Cicero

Yes, I was required to obtain a foreign investor ID. Understand this to be a requirement with all brokers in Korea. You need to fill out a form, Ebest does the rest. Funny thing: the ID seems to be a running number, so looks like in total they issued 50,000 IDs over time. Ebest did not mention any account minimums, but I did tell them upfront what I wanted to fund the account with, so could be that it happened to be above and they never mentioned it. Would ask Koowoonmo. He is fairly responsive.

Totally understand. On the IR page: there are a few broken links, missing docs etc. However, if you contact the IR team they send you what you ask for directly via email. They tend to be fairly responsive. Often same day. Probably will not change your assessment, but thought I'd point out.

I have in writing from them that there are no fees except FX and commissions for buy or sell i.e. no fees for dividends, custody etc. So there should be no yearly costs. Was not entirely clear how they handle proxy votes and if they charge for that, but that is too an extent at my discretion, so did not worry about that too much.

To close out the discussion on Korean stock brokers. None of the Korean stock brokers listed above got back to me. I did in the end open an account with eBest in Korea. Below some thoughts on my biased view on the pros and cons: # Commissions: are as high as Monex Boom. There is a mark-up on the FX between KRW and USD. I am not sure that Monex Boom has such a mark-up, but I suspect they do. No other charges save for commissions and FX mark-up. Wiring money into Korea is about USD 20 per wire depending on the bank you are using of course. # Account opening: eBest do their best to make the process smooth, but it's not super easy. You will have to get a few documents certified and there are some forms to fill. It also takes a while, assume two weeks if things go fast. # Orders: only calling/ email works. Website is accessible but you have to submit order by voice/ email for technical reasons. # Security: Shares are held in your name with the central depository. ebest is listed in Korea and rated by Nice and Kis with a A2+ rating. There is a Korean version of deposit insurance that covers cash and securities up to about USD 50 k. The central depository has insurance as well, but it also has about USD 4 Trn in assets so if the depository fails, there are likely to be problems so grave in Korea that the insurance won't matter much. Is it worth it vs. Monex Boom? I sleep a bit better this way, but can understand if someone prefers Monex Boom. @RetroRanger Email him again, he is usually quite responsive. Maybe just overlooked the email. If you continue to struggle DM me, I can give you his telephone number.

Understand from Koowoonmo that a member of this board is a client of Koowoonmo who pointed him into the direction of the board (thank you!). If you read this can you message me? He seems very professional and I have nothing but good things to say so far, but would be great to validate with someone who has more experience with him. Thanks for your help!

OCBC never came back. None of the other Korean brokers responded. I am in touch with Kowoonmo, but it is quite a process!

Thank you. You are right. Philip Securities is lower than OCBC. I thought I had read 0.8%, perhaps misread something. Would still prefer Monex Boom over Philip as for the former you have a listed, sizable parent, financial statement (for the parent) and an idea who controls the company. In addition the commission is almost meaningless without knowing the FX. The mark-up on the spread is quite sizeable, bigger than the commission in some cases and much more opaque. It’s a shame. Philip does offer an interesting set of countries. Would be a great complement to IB.

Few things I picked up: 1. Hong Kong vs. Singapore: both jurisdictions have a compensation fund and they are very similar. Bottom line is that cap is pretty low ($40-70 K) and that it does not apply to foreign stocks 2. OCBC (Singapore) : seems to be very expensive 0.8% commission AND the FX is quite cumbersome. You need to FX from SGD and they don't tell you the spread they are using (only once the account is opened). Not sure it is worth opening an account with them; my sense is the FX spread is pretty wide. The upside here is that the broker is owned OCBC a large AA- rated bank. 3. Philip Securities (Singapore or HK): Seems the worst of all worlds. As expensive as OCBC but without the backing of a strong parent. Monex Boom seems like a safer and cheaper option. Emailed them some questions, but they never came back 4. Samsung Securities: Broker in Korea. Intriguingly they have some of the forms on their website needed to open an account as a foreigner. Emailed them. Let see what comes back 5. KB Securities: Nothing on the website suggests you can open an account with them. No contact details either 6. Korea Investment and Securities: the broker Monex Boom uses as custodian. They have some information on how to invest in Korea as a foreigner on their website (domain is eng.truefriend.com !). So looks like they do this conceptually. Emailed them. Let's see 7. Monex Boom: they do seem fairly responsive to email requests. Monex the parent company is a fairly significant broker in Japan. Seems fairly solid if not the most conservative broker out there (significant footprint in crypto currencies) 8. Someone from Ebest reached out on the Nice Holdings thread. They seem to be able to accommodate foreigners. Let see where that discussion goes

Starting a thread on how to invest in Korean stocks. So far there seem to be two potential options: Monex Boom and OCBC Securities. Have also reached out to several Korean stock brokers to see whether it is possible to open an account as a non-resident.