Ex-Pat - Lying about residency to open an account - Consequences?

EdGasketTheSecond

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Hong Kong is a global centre for financial services, so the obvious solution is to open an account there.

Yes he has accounts in Hong Kong. This is for UK money already in the UK but in old accounts with ever dwindling interest rates. He would just like to open a UK share trading account with a UK broker but this does not seem possible without lying about residency.

18cc

They are not going to hang you if you live in the UK, open an account, and then subsequently move abroad and omit to tell them.

It is different if you deliberately lie on an application form. The definition of doing that is fraud.

londoninvestor

bowlhead99 wrote: »

However in the UK, it may only be a civil matter, i.e. a breach of trust between you and the service provider whereby you obtain services by deception; ...

In practice, they would be within their rights to close your accounts but it is not going to be worthwhile them suing you

Can a brokerage firm register a CIFAS marker against you (which would cause a world of pain if you returned to the UK and wanted to open a bank account)? Or is it only banks that use CIFAS?

badger09

EdGasketTheSecond wrote: »

Yes he has accounts in Hong Kong. This is for UK money already in the UK but in old accounts with ever dwindling interest rates. He would just like to open a UK share trading account with a UK broker but this does not seem possible without lying about residency.

Interactive Brokers and Saxo used to offer trading accounts to non UK residents. No idea if they still do so.

Heedtheadvice

Anti money laundering regs are now quite onerous on financial institutions in the uk.. It is very common that, to comply with them, checks are now made to confirm identity and address information ....in addition to any tax law requirements. There are now lots of data sharing requirements with appropriate authorities making hidden work arounds much less likely to be acceptable or accepted.


It now makes what you are suggesting doing a lot more difficult, but, like many things not impossible.


Last time I opened an online account it seemed to be just self certification. Opening another of the same accounts in person was a lot more difficult!!!!
Did rather seem to defeat the purpose......

samuzza

I'm searching for a broker who deals with expats too. I'm caught up in the SVS thing, so doing some groundwork just in case.

I have found one broker who will open an account for me, but it's telephone only (no online platform), and the fees are way higher than the £7.95 per trade that SVS charged. The broker is Redmayne Bentley.

This is from their FAQs

"The decision to open an account for a client based in a country outside the UK/EU will be influenced by;
1) The purpose or reason for the account, i.e. why you want to open an account and the nature of business you expect the account to be used for.
2) The type of account, e.g. an Individual account, a Company account, a Trust account etc.
3) Your country of residence or domicile and the level of regulatory and money laundering/terrorist financing controls in place in that country."

Also, found HSBC expat, which offers a sharedealing account if you have an expat bank account. But their website states

"Minimum balance requirement: £5,000", then confusingly adds "Eligibility New customers need to hold a minimum of £50,000 (or currency equivalent) in deposits/investments"

I chatted with someone from HSBC expat, who seemed to by saying I'd need have a cash balance of £50k, or £5k plus at least £45k in their investments, e.g. World Selection Portfolios (which have entry fees of 1% and ongoing charges from 1.32%-1.54% pa). This is before I could use their sharedealing account to invest in the low-cost ETFs I want to.

Charles-Stanley (not Charles Stanley Direct) said they might be able to help me, but I don't know their fees yet.

Does anyone know the answer to Johnnyboy11's reply?

One consideration is whether your savings would be covered by the FSCS.

Cheers:)