounts yet). Common sense would say make it easy up to a given amount. Say 5000 USD.

You can easily do everything per paypal or credit card without restrictions, just when you enter the bank you make a time-warp and be back in the 1940s....

At the same time there are records of Thai politicians that go with 10 bags full of money with their diplomatic passport to Singapore....

That is absolutely ridiculous! Why do the smallest things here require monumental effort? This must be an absolute nightmare for business!

Are you talking about getting a simple question answered on Thai Visa? If so I agree with you. I think I am the only one on the thread that ever had a bank account in Singapore and I got flamed for mentioning the fact that perhaps one should have some knowledge of Singapore banking before posting about it. There are Singapore bank accounts and offshore bank accounts in Singapore. There are banks from other countries in Singapore also. I opened up my bank account in Singapore with an Australian bank who has an office in Bangkok. Sure it is a private bank but if you have any cash private banks offer better service.

[nietzche]

I've had an E-trade account for around 10 years. Do a wire transfer. What the hell does you're bank have to do with where you transfer money to??? I do wire transfers between U.S accounts and Thai accounts on a regular basis. If they ask you what it's for, tell them to shut the f*#k up and process the dam transfer!

On another note, if you could not figure out a solution to this problem by yourself, I don't think you should be trading stocks in the first place.

We are a company and on every outbound money transfer they need the invoice, to prevent money laundry. Once they even asked us month later for the shipping documents of the good we purchased.

Which is f#@$ing ridiculous and a lot of the payments were just 100-200 USD. And you brake that system with the small finger and a printer if you have an IQ over 75.

The law is the same if you transfer 50 USD or 40.000 (didn't try higher amounts yet). Common sense would say make it easy up to a given amount. Say 5000 USD.

You can easily do everything per paypal or credit card without restrictions, just when you enter the bank you make a time-warp and be back in the 1940s....

At the same time there are records of Thai politicians that go with 10 bags full of money with their diplomatic passport to Singapore....

That is absolutely ridiculous! Why do the smallest things here require monumental effort? This must be an absolute nightmare for business!

Are you talking about getting a simple question answered on Thai Visa? If so I agree with you. I think I am the only one on the thread that ever had a bank account in Singapore and I got flamed for mentioning the fact that perhaps one should have some knowledge of Singapore banking before posting about it. There are Singapore bank accounts and offshore bank accounts in Singapore. There are banks from other countries in Singapore also. I opened up my bank account in Singapore with an Australian bank who has an office in Bangkok. Sure it is a private bank but if you have any cash private banks offer better service.

It's a "forum", what do you expect? If you want a straight answer quick, go to yahoo answers. The discussion and the beating about the bush is what makes a forum useful by providing additional information.

[connda]

Actually this is an interesting topic.

What if you are a farang who retired here, and then decided to go home for whatever reasons. You want to take your assets with you including the 800K in your bank account to fund your visa. Is what I'm hearing is that the Thai government will not allow you to move your own money back to your home country via SWIFT transfer?

[connda]

Yeah...I'm sure Taskin and the other folk in the Thai elite 1% club have no foreign investments. Interesting how laws are made for the 99%. It's pretty universal.

[wana]

Actually this is an interesting topic.

What if you are a farang who retired here, and then decided to go home for whatever reasons. You want to take your assets with you including the 800K in your bank account to fund your visa. Is what I'm hearing is that the Thai government will not allow you to move your own money back to your home country via SWIFT transfer?

its at the managers discretion if transactions over 10,000 or 20,000 are allowed to proceed or not

but you can bring in MILLIONS and nobody cares

[nietzche]

Actually this is an interesting topic.

What if you are a farang who retired here, and then decided to go home for whatever reasons. You want to take your assets with you including the 800K in your bank account to fund your visa. Is what I'm hearing is that the Thai government will not allow you to move your own money back to your home country via SWIFT transfer?

its at the managers discretion if transactions over 10,000 or 20,000 are allowed to proceed or not

but you can bring in MILLIONS and nobody cares

I'm shocked!

[wana]

Actually this is an interesting topic.

