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Capture investment opportunities in the U.S. securities market

  • TRADE NOW TRADE NOW

    How to start trading

    Log onto Online Securities Trading platform now

    Via SC Equities mobile app

    SC Equities App QR Code
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    Not having an Online Investment Account? Click here to open now.

U.S. Securities Services

You can now capitalise on investment opportunities in the U.S. with our Online Securities Trading platform, which provides you access to the world’s largest equity market, diversifying your investment portfolio with global exposure.

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EXCLUSIVE OFFER FOR ALL SECURITIES CLIENTS

Enjoy $0 trade lodgement fee, custodial fee and account maintenance fee

The waiver on account maintenance fee will be valid until further notice.

The complete list of charges can be found in Service Charges Booklet, charges may be subject to change.

Why choosing our U.S. Securities Services?

Low brokerage fees

Commissions from as low as 0.2%

Low minimum commissions

From as low as USD18 per trade

Fee waivers

Enjoy $0 trade lodgement fee, custodial fee and account maintenance fee

All-in-one

Along with the U.S. securities market, you can also invest in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Shenzhen from a single account1
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Why investing in the U.S. securities market?

U.S. Securities Services operation practices and transaction arrangements
Eligible securities to be included

Equities securities and ETFs listed in NASDAQ, New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”), NYSE AMEX, NYSE ARCA and BATS.

Trading hours

Normal trading session from Monday to Friday
Summer trading hours (HKT): 21:30 – 04:00 on the next day
Winter trading hours (HKT): 22:30 – 05:00 on the next day

  • • Limit orders and Good-till-day (“GTD”) limit orders can be placed in 24 hours except 05:00 to 07:00 HKT.
Trading days

All U.S. trading days

Order types

For buy and sell orders, limit orders and GTD limit orders are accepted.

Settlement currency

USD

Securities and cash settlement

Trade day + 2 days

Trade-related services
Securities brokerage

Online Banking and SC Equities: 0.20% (USD18 minimum brokerage for each transaction)

Third-party charge on fee for trading

SEC fee: 0.0008% on consideration (applicable to sell orders only, subject to change by SEC)

The complete list of charges can be found in Service Charges Booklet, charges may be subject to change.
Stock settlement-related services
Transfer-Out Fee (For US Securities)

USD100 per stock per instruction

The complete list of charges can be found in Service Charges Booklet, charges may be subject to change.
Nominee services and corporate actions
Collection of cash dividend

0.5% on dividend amount, minimum USD4, or dividend amount, whichever is lower

Collection of scrip dividend

0.5% on value of cash equivalent, minimum USD4

Collection of bonus shares

USD4 per collection

American depositary receipt (“ADR”) fee*

USD 0.01 to 0.05 per share

*Clients holding ADRs may be charged ADR fee regularly by the Depository Receipts Agent (the “Agent”) through Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (the “Bank”). The mentioned price range is for reference only and is subject to changes from time to time at the discretion of the Agent without prior notice. The final price range, frequency and timing of charging the fee is subject to final confirmation from the Agent.

The complete list of charges can be found in Service Charges Booklet, charges may be subject to change.
Account maintenance
Custodial fee

Waived

Account maintenance fee (semi-annual)

Waived

The complete list of charges can be found in Service Charges Booklet, charges may be subject to change.

How to start trading

Before you can begin trading, please submit a US Tax Form to certify your US Person Status before being able to place a trading order for US market. You may find the appropriate US Tax Form in the following website: https://www.sc.com/en/regulatory-disclosures/client-tax/#fatca.

You can submit the form in the following ways:
Upload to our portal
Email us at us-tax-processing.hk@sc.com
• Submit to any of our branches
Mail to Client On-Boarding Deposit Ops, 13/F Standard Chartered Tower, 388 Kwun Tong Road, Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong

For new securities clients, click here to open a securities account now.
For existing securities clients, you can start trading in just few steps as shown below.

Step 1
Log onto Online Securities Trading platform and click ‘US Market’ on the menu
U.S. Securities - How to start trading - STEP 1
Step 2
Start trading
U.S. Securities - How to start trading - STEP 1

FAQs

  • We provide 24×7 online securities services except daily maintenance period at 05:00 – 07:00 (Hong Kong Time). All U.S. securities orders will be sent to U.S. Exchanges when the U.S. markets open.

