Cheapest broker FX conversion charges when buying overseas shares

Did have a look at Interactive Brokers but appears they have a $10 monthly fee thus ruling them out. Have not gone through all the brokers yet but looks like De Giro might end up being best bet albeit covered by the Netherlands compensation scheme (though I could transfer out my holding for a small charge that would be much more than offset by the fx fee saving).

One other thought: I recall reading somewhere that if your broker lets you hold different currencies in your trading account then you can first convert your sterling to say euros using one of these money transfer firms like Moneycorp which seem to charge significantly less than the standard 1.5%. Then move the money from there into the broker account. However, I checked this with TD (now II) who said regulations mean that my account could not be funded in this way as it has to come from a UK bank account in my name and not a third party like a money transfer firm (even if I have an account in my name at the money transfer firm). Anyone else looked into this before and know if this is correct or if other brokers allow your account to be funded by this method?

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Someone posted their margin in the discussion about them a few months ago on the Banking board. I can't remember, except that it is negligible. However, they only work in four currencies: Sterling; US dollar; Euro and Swiss francs.

My problems: some major London-listed Investment Trusts are not offered for purchase. When I queried this, they said that it was a glitch and that HICL would be available the following morning but it took about a week to appear. And a separate issue: the on-line form for placing a conditional order is counter-intuitive, meaning that under certain market conditions the only way to place an order is to buy at market price.

Spoke to Fineco earlier. Guy I spoke to wasn’t clear on couple of things so supposed to be getting back to me by email. One thing was that he said there is an Italian tax of 0.2% pa on your total portfolio value of shares even if not Italian shares...this being because it is an Italian bank. I could not see this anywhere in the fee schedule and can’t see how this is right. Were there any other charges like this that you experienced at Fineco? As far as I can see it should just be the commission to buy the shares once converted my £ to € then no other fees applicable such as monthly Account fee, inactivity fee etc and no Italian tax above.

Other thing he is due to come back to me on is how deposits and shareholdings are regulated and protected at Fineco in terms of comparable schemes to the UK £85k and £50k - couldn’t see anything in their website and he wasn’t sure so needs to check.