I called Schwabs and IB in last week. They confirmed me I cannot buy. Apparently it is a EU law which prevents us directly invest in US (since this May and for new account). Regarding IB - they still offer very limited possibility to invest (4-5 funds) if you are qualified as proffessional.
You should try to open an IB account itâs free and see by yourself.
I openend an IB account at the end of May this year and I can buy US-based ETFs.
Here is: EU foreign investment screening regulation enters into force:
In response to this USA has limited access to their market. Correct me if Iâm wrong.
Did you try to buy shares of VTI? Also, did you transfer CHF before to your IB account? Or are those questions just theoretical?
The link you referenced is clearly for EU (European Union), not for Switzerland. Switzerland is not part of the EU (god bless!)
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I had no problems buying american ETFs just last week, both via Schwab and IB.
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Is Switzerland in the EU? No
Does European laws apply to Switzerland? No
Is there a similar law in Switzerand? No, ( at least not yet)
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Hi @Peter, the topic has been also discussed here, in case you didnât find it. As others have said, the regulation should not (yet) affect CH residents (maybe this will change by next year). Best thing is to try if you already have an IB or Schwab account.
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It is actually not crap at all. Compare the performance net of withholding tax 
Withholding tax in case of LU may be 0%, but donât forget about the swiss tax
https://www.ictax.admin.ch/extern/en.html#/security/LU0496786574/20181231
It under-performs by 10%. over 24 month, a similar product from Vanguard. Both products pay a dividend similar at 2% of the value invested.
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Swiss (income) tax has to be paid no matter what, if youâre resident in CH.
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Check out Invesco S&P 500 UCITS ETF Acc ticker SPXS.L
Exactly
Any update on the 2020 situation?
The PIPâs, PRIPâs or PRIIPâs have nothing to do with forcing Europeans to invest in Europe at all. It was raised after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, where clients did buy âsaveâ investments sold out by several domestic banks (but issued by Lehmann US). The clients had apparently no idea that they invested money into a US investment bank and lost a lot of it.
Any issuer can sell their financial products in Europe, but need to create a simple form of regulation paper, so that clients do understand in simpler words what is behind this investment and what the risks are. It is actually really simple process.
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Though in practice, are there any US domiciled funds that provide the required documentation for the EU regulation?
(anyway, lucky swiss people donât have to care about 
)
This is the answer I got from IB the other day on this issue:
Me:
Iâm a Switzerland domiciled investor and Iâm interested in investing in Vanguard US-domiciled ETFs (e.g. VT which Iâm currently invested in). Iâve heard a rumor going around that Swiss investors will lose access to those funds, as they do not provide the right documents and that I will be forced to buy the inferior Ireland based products that do comply.
Are you at this stage able to confirm or deny this claim? Iâd greatly appreciate feedback as it would have a significant impact on my investment planning.
InteractiveBrokers:
Although Switzerland currently does not fall under this regulatory restriction, there is no guarantee it will remain so.
New rules are expected to be adopted in Switzerland in 2020, which may closely resemble the current EU Regulation (so far information shows a similar KID requirement, although the Swiss draft required less information, and a similar opt-in/opt-out possibility on the basis of professional experience, comparable experience and assets, as per FinSA and Draft-FinSO).
It doesnât really get my hopes up too much, although they didnât really confirm or deny anything.
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