  • New to bank clients can visit any of our branches for securities account opening.
    New securities clients can click here to open a securities account.

    For existing securities clients:

    • You can sign up for our U.S. Securities Services through Online Banking; or
    • You can visit any of our branches to sign up for U.S. Securities Services
  • Please refer to the U.S. Securities Services Charges section.

    • Non-U.S. persons
    • Summer Trading Hours: Monday to Friday 9:30 p.m. – 4:00 a.m. of the next day
    • Winter Trading Hours: Monday to Friday 10:30 p.m. – 5:00 a.m. of the next day
  • Form W-8BEN is a requirement of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) for U.S. tax reporting for non-U.S. persons. Non-U.S. persons are subject to U.S. tax withholding (generally 30%) on certain types of income received from U.S. sources, such as interest and dividends.

    Non-U.S. persons are required to complete and submit a duly completed Form W-8BEN for the reasons as below:
    • to establish that you are not a U.S. person; and
    • to claim that you are the beneficiary of the U.S.-sourced income for which the Form W-8BEN is provided; and
    • to claim, if applicable, a reduced rate of, or exemption from, withholding tax by being a resident of a foreign country with which the United States has an income tax treaty

    If you would like to know more about the instructions for Form W-8BEN and tax treaties, please visit the IRS websites or consult your tax adviser.

  • Before your W-8BEN status is expired, you need to submit a new Form W-8BEN to continue the service. You may submit Form W-8BEN in the following ways: email us at us-tax-processing.hk@sc.com, upload to our Online Form Submission portal, submit to any of our branches or mail to client On-Boarding Deposit Ops, 13/F Standard Chartered Tower, 388 Kwun Tong Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

  • Settlement day of the U.S. securities markets is 2 business days after trade execution day (T+2). For buy orders, debit of the purchase amount from your account and deposit of the purchased securities will take place 2 business days after trade execution day. For sell orders, sales proceeds will be credited to your account 2 business days after sale execution day.

    Actual settlement date is subject to market arrangement which maybe beyond the stated date due to time zone difference, different lead time required or suspension of business or trading.

  • The Bank does not allow buying of OTC stocks on the Online Securities Trading platform.

  • W-8BEN status is not yet available on Online Securities Trading platform.

  • If your W-8BEN status has expired, you will still be able to sell U.S. stocks. However, you will not be able to purchase U.S. stocks. It is advised to renew your W-8BEN status 3 months before expiration.

  • When our clients who are not U.S. Persons choose to invest in U.S. securities, they are required to furnish us with a Form W-8BEN to declare their non-U.S. Person status as well as whether they would be the beneficial owners of the income to be distributed in respect of such U.S. securities. Submission of the Form W-8BEN does not exempt you from the U.S. withholding tax imposed on dividends. This means, dividend payments are always net of withholding tax when credited to your account.

  • You may transfer U.S. securities by filling in the Transfer Request Form by visiting any of our branches or by calling Securities Trading Team. There may be third party fees or charges involved with respect to such transfers, which shall be borne by the clients.

  • All share transfers may take up to 14 working days to be completed (if all necessary documentation is accurate and complete). As share transfers involve other brokers, you will have to liaise with their other brokers to obtain the necessary documentation that is required to be submitted by them at their end. We may help to facilitate this on a best effort basis, but we bear no responsibility to provide any external party forms or for the accuracy of any information obtained from an external party.

  • There are different types of ADR fees that can be charged in the market which can be Corporate Action (“CA”) / event by event specific (or more broadly based which are not solely related to corporate events). These fees are usually charged by the ADR depositary bank/ Depository Trust Company.

    Some example of ADR Fees:
    1. Custody fees/ depositary services fees
    2. Dividend distribution fees
    3. Foreign currency exchange fees
    4. Voting of shares fees

  • The frequency of CA related fees charged on ADRs are largely dependent on the frequency of the dividend payout.

    ADR fees that are CA specific, a common practice for collection of the custody fee is for the ADR depositary bank to subtract the amount of the fee from the gross dividends paid by the bank to ADR holders.

