International Brokerage Accounts and money transfers

Tom Swift · Post by **Tom Swift** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 10:43 pm

Just found this forum and it looks interesting so I thought I would jump in with a question.

I am a Canadian working in China for the first time and just finishing up the year. I currently have a brokerage account at TradeFreedom but would like to find another brokerage since I plan on being a non-resident. Does anyone have any suggestions as to a good online brokerage? I have looked at Internaax but at 30 euros a trade, it is too steep for me. Thales in Panama is interesting but again, too expensive. If I get an American brokerage account, will they let me if I am Canadian and have no American bank accounts? What about the UK or Hong Kong?

Also, I currently get paid in cash over here, deposited to an account at the Bank of China. I would like to find a cheap way to get this money over to another western bank, preferably to my new account at Lloyds in the Channel Islands. So far, the only ways I have found are wire transfers, which cost a fortune, or Western Union, but it only can go to an individual. Any suggestions?

mamanaia · Post by **mamanaia** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 11:14 am

Hey Tom. I can't respond to the first part of your inquiry, but as to the second part...
Does the Bank of China have online banking? If so, you should probably have the option to do an international money transfer order. You will need your account number, the branch number of your bank and the swift number of the bank in order to do the transfer. That is how I transfer my money from Germany to my U.S. account each month. I only pay about 14 euro fee for the transfer which is generally less than using Western Union.

Good luck.

Tom Swift · Post by **Tom Swift** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 5:06 pm

What I was told was that in China, wire transfer fees are not a fixed amount but a percentage, and this percentage is quite high. This makes it very expensive to do a wire transfer. I need to find a method in China where I can transfer money for a fixed fee, not a percentage.

grasshopper · Post by **grasshopper** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 7:16 pm

Hi Tom

Set up an account with ANZ bank in Beijing or Shanghai and transfer all your money from BOC to ANZ. You can then transfer very cheaply. You have to prove you have paid the tax on your salary. You might have to live in Beijing or Shanghai to set up the ANZ account. Please ask ANZ to confirm this is still the case as i have not done this for the last two years.

Tom Swift · Post by **Tom Swift** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:00 pm

Can I , as a Canadian, open an account with ANZ? Also, when I contacted some Canadian banks in China, they told me that they were not affiliated with their Canadian branches and I could not transfer funds other than by wire transfer. When you say cheaply, do you mean that their wire transfer funds are cheap or that you could send your money out of the country cheaply by direct transfer via the internet? There is bank in Canada that has free transfers from their bank to different banks, but it only works in Canada, which is too bad.

Also, I do not live in Shanghai but am about 1.5 hours from the city, in Jiangsu Province.

I have not looked at the possibility of opening an account at a western Bank in Shanghai and then using their wire transfer functions. Interesting.

grasshopper · Post by **grasshopper** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 10:48 pm

Hi Tom

Don?t know about being Canadian- I am British and opened up an account with ANZ no problem.

The system worked like this. My school in Beijing paid my salary in to BOC. I set up a regular transfer to then send half my salary to ANZ in Beijing. The costs were minimal. I then instructed ANZ to transfer my money to my bank in England (Barclays), and ANZ charged me $10 US regardless of how much. My Bank in England charged me for changing the money from US Dollars in to UK Pounds.

I had to fill in a form each month but ANZ were so easy to work with and they let me fill in a year?s worth of forms in one go so I didn?t have to go to the bank each month. I do not know if it is still as easy, but is worth checking.

I no longer do this as my wife is now working for an international company who pay her entire salary into her English Bank and we live on my RMB salary here in China. This is the best way for us but no use to you if you are single.
good luck.

Tom Swift · Post by **Tom Swift** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 11:04 pm

Thanks. That is exactly what I was looking for. I will contact them next term in Shanghai and see what they can do. Appreciate the help.

guestwriter · Post by **guestwriter** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 9:25 am

I have found it to be a big indicator of the quality of the school whether or not they transfer your salary to a bank in your home country. I know some countries do not allow this, but it is such a pain in many countries to transfer money and take care of other expenses. I think it is a good indicator of the school's commitment and concern for foreign hire teachers.

Consider this issue before signing a contract.

Tom Swift · Post by **Tom Swift** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 10:54 am

Actually I have already been here for a year and it is a fine school. They give us a choice on how much we want in RMB and how much we want to send to Canada each month in a cheque. They had some problems with the government concerning money flowing out of the country but it is all fixed and I discovered today that they will be offering direct deposit to a bank in Canada for next year.

I was looking more into sending money to a bank in the UK and not Canada and I doubt that they would offer that option. Maybe in the future but since it is a new school, they are not ready for that leap just yet.

Thanks for the concern though.

guestwriter · Post by **guestwriter** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 4:43 pm

Hi again,

Another option is to pool together with other teachers and send an overnight express to a recipient in your home country who will then put their bank deposits in the mail. This can be considerably cheaper than wiring via a bank.