Those who have been following my blog will know that I am in the process of learning to write options. After a few months of doing so, I felt that it’s best to prioritize active practice while I learn, instead of passive learning. Hence, I have decided to transfer a few of my US shares from Standard Chartered to TD Ameritrade to kickstart my options journey.
Before I attempted to shift my shares to TD Ameritrade, I did some Googling to find out the steps. Kyith of Investmentmoats.com has kindly shared his experience on share transfer from Standard Chartered to Interactive Brokers, and that’s the closest I can find.
To those who had tried contacting TD Ameritrade, be it to check your account opening status or enquire about your account balance, you are likely to be placed on a very long hold- which takes forever and a day. Thus, I didn’t call them to avoid experiencing the same frustration over again. I tried my luck instead by sending them an email and I was surprised at their swift response and so I have successfully transferred four counters to TD Ameritrade in less than four working days!
I will break down the whole transfer process into simple steps. For transfer of shares to Interactive Brokers, as Kyith has laid out here, there are two parts to it: informing SC on outgoing share transfer and notifying IBKR on transfer-in of shares. It is pretty much the same for incoming transfer to TD Ameritrade, other than fields to be inputted. You can either submit the form via the hardcopy or the softcopy way. I did the latter because it was more convenient- most of the input fields are auto-filled and I could copy and paste most of the information.
Let’s get started.
Standard Chartered Platform
1. Menu -> Invest -> Online Trading (this should be a no-brainer for seasoned investors who frequent SC Platform 😉)
2. Click on this icon (underlined in black) and click on the Share Transfer Form.
3. Transfer Type- Transfer out of SC Online Trading, No Change in Beneficial Owner
4. Account Holder details
Trading Acc no: Click on the dropdown Menu to select your account number.
Name of Account Holder: It will be auto-populated once trading account number. is selected
To find your account no, here are the steps:
ii. Login
iii. Under Account Centre, select Account Forms
Identification No: To input your NRIC number.
Telephone/ Mobile No: Auto-Populate once trading account number is selected
5. Transferee Holder Details
Trading account no: Transferee account i.e. your TD Ameritrade account number.
Name of Account Holder: It will be auto-populated once SC trading account number is selected
IC Number: It will be auto generated once you have inputted your IC number of transferor since there is no change in beneficial owner.
6. Counterparty Details :I have emailed TD Ameritrade and this was the advice from the staff. (refer to the image below) Click next once done.
7. A list of your existing stocks and available quantities will be auto populated . Key in the transfer quantity to indicate the number of shares you wish to transfer out to SC to TD Ameritrade. Unlike IBKR, TD Ameritrade only accepts stocks and ETF listed in the US Stock Exchange. I had made a mistake and attempted to transfer my 9988.HK shares to TD Ameritrade. The staff was kind enough to inform me about it, and hence I won’t be charged $39 USD for the attempt to transfer out. Click next.
8.Check the box after you read the Terms and Conditions and click next to get a reference number, which is an indication that they have acknowledged your request to transfer shares out of SC into their platform.
TD Ameritrade Platform
Unlike IBKR, there isn’t a form to be filled in. You are only required to drop an email to
[email protected] on the recent monthly bank/broker account reflecting your name, account number, logo
and the shares to transfer as to verify ownership of the transferor.
Here’s how you can generate the statement with all the details required by TD Ameritrade.
Go to Menu option and select Securities eDocuments, right under Invest.
After you have authenticated your login, select Securities, and choose Monthly Statement of Securities Account and view PDF. You will be prompt to download the pdf document of the Monthly Statement of Securities Account
Once you have sent an email to TD Ameritrade with the Monthly Statement of Securities Account, you will receive an acknowledgement from TD Ameritrade informing you that the turnaround time is 7-10 working days. I submitted my request to transfer on the 14th Sept and the TD Ameritrade team replied to me on the same day itself.
I logged in to TD Ameritrade platform on 20th September and was pleased that those shares were reflected in the Equities and Equity Option dropdown. Three working days or less was all it took!
Should I port over my shares out of Standard Chartered to TD Ameritrade?
If your priority is to enjoy commission free for trading US stocks and you only trade US stocks and options, then TD Ameritrade is for you. However, if you are looking for a one stop shop for all your shares across different markets, Standard Chartered or IBKR would be a better choice.
Here is a simple chart for you to decide which platform to use. I have yet to fully explore the features of Tiger Brokers and Moomoo, hence I will leave these out for now. Will do a separate post to analyse these two investment platforms.
If I had to choose the best platform, Interactive Brokers should easily win hands down because it is accessible for investors to have exposure in 26 global markets. You can even execute pre-market trades, and trade Hong Kong Options too.
Thank you so much for spending time to read my blog and I really appreciate you. If you enjoyed reading my blog, hope you can support me by liking my Facebook page
here or share my post. You may also follow my Twitter account here, where I post my buy and sell transactions. Currently, I do not earn any fees through any affiliate programme or sponsor. If you have any queries, feel free to post them and I am happy to take questions! 🙂
Hey Kelvin, thanks for the link. The most important thing is that you get the process through successfully. I will link your article so that readers who has been asking about TD Ameritrade can reference this.
Eh why don't u buy 100 and sell 100 on the same day? Isn't it easier? TD Ameritrade always short handed 🙁
Thanks Kyith, appreciate it! Yup, transfer went thru successfully! 🙂
Hi Ling!
Haha, I have already thought of it before.
The problem is that when I sell my HK/US shares in SC platform, I need to convert to SGD and the forex in SC is quite bad, even for SC priority banking.
Yes, TD Ameritade is short handed, but as I have mentioned in my blogpost, their email response is quick and turnaround time for share transfer is faster than expected.
Any charges from Standard Chartered Bank and/or TD for transferring the shares?
Any charges from Standard Chartered Bank and/or TD for transferring the shares?
Hi PK,
It's USD 39 per counter.
Hi there
Thanks so much for your step by step sharing on the US stocks from SCB transfer to TD.
I tried, but may I check on the point 8, you mentioned SCB will send a acknowledgement reference no, however I did not receive any reference no. When I click next after check the box to agree with the term and condition, it goes back to page 1 at the form.
Appreciate your time in advance for your reply.
Cheers!
Hi, sorry for the late reply. SC will charge USD39, TD no charge
Hi Connie, it's likely that the application wasn't processed. I received an email from [email protected] with the subject title SCBSL:Share Transfer Application Submitted and APPLICATION REFERENCE NUMBER.
Consider clearing your cache and cookies and try it again. Let me know if it works!
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