What are the differences between those 2 types of accounts, I don't like the idea of having my money parked in Europe. I don't trust the regulators nor the politicians, they will find a way to trace everything and tax it, like they did for euro bonds. Also is the account protection really the same? IB says the clearing entities are different, what could be the consequences of this? Where would you rather have your money in case of a major financial collapse, in the U.S. or in the UK or Euroland ?
I think Europe is safer than the US at present. As for the points - I dont hold an account with IB but presumably the difference is in the base currency? I believe the SEC regulate Europe and US so there may be no change there. As for the tax evasion, I dont think EU countries make any difference. Since 9-11 ALL banks (except the Swiss) must comply with money laundering regulations, so your money will be traced if you are transferring between countries no matter. BUT it is criminal activities they are loooking for (ie CIA not IRS doing the checking) As for not not trusting their politicians, I think we in the US have a LOT to answer on this. I mean bush wasn't even fairly elected was he? Look at the lies that we were told over 9-11. Looks like they knew all the time! Anyway, sorry for that, I dont want to change the topic of the thread.
Beyond the concern about my money being trapped in a future pan european tax hell, I just want to make sure that the account protection will be in practice strictly the same which to me seems doubtful. How can it be with different "clearing entities", different banking systems and different investors protection laws? I am gonna have all my net worth in one account pretty much and it worries me.