Investing in global shares from thailand

[ghworker2010]

If I were to send over some cash from the nanny state to thailand, are there any banks here that have links to trading International equities? Back home I can trade global shares via my retail bank where I have my savings account etc.

Or should I open up a usd bank account in Hong kong or Singapore and do it there? I would wait until the aud/usd rate improves of course.

Are there any options in bkk to open a usd account and then trade global shares?

[ghworker2010]

Ive done a bit of digging and found that KTB have a share trading arm called 'KT-Zmico'. Has anyone ever used them?

[AyG]

You can do it from Thailand through Phillips POEMS - http://www.poems.in.th However, simpler to keep such things offshore in my opinion.

Not sure why you'd want to open a USD bank account to facilitate trading in Hong Kong or Singapore. You can hold cash within your brokerage account. A separate bank account just complicates things.

Personally, I prefer Luxembourg to either HK or Singapore. TD International there is good and cheap. http://int.tddirectinvesting.com/

[AyG]

Ive done a bit of digging and found that KTB have a share trading arm called 'KT-Zmico'. Has anyone ever used them?

From their website: "Starting January 1st, 2016, KT ZMICO will terminate our service in USA, UK, Germany, Canada and Australia markets."

[dsurin66]

Some options in Bkk are Maybank Kimeng, Phillip, SCBS, Nomura, Finansia Syrus etc.

[stbkk]

You can do it from Thailand through Phillips POEMS - http://www.poems.in.th However, simpler to keep such things offshore in my opinion.

Not sure why you'd want to open a USD bank account to facilitate trading in Hong Kong or Singapore. You can hold cash within your brokerage account. A separate bank account just complicates things.

Personally, I prefer Luxembourg to either HK or Singapore. TD International there is good and cheap. http://int.tddirectinvesting.com/

I also use TD International, and since they reduced their transaction charges earlier this year, they are pretty competitive. You can trade a pile of markets (I personally only do UK and US, but there is quite a list of other markets) for equities and funds etc. They also have multi-currency and other sorts of trading for the more sophisticated (than me, at least) investor.

[thinkless]

You could try Lightspeed Trading (www.lightspeed.com). They're in the US, but offer reasonably priced trading ($2.99 per trade or less) for non-US citizens after a lot of form-filling. As long as you are a resident of a country on their list of allowable countries, you should be fine. Thailand is fine, for example. Something to keep in mind, though, is that they only allow transfers from your Lightspeed account to a bank in the country you signed up from. That can be a bit of a pain depending on your situation.

Edited October 5, 2015 by thinkless

[bazza40]

I would have thought it would be easier to stick with trading shares in the nanny state ( assume you mean Oz ) and get global exposure through the ETF's offered by online services such as E*trade, Commsec etc.

You would be copping fees for transferring money. I don't know anything about Thai law; however, there is a possibility you could get the Thai tax authorities interested in you.

Perhaps you should just follow the KISS principle.

[tajtom]

I would not trade 5 baht thru the banks here..

I would use Singapore

[tajtom]

I would not trade 5 baht thru the banks here..

I would use Singapore

[AyG]

I would not trade 5 baht thru the banks here..

Absolutely correct. You have to trade through a brokerage - you can't trade through a bank.

I would use Singapore

Which would be a bad choice if you're trading US stocks because Singapore doesn't have the relevant tax treaty with the US, so 30% tax is withheld (and unrecoverable) from US dividends. Luxembourg does have such a treaty, so the withholding rate is 15%.