IB supported stock exchanges - NO Korean stocks?

Discussion in 'Interactive Brokers' started by markd01, Jul 20, 2019.

  1. d08

    d08

    Not exactly true. There are additional requirements.
     
    #11     Jul 20, 2019
  2. guru

    guru

    #12     Jul 20, 2019
  3. I think @entropytrading was spot on. He perhaps forgot to mention that Korean won is one of the currencies that is not freely convertible because of monetary controls on Korea's side. For ages dealers and brokers in the interdealer market had to trade NDFs because they could not otherwise convert and hedge their Korean won exposure. There is no point to offer stock trading in a country that is notoriously hostile to foreigners and foreign investment. Korea takes a very selfish approach to handling foreign companies that are active in Korea. Any lawsuit in Korean courts is treated in a very biased way as soon as a foreign firm is involved. Korea is in many ways a developing nation that just can't step out of its shadow.

    It's funny how patriotic Koreans seem on one side but if you offered all Koreans American immigration visa tomorrow half the nation would leave their country behind overnight. Same issue with how they all denigrated and publicly pronounced their dislike for Japanese products forever yet constantly buy made in Japan. Despite the issue of war reparations having been agreed on and solved in 1965 and the issue of comfort women having been resolved 5 years ago the Korean supreme court just recently opened pandoras box yet again. No wonder that the Japanese just about had it and retaliate. If you add this xenophobia by Koreans and the bias against foreign firms plus the many hardships that are thrown in the way of foreign investors it is no surprise that many brokers stay far away from Korea. It's a culture and market place I quite dislike because of the funny interpretation of ethical and moral values of its population and I see no reason to invest in. What do you want to invest in anyway when it's hard to short Korean shares and when Samsung owns 21% of the entire stock exchange market capitalization?

     
    #13     Jul 20, 2019
    heispark, HobbyTrading and d08 like this.
  4. It's not an issue with IB it's quite literally a gamr Korean regulators and their government loves to play. When benefits are to be had they go out of their way but when it comes to owning up and creating a fair and accessible market place they don't take any prisoners. A very hipocritical society and culture and it is reflected in its financial market as well.

     
    #14     Jul 20, 2019
  5. You are the only one knowing what you are talking about and knowledgeable about the reality, which unfortunately is very rare in this retail investor website. I did look at a few Korean singles (cafe24 etc) but yes later found out some shorting issues and gave up the idea. Amazing how you bother to entertain the dumb OB.
     
    #15     Jul 20, 2019
    GRULSTMRNN likes this.
  6. Fain

    Fain

    CEO said it was due to Currency controls/restrictions make it hard for operations there. This is why they haven't gone into South African equities either. Not impossible but makes it harder.

    They are working to onboard Taiwan, South Korea, and Thailand as new exchange offerings but have been delayed by other projects taking priority.
     
    #16     Jul 20, 2019
  7. 20bps commission per side is outrageous and a definite disaster for anyone aiming to trade lesser than multi day or multi week holding periods. No market access in the world is worth paying such outrageous fees.

     
    #17     Jul 20, 2019
  8. Even professionals outside of Korea generally stay far away from Korean stocks. The only tradable assets in Korea are kospi futures and options.

     
    #18     Jul 20, 2019
  9. markd01

    markd01

    Fain, would you have a link to a news story or know of a timeline for onboarding additional stock exchanges at IB?
     
    #19     Jul 20, 2019
  10. markd01

    markd01

    GRULSTMRNN, yes, high stamp duty markets make it more challenging but not impossible to make money in the UK, Hong Kong, France, Italy. Definetely need higher average pl which comes with swing trading / multi-day holding period. Korea is said to be cutting their taxes according to this https://www.reuters.com/article/sou...stock-transaction-tax-this-year-idUSL3N21806A
     
    #20     Jul 20, 2019