Wiring funds to my IB account from a parent's bank account

Investing / Brokers
1

Hi,

My parents are sitting on approx. $50k in a UBS USD account and wanting to convert it to CHF.

I’ve suggested the cheapest way to convert would be for me to do it for them through Interactive Brokers (IB).

However, as I do not have a USD account they would need to wire the money directly to my IB account.

Would IB accept such a deposit or would they reject it due to money laundering risk?

Alternatively, does anyone have any other suggestions on how to manage this flow rather than getting ripped off by UBS on FX. Even Transferwise would cost perhaps CHF150.

Cheers.

2

Why not to use Revolut? They offer interbank currency exchange rates during the week, which should be pretty good.

3

Why not just ask IB customer support? should get you a quicker answer than the forum :smiley:

3 Likes
4

They would need to buy a Premium account or be limited to 6k/month of free FX.

5

I think revolut has a limit of a few k per month for transfers

6

Tbh I’ve asked IB support in parallel but I’m thinking they won’t allow it. AML policies are strict these days. Will post back here when I get a response.

7

Alternatively might be worth creating a USD account on your name.

8

I think the transfer has to come from an account in your name. You cannot transfer any positions to IB from any account unless it’s in your name. i assume same holds true for cash.

9

I got some copy/paste answer back suggesting they would reject it.

Thank you for contacting Interactive Brokers.

Be informed, Interactive Brokers strongly discourages and in most cases, rejects third-party deposits, which have historically been viewed by the financial services industry and its regulators as being highly susceptible to acts of fraud and money laundering. Client should deposit funds from a bank /broker account entitled on their name.

For more information, see our Knowledge base article on the subject:
https://ibkr.info/node/63
Should you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us back.

Kind regards,

I guess if I want to go the IB route I will need to either persuade my parents to open their own IB account or open a USD account some way in Switzerland.

10

open a postfinance USD account; it’s free if you have a PF account. I’m not sure about the cost of transferring USD to IB though…

1 Like
11

I tried to transfer USD from my Swiss account but you can only do an ACH transfer to IB (if I remember the name right). Anyway you can not make a regular “European” wire transfer… I couldn’t found a way around it. Investigate this throughly before opening a USD account here.

Other solution is using TransferWise. Fees are lower than revolut for large amounts. Even if it’s not as good as IB.