All existing Suncorp Share Trade accounts have this feature enabled. Simply log in to the platform and search for an international stock. Please note, this feature is not available to phone only or margin lending accounts.

Placing an international shares order is much like placing one for domestic shares.

To place an international shares order, open an order ticket in the usual way, enter the stock code, select either Buy or Sell and fill in the required information as you would for domestic stocks.

The exchange rate for international transactions is calculated at the time of execution and is based on the best available bid/offer exchange rates, plus a spread of just 0.60%.

Suncorp Share Trade offers you access to trade on major exchanges in 15 different countries including the US, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, NZ.

The W-8 forms (also known as ‘US Tax forms’) are a legal document required by the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) in order to declare your tax status. By completing the form you may be able to claim a reduced rate of withholding tax. It is valid until 31 December; three years from the year, you signed the form. You can complete this form electronically through the platform, simply choose US Tax form from the Support menu.

Execution  

All international share orders placed on our stockbroking platforms are executed by Morgan Stanley.

Custodian  

When trading with Suncorp Share Trade, your international securities are held in a custody arrangement between CMC Markets Stockbroking and BNP Paribas Securities Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of the BNP Paribas Group, a leading global custodian and securities services provider. BNP Paribas Securities Services is a multi-asset servicing specialist and best-in-class custodian with over USD 11 trillion in assets under custody. HIBNP Paribas Group and one of the highest-rated asset servicing banks in the industry.

The 2% Foreign Exchange (FX) buffer is not an additional fee
The buffer acts as a cushion against currency movements ensuring there are sufficient available funds in your account to fill your order. When your order fills, excess funds are automatically added back to your ‘available funds’ value on the platform.

Buffer funds are not withdrawn from your settlement account, but only locked in the ‘available funds’ calculation until your order has filled. The buffer only applies to ‘buy’ orders.

Impact

For international buy orders a 2% FX buffer is added to the trade value at the time the order is placed.* This ensures you have sufficient funds in your account to cover any foreign exchange fluctuations between the time your order is ‘placed’ and when it is ‘filled’ on the international market.
Any excess buffer will be unlocked on the execution or cancellation of that order. The FX conversion rate is determined as the order fills on the overseas stock exchange in real-time.

*The FX buffer currently applied to international buy orders is 2% of the trade value and is subject to change.

Example

Jane submits an order to buy US$1,000 of US shares at 10:30 am Sydney time.
At the time she places her order the exchange rate is 1.489 and the US market is closed. The estimated AUD value of the order is $1,489.00 + $19.95 brokerage = AUD $1,508.95.

The trading platform applies a buffer of AUD 30.17 (2%) to the order as protection against exchange rate fluctuations.

By the time the US market opens the exchange rate has moved to 1.481 and the order is submitted and executed immediately. The AUD value of the order at execution is $AUD1,481 + $AUD 19.95 = $AUD 1,500.95.

The buffer is now released from Jane’s Available to Trade value on the trading platform.

To access all fees and charges click here.