Degiro Account in currency other than CHF

[Helix]

@nabalzbhf

the currency you use to buy a given ETF doesn’t matter

We even have a wiki post (written by me ):

The trading denomination is irrelevant for all assets (and hedging)

tl;dr: There is no important relationship between an asset (e.g. gold) and its denomination (e.g. CHF). Listen to reason Reason 1: The asset you hold If you buy 1 kg of gold, you hold… 1 kg of gold. It logically has the same value regardless of what currency (CHF, EUR, USD, etc.) you bought it with. Reason 2: Arbitrage Let’s say you could get more value by buying or selling your gold in one currency than another. For example: Asset Denomination Price Gold CHF 10 Gold EUR 20 CHF EU…

@DarkOrion

[…] ZKB […] PostFinance. Are they equally safe?

ZKB has a state guarantee (by the canton of Zurich), PostFinance does not anymore.

@DarkOrion

do they offer EUR balances and access to EUR denominated ETFs?

As far as I know, bigger Swiss brokers offer multiple different currency accounts, they also offer UCITS and not-UCITS securities (e.g. US domiciled ones). All of this for a fee of course.

@DarkOrion

Would there be any difference [for different ETFs] between IBRK, Degiro, PF, ZKB, etc?

The brokers should only influence buying and holding fees (sometimes more fees on dividend payment and other corporate actions). Everything else (taxes, expense ratios, etc.) should depend on the security you buy.

A small exception are withholding taxes on dividends from US securities (not IE ETFs). Swiss brokers will reduce US withholding from 30% to 15% for Swiss residents like all other brokers worth their salt (which you can get Swiss tax credit for), but will send another 15% to the Swiss FTA (which you can reclaim).

Do you avoid US domiciled ETFs in general?