Thank you very much, Freedinner. Most people are careless and never ask questions or investigate anything. I don't know why, they probably expect to be bailed out by any g'ment agency no matter what? Esspecially here in Europe where welfare and gov't spending is much higher. I certainly don't trust anyone in the financial system, both persons or institutions. I have worked hard for my money and want to be sure of their well being. I contacted two Norwegian brokers that offer international trades and asked them who is the official owners of the int'l shares. Within Scandiavia I am the official owner, but outside that all is registered in a depot in a foreign bank in the brokerage's name. I asked the name of the banks: Commerzbank and BNP..... When I asked the brokerage about what happens in a bankruptcy, they basically had no clue and couldn't answer. Thanks for Degiro. I know them but had forgotten about them. I will contact them today. If there is a global financial meltdown I think most of the bank will experience the same as in 2008. As far as I can see nothing is better now than it was. European banks I believe are in much worse shape than US banks. Glad to hear that you think IB is good. I have never read their reports but perhaps a good idea to do so. But I agree with you, I can't understand why they don't offer customers to register shares in their own name for a fee. This must be a piece of cake to do. So there must be some accounting reasons they don't do it?
Hello, I am facing a similar problem, i am a greek citizen and i owe Nestle stocks. I should have paid 15% dividend tax, but IB registered my shares on its name and the tax was 35%. Crazy... any suggestion on that? Has it happened to you in the past? thank you
I also have the same concern on shares and cash held at brokers. Forty to fifty years ago brokers would register my shares in my name. When I sold the shares, the broker would have me sign on the back of the shares within three days of the sell date. I think I can still find brokers that will buy shares in my name but not most discount brokers with out paying a hefty fee for the service. Spreading holdings using additional brokerage firms is probably the cheapest way to protect large holdings of shares and/or cash but that is a lot of extra work for the client. iB has come up with a good way to protect cash up to $2,750,000. IB now needs to come up with a way to protect large holdings in securities positions.
Is your account at IB USA? If so, have you made sure hat you filled out a W-8BEN form at IB? This might help in getting the tax rate adjusted, depending on your situation.
If you believe that IB has withheld too much tax then it would be best to contact them and ask for a correction to be made. You can use this list for reference: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/Tax_Treaty_Table_1.pdf