Investing in Funds, ETFs and stocks offshore

[joeking1]

Hi all,

I would like to use brokerage services to buy funds, ETFs and stocks offshore with privacy from CRS.
What banks can you recommend with low fees and stability?

 

[7889]

Not banks but brokers. Interactive brokers in US or Galt&Taggart in Georgia

 

[Martin Everson]

Geogria:
Galt&Taggart (Saxo White label) aka trader.ge
Caucasus Capital (IB White label) aka capital.ge

Armenia:
HandyTrader (IB White Label) aka ameriabank.am

There are many more brokers around especially in Georgia.

P.S Galt&Taggart is owned by Bank of Georgia

 

[Gueco]

Geogria:
Galt&Taggart (Saxo White label) aka trader.ge
Caucasus Capital (IB White label) aka capital.ge

Armenia:
HandyTrader (IB White Label) aka ameriabank.am

There are many more brokers around especially in Georgia.

P.S Galt&Taggart is owned by Bank of Georgia

As an UE citizen and resident can I open an account with capital.ge ?
Or will I need darks?

 

[Gueco]

is there any extra risk when dealing with a white label like these one vs IB UK ?

 

[joeking1]

Geogria:
Galt&Taggart (Saxo White label) aka trader.ge
Caucasus Capital (IB White label) aka capital.ge

Armenia:
HandyTrader (IB White Label) aka ameriabank.am

There are many more brokers around especially in Georgia.

P.S Galt&Taggart is owned by Bank of Georgia

Thanks!
In Armenia, I need to pay a 10% tax on capital gains and dividends of stocks, even if I am paying taxes in France, correct? If I understand correctly, there is no capital gain tax in Georgia for people that are not a tax resident in Georgia so I would prefer Georgia to Armenia.

Given that Galt&Taggart is owned by Bank of Georgia, they have to report to CRS once Georgia decides to become part of the CRS system from my understanding. However, would a broker like Caucasus Capital also report to CRS, once Georgia becomes part of the CRS system, given they do not belong to a bank?

Can you recommend any brokers in Georgia for a buy and hold investor in terms of security and pricing (no day trading)? What would be the cheapest and savest way to transfer money from France or Germany in Europe to Georgia (normal bank transfer, transferwise etc)?

Interactive brokers in US seems to ask for tax residence when signing up. Don't you think they would report my gains and losses to Germany or France in Europe shared by FACTA?

What about Euro Pacific Bank and their new trading platform? The pricing seems competitive as well. However I read on their homepage "For accounts held by Euro Pacific Securities, Inc. (Global Trading), the required information will be reported to Financial Services Commission (FSC) of the British Virgin Islands." Does this mean there will be information shared with CRS for the trading account and only normal bank accounts have privacy from CRS?

 

[joeking1]

What about Internaxx | Active investing for expats ?

It's part of CRS.

 

[joeking1]

Thanks!
In Armenia, I need to pay a 10% tax on capital gains and dividends of stocks, even if I am paying taxes in France, correct? If I understand correctly, there is no capital gain tax in Georgia for people that are not a tax resident in Georgia so I would prefer Georgia to Armenia.

Given that Galt&Taggart is owned by Bank of Georgia, they have to report to CRS once Georgia decides to become part of the CRS system from my understanding. However, would a broker like Caucasus Capital also report to CRS, once Georgia becomes part of the CRS system, given they do not belong to a bank?

Can you recommend any brokers in Georgia for a buy and hold investor in terms of security and pricing (no day trading)? What would be the cheapest and savest way to transfer money from France or Germany in Europe to Georgia (normal bank transfer, transferwise etc)?

Interactive brokers in US seems to ask for tax residence when signing up. Don't you think they would report my gains and losses to Germany or France in Europe shared by FACTA?

What about Euro Pacific Bank and their new trading platform? The pricing seems competitive as well. However I read on their homepage "For accounts held by Euro Pacific Securities, Inc. (Global Trading), the required information will be reported to Financial Services Commission (FSC) of the British Virgin Islands." Does this mean there will be information shared with CRS for the trading account and only normal bank accounts have privacy from CRS?

Does anyone have an opinion on this?

 

[OTR365]

Interactive brokers in US seems to ask for tax residence when signing up. Don't you think they would report my gains and losses to Germany or France in Europe shared by FACTA?

Basically all platforms require tax residence nowadays, due to CRS. Also, if you have an access to U.S. stocks, you will be asked to fill W-8BEN form, where you declare your tax residence to the U.S. tax man.

FATCA works one way only: The rest of the World supplies information to the U.S. The U.S. does not supply information to the rest of the World, i.e. they do not participate in CRS. So - as far as I understand - if you have a brokerage account in the U.S., they won't share information.

Does anybody know how are these Georgian white label brokers' fees compared to the original providers IB & Saxo? Higher/same/lower?

 

[7889]

Does anybody know how are these Georgian white label brokers' fees compared to the original providers IB & Saxo? Higher/same/lower?

https://trader.ge/pricing/

 

[OTR365]

https://trader.ge/pricing/

OK, my question was a lazy one. It serves me right to post a quick comparison between Interactive Brokers UK and Capital.ge (white label IB).
- Tx costs for stocks are a bit higher in Georgia, but not a lot. Typically, if IB UK charges 0.1%, Capital.ge charges 0.105%
- The selection of markets is smaller in Capital.ge. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Israel, Poland and India are missing
- Forex trading fees are notably higher, e.g. 60bp in Georgia while IB UK charges 20bp
- Likewise with metals: 0.45bp vs 0.15bp

Despite a bit higher fees and a smaller selection of markets, the Georgian offer is not bad at all - especially considering Georgia is not part of CRS at the moment.

 

[Gueco]

but are the funds safe with capital.ge ? Or maybe the funds are managed by IB?

 

[Flatworld]

but are the funds safe with capital.ge ? Or maybe the funds are managed by IB?

the fund is with capital.ge, not managed by IB, as it's un-disclosed model, not fully-disclosed model...not so safe~

 

[OTR365]

Galt & Taggart looks like a real investment bank with segregated accounts and Tier 1 custodian partners (Clearstream Luxembourg mentioned). Hence, they claim there's no country risk. I think there's always some, but G&T is probably as good as it gets in Georgia.

 

[boom123psy]

thank you for the info in this thread. I have send a request for opening an account in trader.ge lets see how things will go.

 

[Clank]

thank you for the info in this thread. I have send a request for opening an account in trader.ge lets see how things will go.

Georgia is part of CRS now