singapore stocks and bonds for foreigners

[tiebushan]

Hi,

Are foreigners with no visa allowed to purchase Singapore stocks and government/corporate bonds in SIngapore?
thanks

[PNGMK]

Yes, your main issue is opening up a brokerage account. I know SAXO will do it.

[JR8]

Hi, Are foreigners with no visa allowed to purchase Singapore stocks and government/corporate bonds in SIngapore? thanks

With 'no visa' you are a tourist. As a tourist you can open a stock-trading account in your home jurisdiction. If it's a decent/broad-geography broker, you will be able to trade many markets via it, including Singapore ones. In this respect residency physical status in SG does not impact your ability to trade SGn stocks, at all.

Almost no corporate bonds are exchange listed, rather they're traded 'OTC' [Over-The-Counter, traded 1-1 over the phone], which perhaps counter-intuitively means not 'retail', but at a higher corporate trader level. There are retail proxies and derivatives of corporate bonds [one for a side discussion], but, this probably answers your question as is for now.

[zzm9980]

Hi,

Are foreigners with no visa allowed to purchase Singapore stocks and government/corporate bonds in SIngapore?
thanks

In addition to the above, "Not for Americans".

[tiebushan]

so, in short, foreigners (except Americans) are allowed to invest in SIngapore stocks and bonds even without any valid visas?
And to do this, do we need to open a special type of bank account, or will any bank account do? or even better, do these Singaporean entities that sell said securities allow us to transfer fund from overseas bank account in my home country to their Singapore account to start investing (is there any law prohibiting this or is this not common practice)?
thanks

[JR8]

so, in short, foreigners (except Americans) are allowed to invest in SIngapore stocks and bonds even without any valid visas?
And to do this, do we need to open a special type of bank account, or will any bank account do? or even better, do these Singaporean entities that sell said securities allow us to transfer fund from overseas bank account in my home country to their Singapore account to start investing (is there any law prohibiting this or is this not common practice)?
thanks

It might be simpler if you list your circumstances and what you're trying to do, rather than seek a reply for every possible iteration thereof. The T+C's associated with banking/trading accounts are constantly changing, and no one here can give you a broad view based upon current actual offerings available.

I don't know much about FATCA, but I do know that some/most/all banks/brokerages who take on US clients have some requirement to comply with the US statutory reporting requirements that are part of it. So you might imagine that if you have a SGn stock-brokers pitched mostly at locals plus a small group of resident expats, it needs to be worth their while having a FATCA reporting person, before they'll take on US clients. This is why I remain unclear as to whether US clients 'aren't allowed' to trade SGn stocks, or perhaps more likely local brokerages don't have FATCA reporting units, and so simply can't take on such clients.

But note: To open a SG bank account you need residency here. This has been discussed here many times before.

With the brokerages I've read the T+Cs of, either you wire them funds in your home currency, and they convert it to S$, and it sits in your brokerage account. Or you get your foreign bank to convert funds to S$, and wire them in S$ to your SGn brokerage account.

Perhaps you might want to read the T+Cs of some [randomly picked] local offerings. And/or just call one and ask them your above question. The latter could save a heck of a lot of beating around the bush.

http://maybank-ke.com.sg/terms_conditions.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.maybank-ke.com.sg/customer_s ... pening.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/stock ... 28498.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.imoney.sg/articles/how-to-be ... singapore/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://global.etrade.com/glp/sg/en/home" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[tiebushan]

I'm an Australian and I want to invest in Singapore stocks / bonds since they have higher yield than Australian bonds, so need to know if there are any law prohibiting me from doing so.
Thanks

[JR8]

I'm an Australian and I want to invest in Singapore stocks / bonds since they have higher yield than Australian bonds, so need to know if there are any law prohibiting me from doing so.
Thanks

Per the previous reply to the other chap:
'Perhaps you might want to read the T+Cs of some [randomly picked] local offerings. And/or just call one and ask them your above question. The latter could save a heck of a lot of beating around the bush.'
In the absence of him doing so and enlightening the forum, you might want to do the same yourself.

Also keep in mind that interest rates (and in turn yields) tend to work in a contrary fashion to the value of the underlying currency.

So, example:
- You earn 5% yield in currency A, and the value of the currency is the same one year on.
- You earn 15% yield in currency B, but the value of the currency is 10% less one year on.
i.e. = In simple terms, all other things being equal, the end-result is the same. That is how the FX/interest rate market works.

[Side-observation: the economy that requires the 15% yield of currency B is likely to be worth a very close look too. 'Junk bonds' come with super-alluring yields too, but it doesn't take much effort to figure out why].

--- apologies if this is a 'teaching you to suck eggs' tip, it's impossible to gauge someone's knowledge from one short paragraph. Good luck, and perhaps you'll have a chance to report back your findings, and let us know how you decide to proceed!

[PNGMK]

I'm an Australian and I want to invest in Singapore stocks / bonds since they have higher yield than Australian bonds, so need to know if there are any law prohibiting me from doing so.
Thanks

Depends whose laws you're talking about.

Singapore - NO.

Australia - if you're tax resident then you must declare all foreign income (dividends and capital included).

In reality someone like SAXO is not going to send the ATO a statement but they will certainly respond to court orders to surrender details of your account.

Singapore has better yields? I think you're on drugs.

[teck21]

If you must open an account to enjoy the 'superior' yields the Singapore market has to offer, others have already pointed out, simply call a few of them up, try the big banks as well for their securities departments and they'll tell you exactly what to do.

Actually, currency movements may move in your favor so maybe it's not the worst idea.

[livingontheedge]

Yes, of course you can open up accounts to trade in local stocks and bonds, including overseas stocks and bonds. You will need to open a bank account in Singapore (which you can) to manage the funds.