Foreigner

Hello,
i am am living in France et want to open an account in an indian online bank, put money on it and invest into mutual funds and/or trade.
Which company can you advice to me ?
Thanks.

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chavas,

I'm in the same boat as you are. I have traded the US stock market for 9 yrs - stocks, options and futures; and am looking to do the same inthe Indian stock market.

I've found out to date that you need the following to begin trading in India:
- NRE account with a bank (mine is with HDFC)
- a Demat account (once you set up the bank acct, my NRI relationship manager at HDFC helped me process the paperwork for this)
- a trading account (this is where I'm stuck at the moment...)

I need to make a decision relating to which online brokerage....sharekhan, icici direct, navia markets (which HDFC-Chennai is suggesting I use), India Infoline/5paisa, kotak, any others?

Do the experts here have an opinion on how these brokerages differ in commissions, customer service, trading / charting package, security, accuracy of data feeds etc.

I don't have all the details, but suggest you search this forum as I'm sure this has been answered before.

Essentially what I do know is that most big Indian banks provide what they call a 3 in 1 account, consisting of a Bank account, Dmat account and Trading account.

I started with ICICI bank, having the trading account as ICICI Direct. Banks providing trading accounts are usually more expensive brokerage wise. If you are looking at buy & hold that shouldn't be a problem.

When opening a trading account outside your bank they will usually ask you to set up another Dmat account with them, siting the reason as that there are complications dealing with your banks dmat. I don't know if this is true or not.

Some of these guys trade stock held in YOUR dmat account. Big news on this recently. I can't comment on which companies are better or worse, it really comes down to trusting the individual guy in the satellite office.

You can usually negotiate better rates with these independent brokers like Sharekhan etc.

I looked at Sharekhan & India Infoline. Sharekhan has better charting and India Infoline is faster and can negotiate a better rate with them. I guess you need to figure what's most important to you from the broker account you choose.

Hope this helps,

I am an NRI and have been trading in Stocks. You'll find the following URL is useful http://jayesh.profitfromprices.com/invest_in_india.htm

I have been using HDFCSecurities and I WILL NOT recommend them for the following reasons 1. They use very strange names for the stocks. for example, everybody knows and trades a stock "TTML". But HDFC sec has a name like "HUGHESTELECOMEQ". It will blow your brains out 2. Their trading software is Light years Behind 3. Their security is overkill. If you can enter a traction in 10 minutes - you are outstanding It will automatically log you out, if you are inactive for 59 seconds... and you start all over again in the pre-historic software. 4. They also do not provide any charting software.


Find a broker who will offer a good charting software (I mean live data - do not compromise on this) and please do shop and bargain on brokerage. All brokers think that just because you are an NRI, you will not bother about brokerage. Sometime they add up and it could cost you as much as 10% of the value of the trade. Also be aware that when you find a third party broker ( like ShareKhan or Angel Broking ) they will have to open a Demat and as well a PIS account ( Portfolio Investment Scheme) with a authorized bank like HDFC, ICICI or AXIS bank and this Bank will charge you a minimum of Rs. 100.00 / transaction/item.

I believe for Indian Resident, you can bargain as low as 0.10% of the trade (inclusive of all costs). But, if you are NRE customer you may have to pay 0.75% as brokerage + 10% of the brokerage as Service Fees + 0.075% as securities Tax + Rs 100.00 for PIS reporting fees. So you trading size has be relatively large to overcome all these charges, before you can smell profits. The Brokers doesn't do anything special just because you are an NRE - but they say that can only do Delivery based transactions (what a dumb excuse!!) and you are NOT allowed to do day trading.

I will recommend Interactive Brokers (who has the excellent trading Software + Charting Software+ Best brokerage. Their initial requirements to open the account is high) + AXIS bank.

All the best,