Buying foreign stocks directly?

Lew Skannen said:
No, they tried to add my FNB Dollar account and they were unable to transfer the funds to it. Not sure if they changed things by now. They eventually referred me to Standard Bank to open an offshore account there, but the fees were in excess of R60k to open an account if I remember correctly.
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Wow. I take it that's not the Shyft app thing.

Will have to get in touch with Easy Equities at some point.
 
newby_investor said:
Wow. I take it that's not the Shyft app thing.

Will have to get in touch with Easy Equities at some point.
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No, it needed to be a full offshore account. When I visited Standard Bank, you needed to deposit US$5,000 before they can even open the account.
 
newby_investor said:
Noted. Thanks for the input. Will tread with caution.
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No problem.

I eventually written off the US$200 I deposited, as there is no way to get it out of EE. I was taken for a ride by them. But, this is how one learns. Buying cheap, you often get what you pay for, some way or the other.
 
Lew Skannen said:
No problem.

I eventually written off the US$200 I deposited, as there is no way to get it out of EE. I was taken for a ride by them. But, this is how one learns. Buying cheap, you often get what you pay for, some way or the other.
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They're developing the product all the time. There may be a way to get it out at some point.

When I get around to withdrawing my USD investment I'll post back here with details.
 
newby_investor said:
They're developing the product all the time. There may be a way to get it out at some point.

When I get around to withdrawing my USD investment I'll post back here with details.
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Great, let me know.

Yeah, I am hoping for a change in their system that would one day allow for FNB Dollar account withdrawals. In the meantime I see I do get a few cents interest, so that is fine too.
 
Lew Skannen said:
Can't. They need the bank account to be in your name. They need bank statements as well before linking the account to your USD account. They do not allow third party accounts. You have to do the whole FICA process again to link the offshore account.

Going through decent brokers offshore is a much better avenue. Easy Equities is a no-no when it comes to trading US shares.
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I have no money in my USD EE account. Previously I read the other EE thread where people were unable to repatriate USD to a South African account. I went to the withdraw screen on EE on the USD account and it told me I had no bank accounts that could be used for the withdrawal. Took a look today (months later) and they have listed my ZA bank account (Standard Bank) as an option. Can you please check again if anything has changed for you? I would love to use my EE USD account but don't want the hassle of having a foreign bank account. It is ridiculous. Why can't they just do a swift payment? Standard Bank support it with my Current Account.
 
pkid said:
I have no money in my USD EE account. Previously I read the other EE thread where people were unable to repatriate USD to a South African account. I went to the withdraw screen on EE on the USD account and it told me I had no bank accounts that could be used for the withdrawal. Took a look today (months later) and they have listed my ZA bank account (Standard Bank) as an option. Can you please check again if anything has changed for you? I would love to use my EE USD account but don't want the hassle of having a foreign bank account. It is ridiculous. Why can't they just do a swift payment? Standard Bank support it with my Current Account.
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I can confirm that they have linked my Standard Bank account, which I use for my main EE account to my USD account too. But, I cannot transfer the funds to it.
 
Lew Skannen said:
I can confirm that they have linked my Standard Bank account, which I use for my main EE account to my USD account too. But, I cannot transfer the funds to it.
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Thanks for checking. You saved me from making an expensive mistake.
 
pkid said:
ZAR Investec account? So Investec did the currency conversion for you?
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Doesn't look like it. In the account selection, the account had ZAR next to it. I assume there would be other currencies for other accounts.
 
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