What if you are a farang who retired here, and then decided to go home for whatever reasons. You want to take your assets with you including the 800K in your bank account to fund your visa. Is what I'm hearing is that the Thai government will not allow you to move your own money back to your home country via SWIFT transfer?

its at the managers discretion if transactions over 10,000 or 20,000 are allowed to proceed or not

but you can bring in MILLIONS and nobody cares

I'm shocked!

Welcome to Thailand !

[kerryk]

Actually this is an interesting topic.

What if you are a farang who retired here, and then decided to go home for whatever reasons.  You want to take your assets with you including the 800K in your bank account to fund your visa.  Is what I'm hearing is that the Thai government will not allow you to move your own money back to your home country via SWIFT transfer?

its at the managers discretion if transactions over 10,000 or 20,000 are allowed to proceed or not

but you can bring in MILLIONS  and nobody cares

I'm shocked!

You believe Wana?

[nietzche]

Actually this is an interesting topic.

What if you are a farang who retired here, and then decided to go home for whatever reasons. You want to take your assets with you including the 800K in your bank account to fund your visa. Is what I'm hearing is that the Thai government will not allow you to move your own money back to your home country via SWIFT transfer?

its at the managers discretion if transactions over 10,000 or 20,000 are allowed to proceed or not

but you can bring in MILLIONS and nobody cares

I'm shocked!

You believe Wana?

I believe everything everyone says all the time....

[lifeisthefun]

Here you go. I had a similar question a few days ago and asked E*Trade help directly:

Thank you for your message regarding wiring funds in to your E*Trade account.

Please be advised that you can wire funds directly from your local bank to your account with E*Trade. International wires are directed through an intermediary bank. To submit your wire, please take the following information to your local bank:

The Bank of New York

One Wall Street

New York, NY 10286

Swift Code: irvtus3n

Routing Number: 021000018

FBO: E*TRADE Clearing

Account Number: 890 034 6256

The account number listed above is E*Trade's account with the intermediary bank. You will also need to list your personal account number as ET*deleted*. Please also include your name and address as they appear on your E*Trade account.

Sincerely,

Greg Sutton

M-F 7:00a-3:30p ET

1-800-ETRADE-1 (1-800-387-2331)

Senior Financial Services Representative

E*TRADE Securities, LLC

[Falcon]

Hi,

An easy alternative is to see if the e-trade company accepts payment via Liberty reserve payment. If so, all you need to do is to open a LR account and use an exchanger that accepts bank deposit machine payment in Thailand - there are 2 that I know of that are reliable and both have Kasikorn accounts to accept deposits in to, one is based in Malaysia and the other in Singapore. Once the money is in LR, simply transfer the money from your LR account to the e-trade companies who will then credit your e-trade account accordingly. Doing it this way there is no repoting requirements to anyone in thailand and after all, what people dont know they cant complain or talk about!

Hope it helps,

Falcon

[gregb]

First, OP, you need to understand that you are not allowed to do what you are trying to do. It is not legal for you to fund an overseas investment account. The Thai government only allows you to use domestic brokerages. If you can't find the equity you want in a domestic brokerage, then that equity is considered inappropriate for you.

A simple way around the problem, and one that many people use, is to open an account at Acleda Bank in Poipet, Cambodia. You are legally allowed to carry 500,000 baht in cash across the border, which you deposit in your Cambodian account. From there, you can fund your E-trade account. You make as many trips across the border at Aranyaprathet as is required, each trip funding 500,000 baht.

Please understand that if the government allowed you to do what you are trying to do, nobody would use the Thai firms. Everyone would use E-Trade. Then how would all the financial moguls in Thailand get money to buy their rice and Lamborghinis?

No. If you want to do this, you need to work around the law. Singapore is obviously great for banking, but as you can only carry 100,000 baht to that country, and you have to pay for an expensive airline ticket to get there, it isn't a practical way for most Thais to move money out of the country if all their money is already in the country. Cambodia, however, is quick and cheap.

If that doesn't work for you, you can head down to Bangkok and use an Indian money changer to change THB into USD. I know for sure you can take $20k USD out of the country without a problem, although someone told me that limit was simultaneously raised to $50k when they changed the reporting requirements at the bank. Anyway, with USD you can carry slightly more and aren't limited to border countries.

