[MegLooney]

Should I buy US stocks through a HK brokerage account or should I open a US brokerage account instead? The transaction cost seems cheaper at the US account but would I be taxed heavily (I'm a non-US citizen)? What about taxes in Hong Kong?

[philippe]

Originally Posted by MegLooney

Should I buy US stocks through a HK brokerage account or should I open a US brokerage account instead? The transaction cost seems cheaper at the US account but would I be taxed heavily (I'm a non-US citizen)? What about taxes in Hong Kong?

I have a broker here, one in USA and one in EU.

Tax? No matter where you are you need to pay the dividend tax. Nothing more (no capital gain tax for non US citizens). Tx cost depends on your broker. Also not all brokers have all the stuff you may want.

If given the choice again I would find one do-it-all broker here. There are at least two brokers in HK as mentioned previously who will allow you to buy US shares.

[MegLooney]

I was going to open a US online brokerage account and another one for HK with the assumption that each would have a more comprehensive offerings in its respective market. Is my assumption incorrect?

philippe, you mentioned that you would choose a do-it-for-all brokerage account. Is maintaining all three a big hassle?

[philippe]

Originally Posted by MegLooney

I was going to open a US online brokerage account and another one for HK with the assumption that each would have a more comprehensive offerings in its respective market. Is my assumption incorrect?

philippe, you mentioned that you would choose a do-it-for-all brokerage account. Is maintaining all three a big hassle?

Well, I do need to wire money around that's one problem. Between HK ans USA it takes a day maximum but from to EU it takes a week.

Also one broker does not know what you own elsewhere. Most broker will not allow you to sell naked call/put. Yet you may in fact own the underlying asset in another brokerage firm.

At the moment I own Sinopec shares in HK and Sinopec Options contracts in USA but I cannot write Sinopec call options with my USA broker if I want to hedge my shares.

With an integrated global account (HSBC and Citigroup have that) it would be a lot easier to manage all my stuff.

Also if you wish to switch funds between the same fund house you may run into trouble (e.g. you want to switch to whatever Fidelity Fund with your local broker but the only Fidelity Fund you want to dump is with your US Broker) as you may need to Tx the fund from one broker to the other.

Voila.

[MegLooney]

philippe, chris suggested boom in this post Online Brokerage Firms Recommendations. Should I sign up with boom?

[casaclip]

Does anyone know if there are limitations to buying ETFs through a US brokerage account if you're a non-US resident? I read a disclaimer on a Vanguard ETF prospectus stating that it was intended for US investors.

[HK_Newbie100]

Originally Posted by casaclip

Does anyone know if there are limitations to buying ETFs through a US brokerage account if you're a non-US resident? I read a disclaimer on a Vanguard ETF prospectus stating that it was intended for US investors.

There are no restrictions. You simply need to fill out a few trading permission forms from your broker and you're away.

[dshe]

I recommend Interactive Brokers (US) for US and HK share trading.