Harris Blows an Easy Interview, Trump Pounces: She is Just Joe Biden Redux

[fishbrando]

FYI:

http://finance.yahoo.com/video/fidelity-bans-u-investors-overseas-152702510.html

Fidelity Investments and other asset managers are telling U.S. clients who live outside the country that they can no longer buy or trade mutual funds in their brokerage accounts.

[nahkbin]

I got my notice from Fidelity the day before yesterday.

Makes no sense at all. One would think they would be happy to have overseas investors.

[Suradit69]

Some mutual fund companies have been banning it for years. Too much hassle and potential for even more hassle. Usually can be circumvented by having an account address in the US.

Joint Final Rule:
Customer Identification Programs for Mutual Funds SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

17 CFR Part 270

[Release No. IC-26031; File No. S7-26-02]

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

31 CFR Part 103

RIN 1506-AA33

Customer Identification Programs for Mutual Funds

AGENCIES: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, Treasury; Securities and Exchange Commission.

ACTION: Joint final rule.

SUMMARY: The Department of the Treasury, through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), and the Securities and Exchange Commission are jointly adopting a final rule to implement section 326 of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act of 2001 (the Act). Section 326 requires the Secretary of the Treasury (the Secretary or Treasury) to jointly prescribe with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission or SEC) a regulation that, at a minimum, requires investment companies to implement procedures to verify the identity of any person seeking to open an account, to the extent reasonable and practicable; to maintain records of the information used to verify the person's identity; and to determine whether the person appears on any lists of known or suspected terrorists or terrorist organizations provided to investment companies by any government agency. This final regulation applies to investment companies that are mutual funds.

DATES: Effective Date: June 9, 2003.

Compliance Date: Each mutual fund must comply with this final rule by October 1, 2003. Section I.D. contains additional information concerning the compliance date for the final rule.

Edited July 3, 2014 by Suradit69

[Thailand J]

Just that you can't put new money into mutual funds. You can still buy stocks and ETF's. Is that right?

Also Fidelity is not closing oversea customers' accounts, not asking oversea customers to sell anything.

All that I need to do now is to update my options what to do with the devidends and capital gains. I can handle that just hope it doesnt get worse soon.

[keeniau96]

Forget about Fidelity and go with Charles Schwab. Better in just about every respect from brokerage through banking biz. A significant item for expats is their no-fee ATM biz, meaning they will refund the charges you incur here in Thailand.

[inzman]

Forget about Fidelity and go with Charles Schwab. Better in just about every respect from brokerage through banking biz. A significant item for expats is their no-fee ATM biz, meaning they will refund the charges you incur here in Thailand.

Fidelity also reimburses ATM fees.

[Suradit69]

I've had an account with Vanguard for decades. They transfer money to my Thai bank account via the New York branch of Bangkok Bank without charge.

I now use a primary US address for Vanguard although they know I'm in Thailand, they accept collect calls from me in Thailand and they call me using my Thai mobile phone. I used my Thai address as a secondary address on the account for awhile. Since these days I do everything online and nothing is ever sent by snail mail, I don't remember whether that address is still in my profile.

I use the account for stocks, CEFs and ETFs. Haven't bought any mutual funds aside from money market funds in a long time, but a few times in the past when I did buy non-Vanguage mutual funds for my Vanguard account, a few rejected my purchase because I had a foreign address.

Apparently a lot of terrorists want to buy US mutual funds??

[CaptHaddock]

Probably unrelated to terrorism, Patriot Act, etc. By servicing foreign clients brokerage firms expose themselves to the possibility of regulation by foreign governments for which the costs of compliance are likely to outweigh the benefits of carrying the accounts. Most firms, formerly including Fidelity, have taken a "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Now, for some reason, they have decided to be more proactive in denying certain services to foreign account holders.

Although Vanguard, Schwab, and probably others have so far not followed Fidelity's lead they might decide to do so at any time in the future without warning. Therefore, the best policy is to provide the brokerage firms with only a US mailing address and US phone number and not to do money transfers directly to a bank in Thailand even if it is currently permitted. It is far better to transfer money from the broker to a US bank and thence to Thailand. Also good to have more than one brokerage firm and more than one bank that offers the necessary services.

If you currently have a Schwab account, good for you. If not you may well be asked to prove that your physical address is in the US before they will let you open an account.

[Jingthing]

This majorly freaks me out being a current Fidelity customer with a significant account. In fact I started another thread about this before. I knew it was a big change based on the logging in WARNINGS when going to their site from outside the USA. Basically, GO AWAY, we don't want your business. A bit awkward when they've had your business for decades. Disgusting, actually!

Edited July 4, 2014 by Jingthing

[CaptHaddock]

Understandable reaction. Thirty-five years with Fido myself. Things change. I got the letter, too, and have already transferred my accounts there to another brokerage firm where I already had accounts. If you are eligible to open accounts at USAA Federal (basically through a military connection) they might be a good choice since their demographic, active service military, is unavoidably international already.

This majorly freaks me out being a current Fidelity customer with a significant account. In fact I started another thread about this before. I knew it was a big change based on the logging in WARNINGS when going to their site from outside the USA. Basically, GO AWAY, we don't want your business. A bit awkward when they've had your business for decades. Disgusting, actually!

Edited July 4, 2014 by CaptHaddock

[NanLaew]

This majorly freaks me out being a current Fidelity customer with a significant account. In fact I started another thread about this before. I knew it was a big change based on the logging in WARNINGS when going to their site from outside the USA. Basically, GO AWAY, we don't want your business. A bit awkward when they've had your business for decades. Disgusting, actually!

