TD Ameritrade CLOSES down all NZ accounts

[Snow Leopard]

Yes. But not sure on the fee structure. In my early years of Finance studies, brokers typically don't want small accounts to do such lending. The large accounts make lending simpler and there are requirements that when you lend, you can not sell your position.

Not so >> https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/index.php?f=46942

[Relaxed]

Thanks SL
I was looking for that but couldn't find it again

[SBQ]

Thanks SL
I was looking for that but couldn't find it again

Maybe I should be saying in bold "Long long ago in the PAST" brokers did restrict the sale on long positions when marked as lent out. Gotta watch out for that Snow Leopard.

But let's read the fine print:

If you sell the fully paid shares that have been lent out, or if you borrow the shares or withdraw cash in a margin account (such that the securities become margin securities and are no longer fully paid or excess margin securities) the loan will terminate and you will stop receiving loan interest.

Seems fair enough.

[SBQ]

I've received an important TDA message in clarifying what happens after November 1st. I must stand to correct my previous post as by the wording by international account holders. Earlier in the month we received this message and I interpreted as the account will still exist after the deadline date:

On November 1, 2021, you will be limited to closing existing positions in your account. You will not be able to open any new positions.

TD Ameritrade will not be able to accept additional funding in your account on or soon after November 1, 2021. Please do not add or transfer any additional funds into your account following that date. Please turn off any reoccurring deposits or they will be rejected.

If you wish, you can liquidate your account assets or transfer them to another firm.

• To withdraw funds from your account, please go the My Account tab > Deposits & Transfers > Withdraw.
• If you wish to transfer your assets from your TD Ameritrade account to an external firm, the request should be submitted through and coordinated by the other firm. Please make sure the account is a like-titled account at the other firm and submit an account transfer request through that firm.

If you do nothing, a restriction will be placed on your account limiting the account to closing transactions only. You may continue to hold any current positions and the account may remain at TD Ameritrade.

However from 2 replies I received this morning:

Unfortunately, after November 1st 2021 we will no longer be able to maintain accounts with New Zealand addresses so therefore we will not be able to hold long stock. The full account will have to be liquidated and/or transferred to a brokerage firm that can support New Zealand residents prior to November 1st 2021.

and from another representative: (because I sent the message twice)

Thank you for reaching out. The address has been updated as you requested. To answer your questions:

1) The Dividend Reinvestment Program (DRIP) will be discontinued because the accounts are no longer able to be held at TD Ameritrade or Schwab. When you move the account, the stocks will be registered at the firm which they are transferred.

2) Unfortunately, the accounts must be moved by November 1st. After that date, we are no longer able to hold the accounts. TD Ameritrade is aligning our policies to match Schwab so when the our two companies have completely merged together there will be little change for clients.

So it seems to be some confusion with the official notice, and what their support personnel are informing. My guess is that if any person is wanting to trade, then it's sayanara to TDA. But the question is, do you wait to see what happens after November 1st or close everything up?

[Relaxed]

But the question is, do you wait to see what happens after November 1st or close everything up?

I reckon we leave a token amount of something in there and see what happens.
how much that is depends on the size of your portfolio.

thanks for the update SBQ

[Toukshare]

Thanks for that additional research and clarification, SBQ. The wording of their generic message implied that you could keep your existing holdings for as long as you wished, even beyond 1st November, but from that date cannot issue any transactional order whatever its nature (long/short stocks, ETFs, options, futures, etc.). But the responses from the 2 representatives you contacted indicate that even keeping your existing holdings will not be possible.
So essentially, you've got till 1st November to sell everything and transfer the money to another broker (or transfer your stocks directly to another broker - I assume you can only transfer long and not short?)

[Darth Trader]

Did not have a great experience with IBK given small account. Have just signed up with Tastyworks which was pretty straight forward.

[kiora]

From Trading View
https://www.tradingview.com/

"New data & brokerages
Over the last few months we’ve added new brokerages and data partners. Please put your hands together to welcome Saxo, Exmo, Global Prime, and TimeX."
I don't use but maybe useful for some

[SBQ]

From Trading View
https://www.tradingview.com/

"New data & brokerages
Over the last few months we’ve added new brokerages and data partners. Please put your hands together to welcome Saxo, Exmo, Global Prime, and TimeX."
I don't use but maybe useful for some

There's hundreds of brokers worldwide though it's very dependent on residency of the person and residency on the financial institution. That link appears to be a sharing of different blogs by different traders around the world which may be useful for gauging investment opportunities.

As for these different brokers? Few mention the issue of the CRS regulations and by no surprise, the USA is not part of that program nor the country would ever comply (America has always been a nation that does not confirm to globalist requirements mandated by say the OECD, the EU, the UN, or the NZ FMA). In fact, the US was the first to introduce a global tax reporting requirement for US citizens through their FACTA program. Essentially the CRS was just a copy of that. In practice, few financial institutions will want to face the heat by going against FACTA because the US is a major financial hub and the punishment for non compliance is a full ban of financial activity in the US. But in terms of CRS - some countries benefit more from the sharing; hint 'the US is not one of them'. I suppose most brokerage firms in the US just simply don't want the hassles with CRS. The same applies with banking as Wells Fargo announced earlier in the year the closure of opening new accounts for any foreign clients and is closing their Intl Wealth Mgt division. Of the few that will do foreign clients, such as IB, are doing so because a) they're a large enough brokerage firm with a large legal team, and b) they operate in a country that is not part of the CRS program. Remember, there is nothing the NZ gov't can do with their FMA to strong arm a foreign country, to have their brokers to comply with their regulations. But with their nasty letters they send out to these foreign brokers, all they are doing is straining the relationship of sovereign nations, in a way that perhaps the NZX will get excluded from the global trading market (as these brokers will say we not only closing out NZ clients, but also will stop our clients from accessing the NZX. ie say managed funds that have a S. Pacific ETF profile. Proof is the low level of liquidity on the NZX which I would be not surprised, is comprised of mostly NZ fund / retail traders and a bit of Australian.

Notwithstanding the above statement, i'm am not encouraging people to practice tax evasion. In a globalised world, where you have data breaches, cryptocurrency exchanges being hacked, insider jobs stealing $, you name it ; safe guarding client information, especially SIN/TIN information ranks supreme.

[Monarch]

Do you think it is likely IB will close down nz accounts as well? It would be a real pain if they did.