    However, a number of ADR issues do not pay periodic dividends, which prevents the fees from being collected through the above-described mechanism.
    In this case, ADR depositary bank/ Depository Trust Company charges the fee to its users (i.e., banks and broker-dealers) who pass them on to their customers.

  • ADR fees that are not directly CA specific are can vary by security and issuer. For ADR fees which are not directly CA specific billing will process the invoices back to investors through monthly auto debit.
    For yearly fees, such as a servicing fee by the depository, CA will announce a general informational notice as a courtesy.

    The recommendation is to have the client review the prospectus to understand what fees may apply from an issuer‘s perspective. We strongly advise clients to find out the fees being charged before buying ADRs.

  • Fees can be viewed in the section of the registration statement typically titled “Description of American Depository Shares” or “Description of American Depository Receipts.” Typically, fees are assessed per ADR. For example, 1000 ADRs could be assessed a fee ranging from USD20 to USD50.

  • Like any other investment, clients should learn as much as they can about the company before they invest. Prior to investing in an ADR, Investors should review the fees reported in the Form F-6 registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933 available through the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml at no charge.

  • No. The Bank is only passing the fees charged to the Bank to clients who purchase ADR.

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Remarks:

  1. Only eligible securities under Northbound Trading of Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect are allowed.  Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect currently supports order placement over Securities Services Hotline only.
  2. Free real-time detailed quote entitlement will be based on your Banking Plans with the Bank.
  3. HKD1 will be charged for each SMS price alert.
  4. Each client is entitled to up to 200 free email price alerts per month.

Risk Disclosure Statement / Important Notes

Risk Disclosure Statement for Securities Services:

  • Investment involves risks. The prices of securities fluctuate, sometimes dramatically and the worst case may result in loss of your entire investment amount.
  • Past performance of any securities is no guide to its future performance. Investors should consider their own investment objectives, investment experience, financial situation, risk tolerance level and carefully read the Terms and Conditions of relevant Securities Services before making any investment decision.

For U.S. Securities Services only:

Key risks include but are not limited to below.
U.S. securities is subject to the laws and regulations of the U.S. Before you trade U.S. securities, you should be aware of:

  • The level of investor protection and safeguards that you are afforded in U.S., as U.S. securities would operate under a different regulatory regime.
  • The differences between the legal systems in U.S. and Hong Kong that may affect your ability to recover your funds.
  • The tax implications, currency risks, and additional transaction costs that you may have to incur.
  • The counterparty and correspondent broker risks that you are exposed to.
  • The political, economic and social developments that influence U.S. markets you are investing in.
  • The foreign exchange can negatively affect your value of investment.
  • U.S. markets may be subject to rules that offer different or diminished investor protection, which may expose you to additional risks.
  • U.S. suspension or restriction of trading, market conditions and/or the operation of the regulations of certain markets will make it difficult or impossible to effect certain transactions or liquidate positions. In such cases, you may face a higher risk of loss.

These and other risks may affect the value of your investment. You should not invest in the product if you do not understand or are not comfortable with such risks.

Important Notes of SMS/Email Communications:

  • Client is responsible for charges that may be imposed by individual mobile network operator (including but not limited to roaming service charges).
  • You will not receive a personal call to inform you of your order status if you have enrolled for SMS/ email order confirmation or placed your order through the online channel. Please use order status enquiry function to check the updated status of your order.
  • SMS order confirmation and price alert services require pre-registration and are subject to relevant Terms and Conditions.
  • The Bank gives no warranty as to the timeliness or reliability of the SMS/ email communications and shall have no liability in the event that the client fails to receive such communication.

Important Notes of Online Securities Trading and SC Equities:

  • The Bank will not be liable for any loss or damage to you as a result of making the Online Securities Trading Services available to you, unless the loss or damage is directly caused by our negligence or our wilful default.
  • For more details and the risks involved, please refer to the Securities Services Terms and Conditions or contact our branch staff.

Securities Terms and Conditions:

Notes

  • This website does not constitute any prediction of likely future price movements.
  • Investors should not make investment decisions based on this website alone.
  • This website has not been reviewed by the Securities and Futures Commission or any regulatory authority in Hong Kong.