VPN is your friend.

[Jingthing]

This majorly freaks me out being a current Fidelity customer with a significant account. In fact I started another thread about this before. I knew it was a big change based on the logging in WARNINGS when going to their site from outside the USA. Basically, GO AWAY, we don't want your business. A bit awkward when they've had your business for decades. Disgusting, actually!

VPN is your friend.

Yes I have a tactic in place now (not VPN) but keep in mind they can DETECT VPN (if they cared to) so I would say there is always a risk of frozen accounts in such cases.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Yes I have a tactic in place now (not VPN) but keep in mind they can DETECT VPN (if they cared to) so I would say there is always a risk of frozen accounts in such cases.

Sometime back, I started using that for all of my online financial account transactions, across a wide range of providers. And I've yet to have a single problem with it.

The only time I've had any problems is when I, through mistake or carelessness, have NOT logged-in that way. I think it's absolutely the best and the safest way to go... that is, using a VPN that matches your U.S. address.

----------------------------

As for the broader thread, I'm not a Fidelity customer...but, as I understand it, their advisory ONLY relates to new mutual fund transactions. Not to buying or selling stocks. And not to holding onto existing holdings. And not requiring that anyone close their accounts.

AFAIK, there's been restrictions in the brokerage industry for some time against people outside the U.S. using those accounts to buy U.S. mutual funds.... There's some tax or SEC reason for that. I can't recall the detail. But I believe it's been in place for some time, and not just with Fidelity.

That's part of the reason I've always strongly recommended that people keep their financial accounts, whether bank or brokerage, based in the U.S. with a U.S. address of record -- and not go the seemingly easier route of listing a Thailand or other non-U.S. address.

BTW, here's a mention of the issue of U.S. mutual fund purchases for those overseas, from more than a year ago.

I think the main issue behind the bar on U.S. mutual fund purchases by those overseas is -- securities rules that prevent cross-border marketing of U.S.-registered mutual funds.

Can't Invest Overseas, Can't Invest at Home Either

If that weren't enough, U.S. expat investors increasingly are also prevented from purchasing many U.S.-based investment products. Under pressure from compliance departments to conform with various aspects of the Patriot Act, anti-money-laundering legislation, and securities rules that prevent cross-border marketing of U.S.-registered mutual funds, U.S.-based brokers have been making a distinction between resident Americans and non-resident Americans. Overseas Americans face difficulty in opening new accounts, and those with existing accounts are being shut out from buying the U.S.-domiciled mutual funds that resident Americans can purchase.

http://crevelingandcreveling.com/blog-list/165-american-expats-investing-without-a-private-banker.html

Also, if you view the WSJ reporter video linked in the OP, she specifically says Fidelity is:

--not closing overseas Americans accounts

--that the overseas mutual funds buying prohibition does NOT apply to buying stocks or ETFs

--existing overseas customers can continue to hold their existing mutual fund investments.

Edited July 5, 2014 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I've had an account with Vanguard for decades. They transfer money to my Thai bank account via the New York branch of Bangkok Bank without charge.

Schwab reimburses foreign ATM fees, and so does Fidelity, for their brokerage account holders. And neither charge foreign currency fees on ATM withdrawals using their debit cards.

Unfortunately, when I checked with Vanguard recently, they had quite high balance requirements in order to qualify for their perk of ATM fee reimbursements.

And the kicker was, their criteria for meeting that threshhold ONLY was based on the value of your VANGUARD fund holdings. You could have $500,000 in stock or other non-Vanguard holding in your Vanguard account, and that wouldn't meet their criteria for ATM fee reimbursements.

I know their funds have among the best, or the best, commission rates. But the ATM fee reimbursements is an important criteria for me (and I'm not a big mutual funds buyer). So I gave Vanguard a pass.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Here's a Bloomberg article on the Fidelity issue, and it includes the following:

Boston-based Fidelity informed about 60,000 customers, or about 0.3 percent of account holders, of the change in a letter, Stephen Austin, a spokesman, said today in a telephone interview. The clients won’t be forced to sell existing holdings and will still be allowed to reinvest dividends in their funds.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-01/fidelity-blocks-overseas-clients-from-buying-mutual-funds.html

Edited July 5, 2014 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[rak sa_ngop]

Fidelity in the UK has not allowed non-residents of the UK from buying any funds through them for a number of years now.

Even selling shares through a UK brokers is almost impossible unless you have a curent UK address. Even if the address on the share certificate is a UK address they will not sell for you.

One solution is to open an account with a share trading bank outside the UK and transfer the shares to a nominee account and then sell.

Sent from my GT-I9003 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[partington]

Fidelity in the UK has not allowed non-residents of the UK from buying any funds through them for a number of years now.

Even selling shares through a UK brokers is almost impossible unless you have a curent UK address. Even if the address on the share certificate is a UK address they will not sell for you.

One solution is to open an account with a share trading bank outside the UK and transfer the shares to a nominee account and then sell.

Sent from my GT-I9003 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Not so.

I opened an account with Charles Stanley in the UK in 2011 from Thailand with a Thai address.

I sent them a share certificate as part of opening the account . I have also bought and sold 8 or 10 different unit trusts and funds during this period with no problem, the last time in February this year.

One thing I do not know is if it is still possible to open a new account with them now, in 2014, as restrictions to expatriates opening accounts seem to crop up every few months nowadays.