Worst case just buy the Irish Vanguard All-World… Don’t panic.
Also your assets are segregated anyway, unless the broker is fraudulent and unregulated. So you probably don’t even need that high insurance…
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Not sure why everyone is panicking, it’s less guarantee but mostly because we were lucky enough to be under US SIPC protection. Now you might get the same as all european brokers (limited protection on securities), but I’m not sure why it should make people invest somehow differently.
The 100k protection in switzerland is for bank accounts, I doubt UBS or Swissquote provide SIPC like insurance for your stocks.
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Damn, I hope we keep access to US ETFs. Don’t want to buy inferior ETFs.
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Nope - worst case would be, he/she doesn’t find a broker that will enable him/her to buy the Irish Vanguard ETFs - as they won’t even open an account for US citizens.
They already have an account at IB… which already gives them access to European markets too.
Any alternatives for a change?
What about Charles Schwab? (It even looks like it accepts US citizens @anon90991199)
Anyone using it?
https://enroll.schwab.com/AoUI/#/getStarted
©2017 Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. All rights reserved. Member SIPC.
Using Schwab. It’s alright except that it’s USD and US equities only. Non-USD/non-US trading will be very expensive. So you will still have to use IBKR or something else to get your benjamins in and out for cheap.
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Anyone tried moving stuff from IB to Swissquote? I still consider the idea of moving stuff every 50k from IB to Swissquote as a good way to avoid that risk. If SQ is less risky. Or split IB/SQ.
I wonder about that, because it’s bypassing the Swiss Stamp Tax… It’s a bit like avoiding Swiss VAT by buying outside CH, and we all know what happens when you pass Swiss customs officials with a big bag of shopping.
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Hmmmm… interesting approach. Doesn’t transfers cost some 40 CHF/USD per position? At what amounts of Stocks would you break-even?
Considering Sq will cost about 40 CHF or USD for 10k transaction compared with IB’s almost-nothing, break-even is at approx 10k per position. (Simplifying a bit here, I know)
Ouch, you have to be sado to inflict that to yourself… I stick to IB, thank you very much.
That is why it’s not meant to avoid the tax, but to diversify/minimize IB’s risk.
Yep, for 10’000 it’s 30 + VAT + Stamp Duty and for 10’001 it’s 55 + VAT + Stamp Duty. I did say I simplified somewhat. 
I understand your motive (avoid some risk at IB), and didn’t want to suggest tax avoidance is your aim, I just wonder if this isn’t a “problem” to transfer positions from IB to Swiss brokers, as Swiss Stamp Duty is a national tax, which brings in a few Billion CHF p.a. I guess if it’s 0.00000001% of Swiss trade volumes, no-one will care.
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I know you weren’t accusing me, no worries. I just meant that I didn’t calculate that part at all. I’m more worried about the cost of transferring things.
…so is using every other foreign broker and keeping shares there.
…or buy via Swissquote outright.
While I can imagine transferring large positions for tax reasons or change of broker, I would never plan on doing it on a regular, recurring basis. After all, it’s a one-time cost.
To anyone buying US assets via CornerTrader, SwissQuote, PostFinance:
- what CHF-USD exchange rate do you get?
- how big is the withholding tax? 15 or 30%?
- were you able to reclaim it successfully?
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Again? We had this all before… recently, no?
I can only speak for Sq and Pf.
Fx - see attachment (Sq & Pf are the same)
30%
Yes, of course. - 15% wht (is a credit for your Swiss tax, DTA) + 15% rückbehalt USA (gets refunded)
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Sorry, I know we talked about it, but all the stuff kind of blends in my head, so I wasn’t sure. Plus, Moneyland says this about SQ, which confuses me:
0.95% is bad. And if you buy ETFs on SIX in CHF, you potentially lose 0.3% annually (15% * 2%), being unable to reclaim withholding tax. I wonder how much is really “leaking” from VWRL relative to VT.
Btw I guess it does not matter that much if 30% or 15% is withheld, right? You’re able to reclaim both.