Edwin 63 Report post Posted July 16, 2015 Hi, I'm possibly moving to Australia from the US, and IB told me that I wouldn't be able to keep my margin account if I were an Australian resident. Does anyone know if Aussies are able to trade US equities and Options and know of which brokers in Australia allow this? Thanks ahead of time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yowster 9,180 Report post Posted July 16, 2015 Hi, I'm possibly moving to Australia from the US, and IB told me that I wouldn't be able to keep my margin account if I were an Australian resident. Does anyone know if Aussies are able to trade US equities and Options and know of which brokers in Australia allow this? Thanks ahead of time. I don't know about the Australian brokers, but here are a few ideas to look into from an IT perspective: I know there are some VPN options available whereby your IP address can make it appear that you are in the USA. Create an Amazon server and use remote desktop (RDP) to access it - so its the Amazon server (which is in the USA) that would run the IB software. I don't know if Amazon has restrictions regarding foreign connections to its servers, but its certainly something to look into. I use an Amazon server that I RDP into and use for IB when I'm at my job office and it works great - and its cheap too, typically less than $20 per month (I only have the server running when I'm using it). I use Amazon because IB doesn't work well with some of my corporate internet settings, but it may be a good alternative for your Australia scenario as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Edwin 63 Report post Posted July 16, 2015 Thanks for the info. I'm not sure if they will hunt me down if they find out I would be physically moving and changing my mailing address. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Edwin 63 Report post Posted July 16, 2015 Yowster, Do you trade off your smartphone at all using Mobile TWS? Thanks Edwin Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yowster 9,180 Report post Posted July 16, 2015 Yowster, Do you trade off your smartphone at all using Mobile TWS? Thanks Edwin No, I don't use it. I downloaded the app and its too much info to fit on my screen without scrolling around too much. I do have a tablet that I can use by RDP-ing into my amazon server and running full TWS. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
craigsmith 357 Report post Posted July 17, 2015 Thanks for the info. I'm not sure if they will hunt me down if they find out I would be physically moving and changing my mailing address. This is what I would be most concerned about. If IB finds out, they could freeze your account and who knows how long that would last. Just a thought, you may be able to use a mailing service that provides a mailbox, mail scanning, mail forwarding, etc. so you will have a physical US address. If you do a search on "mail service for travelers" there are many results that may help. Good luck! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Edwin 63 Report post Posted July 17, 2015 Thanks, I didn't realize such a service exists. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kim 7,943 Report post Posted July 17, 2015 We have few members from Australia, so I assume trading US stocks and options is possible. And you still remain US citizen, so I'm not sure why they should care. You can always use mailing address of a friend or relative. Today all communications is electronic anyway. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Edwin 63 Report post Posted July 17, 2015 I believe if I keep my US citizenship, I would still be paying taxes here. If we were to move, I'd likely get rid of my US citizenship and get an Australian citizenship, so I was hoping to find an Aussie broker that allows US equities and options trading. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WRW 0 Report post Posted July 17, 2015 (edited) I'm an Australian trading US equities and options with IB Australia. Got a Reg T margin account, which I think behaves the same as a US-based account. I suggest you get in touch with IB's Sydney office. As for physical location, I log into my account from all over the world and they don't care. EDIT: Just to clarify, I mean they don't care about where you trade from on any given day, but they will care about your legal place of residence. So I think you'll have to change to IB Oz when you become an Australian resident for tax purposes. Edited July 17, 2015 by WRW Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Edwin 63 Report post Posted July 17, 2015 Will, thanks for sharing. I asked IB, and they said that I couldn't keep my margin account if I were to move to Australia. They said they have nothing available for Australian citizens in terms of trading on margin. I guess I'll ask again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kim 7,943 Report post Posted July 17, 2015 Here you go. It's the same as IB for Canadians - they don't allow us to have account with IB US because they don't want to compete with IB Canada. Same with TOS. Are commissions with IB Australia the same for US options as IB US? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Edwin 63 Report post Posted July 17, 2015 I talked to IB again, and they said that only non-margin accounts are available for Australia. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WRW 0 Report post Posted July 17, 2015 Commissions are the same - though they might add 10% GST (consumption tax that applies to pretty much everything) just to the commissions, not the whole trade amount. The platform (TWS) is the same. You can choose to log into the US, European or Asian (Hong Kong) server. Instruments available for trading (futures, equities, options, spreads) are the same except for forex - they recently suspended forex trading due to some government ruling. All correspondence is via email / TWS. Regarding margin - Reg T or Portfolio? I have Reg T - not sure if Portfolio is available for Aussies, but I think it is. I strongly suggest you contact IB Australia, not IB US. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest stuparr Report post Posted September 4, 2015 You need to set up an Australian company and apply for a new IB account as a corporate customer and you'll find Portfolio Margin is available. I did this about a year ago when ASIC had issues with IBs local license and requested they discontinue personal PM accounts until they obtained the correct license, for some reason this doesn't apply to company accounts. Cost to set up a company is about $500 plus some annual registration fees, once you done that and got an account up and running all you have to work out is how you can safely trade through the night and sleep at the same time as you'll find the market is open between 11.30pm and 6.00am but that's another story! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
K. Miller 3 Report post Posted September 11, 2015 Alerts! And more Alerts! I trade from Indonesia on IB. I use thinkorswim for my alerts since their platform is easier. The problem is im learning to sleep through the standard android message sound. I need an app that can monitor an email and make a different and louder alert sound. Any suggestions? On the IB issue, I'm 99% sure my account is through IB US, although I usually use their HK server for performance. There is no IB Indonesia, but they do allow international customers, unlike ThinkorSwim. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