Edited April 23, 2012 by gregb

[farang000999]

Desi,

It is very simple. You will need to get your address stamped by the Ministry of Foriegn Affairs and take other documents to confirm your address and identity. Then you get a plane ticket to Singapore or Hong Kong or Macau or cross into Cambodia. You are a gambler getting ready to lose the family fortune at the slot machines. And you do! Every single vacation! It all gets lost into your offshore bank account.

[farang000999]

Don't forget to max out the ATM withdrawals for the baccarat table.

[flying]

Actually this is an interesting topic.

What if you are a farang who retired here, and then decided to go home for whatever reasons. You want to take your assets with you including the 800K in your bank account to fund your visa. Is what I'm hearing is that the Thai government will not allow you to move your own money back to your home country via SWIFT transfer?

its at the managers discretion if transactions over 10,000 or 20,000 are allowed to proceed or not

but you can bring in MILLIONS and nobody cares

This is not strictly true

Whenever you transfer 20K plus into Thailand you should for your own sake go to the bank

& retrieve the FET form that shows you brought it in from outside Thailand.

At anytime thereafter if you decide to leave (and if you have any $$ Left ) and want to transfer your money back out of Thailand

you need to show the FET proving that amount was brought in from outside.

Edited April 23, 2012 by flying

[afrodite]

I'm in Vietnam and whenever I have to send money abroad, I fabricate my own invoices. Very easy to do. The logo's of the receivers are usually easily to get online. Banks really don't give a &^^$&^*, they just want to cover their own asses. Of course I would only make this suggestion if such fabricating actions are legal in your country.

Something tells me that you're not to worried about my disclaimer :-) U used your credit card to make illegal investments!

But for gods sake man! Do you really want to use E-Trade? I know you didn't ask for any advice on the matter and I do not know how much money or what you want to trade, but E-trade is often not the best nor the cheapest brokerage solution out their. A Google search for websites that compare brokerages can save you lots of money.

Good luck with your trading.

PS Vietnamese banks give 12% per year on term deposit accounts starting from 1 month. The VND hasn't moved against the USD in the last 6 months.

Edited April 24, 2012 by afrodite

[connda]

Actually this is an interesting topic.

What if you are a farang who retired here, and then decided to go home for whatever reasons. You want to take your assets with you including the 800K in your bank account to fund your visa. Is what I'm hearing is that the Thai government will not allow you to move your own money back to your home country via SWIFT transfer?

its at the managers discretion if transactions over 10,000 or 20,000 are allowed to proceed or not

but you can bring in MILLIONS and nobody cares

This is not strictly true

Whenever you transfer 20K plus into Thailand you should for your own sake go to the bank

& retrieve the FET form that shows you brought it in from outside Thailand.

At anytime thereafter if you decide to leave (and if you have any $$ Left ) and want to transfer your money back out of Thailand

you need to show the FET proving that amount was brought in from outside.

I have records of all my bank transfers in. Can I assume that can be used to prove the money was not "earned" in Thailand? And I'm not sure what an FET is? What do the letters stand for? It's not my plan to ever leave here (I consider it home now), but one never knows what the future will bring.

Edited April 26, 2012 by connda

[wana]

Actually this is an interesting topic.

What if you are a farang who retired here, and then decided to go home for whatever reasons. You want to take your assets with you including the 800K in your bank account to fund your visa. Is what I'm hearing is that the Thai government will not allow you to move your own money back to your home country via SWIFT transfer?

its at the managers discretion if transactions over 10,000 or 20,000 are allowed to proceed or not

but you can bring in MILLIONS and nobody cares

This is not strictly true

Whenever you transfer 20K plus into Thailand you should for your own sake go to the bank

& retrieve the FET form that shows you brought it in from outside Thailand.

At anytime thereafter if you decide to leave (and if you have any $$ Left ) and want to transfer your money back out of Thailand

you need to show the FET proving that amount was brought in from outside.

i transfered in several million a few times and it ppears on my bank book as a international transfer from another country

i would have thought that this alone would be proof enough to allow me to transfer at least that much out (+ any interest accumulated on that much )

of course ,TIT ,so if theres any loophole to mess you about ,they will probably use it so id have no objections to taking it all out in bkk and changing it to EUROS and leaving the country with that