Schwab closing Int'l Account. Options beside IB?

E

extraMileage

I currently live overseas and recently received a letter from Schwab that they were closing my Brokerage and Rollover IRA accounts in September (been a customer for 15+ years). They are fully aware of my foreign residency and foreign tax status.

Annoying, to say the least.

I have accounts at IB, where I do most of my more active trading, but I like being able to spread my assets around a bit and get access to different kinds of research and low cost ETFs. IB is sometimes to bare bones that it's nice to get a little planning advice and colorful graphs from time to time. Having all my eggs in the IBRK basket would also be a bit concerning to me.

Any expats/foreigners have this issue?

Any recommendations beyond IB, especially one that would take the Rollover IRA?

Thanks!
 
I am not sure about the handling of IRA accounts and whether that is a must for you. But I would check out HSBC's Premier account. You can have a global multi-currency account that also links up with their brokerage and safekeeping services for long-term investments. I do not recommend them for active trading because of the higher commission fees, but if you look for a rock solid, stable place to park your investments for a longer period of time then I would consider a global bank such as HSBC. But then I have no clue how eager they are to service US citizens (I assume you are one).

extraMileage said:
I currently live overseas and recently received a letter from Schwab that they were closing my Brokerage and Rollover IRA accounts in September (been a customer for 15+ years). They are fully aware of my foreign residency and foreign tax status.

Annoying, to say the least.

I have accounts at IB, where I do most of my more active trading, but I like being able to spread my assets around a bit and get access to different kinds of research and low cost ETFs. IB is sometimes to bare bones that it's nice to get a little planning advice and colorful graphs from time to time. Having all my eggs in the IBRK basket would also be a bit concerning to me.

Any expats/foreigners have this issue?

Any recommendations beyond IB, especially one that would take the Rollover IRA?

Thanks!
More...
 
conduit said:
I am not sure about the handling of IRA accounts and whether that is a must for you. But I would check out HSBC's Premier account. You can have a global multi-currency account that also links up with their brokerage and safekeeping services for long-term investments. I do not recommend them for active trading because of the higher commission fees, but if you look for a rock solid, stable place to park your investments for a longer period of time then I would consider a global bank such as HSBC. But then I have no clue how eager they are to service US citizens (I assume you are one).
More...

Thanks for the rec. Will investigate.

I am not a US citizen, but did spend some years there (hence the IRA).

"Breaking" the IRA (about $150k in there) would create unnecessary tax penalties (10%-30%) and it's also tax exempt (nice to not to get 30% WHT on interest and dividends in the account). Thus why I'd like to find a home for for it.
 
Just walk into any HSBC Premier center and ask for a relationship manager to assist you, they are much better informed than any advice I or others could give you on this site.

Good luck!!!


extraMileage said:
Thanks for the rec. Will investigate.

I am not a US citizen, but did spend some years there (hence the IRA).

"Breaking" the IRA (about $150k in there) would create unnecessary tax penalties (10%-30%) and it's also tax exempt (nice to not to get 30% WHT on interest and dividends in the account). Thus why I'd like to find a home for for it.
More...
 
Is there any more to this. Making an IRA leave is a huge deal. Is Schwab also acting as trustee or are they using an outside trust in your country. Did they lose the trustee relationship ? That would explain a great deal.
 
Other major discount brokers are doing this too. American expatriates not paying taxes to the IRS is a liability for financial institutions. Even if you don't tell your broker that you're living overseas, they are tracking where you're logging in from and after a certain period, they will close your account.

Why not change your citizenship? Seems to be a popular option for Americans who don't want to live state side.
 
ajacobson said:
Is there any more to this. Making an IRA leave is a huge deal. Is Schwab also acting as trustee or are they using an outside trust in your country. Did they lose the trustee relationship ? That would explain a great deal.
More...

Received two separate letters: one for standard brokerage account and one for IRA account (which is was a rollover from a previous employer anyway).

I will try to speak to Schwab but I'm guessing they don't want to deal with the added regulatory compliance and risk of managing US citizens overseas. Once you cut those out, Non-Resident Non-US citizens like myself are probably not enough to make it interesting to maintain the business overhead (outside of some core markets like the UK, Canada and HK perhaps).
 
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