I had been registered with TD Ameritrade, Inc. since January 2015. After one and a half year of membership, I received a notice from TD Ameritrade, Inc. on 15 of July 2016 stating that my account will be closing on 4 of November 2016.
Below was the email I received from TD Ameritrade:
Dear Valued Client,
TD Ameritrade, Inc. has made the business decision to no longer offer brokerage services in your area, starting on November 4, 2016.1 However, we are pleased to inform you that there are a number of choices available to you for your account:
1. Move Your Assets Within the TD Ameritrade Family:
You may choose to open an account with TD Ameritrade Asia Pte. Ltd. (“TD Ameritrade Asia”). By transferring your account ending in 1486 to TD Ameritrade Asia, you will still have access to many of the same great benefits you have today, such as:
– Our multi-award-winning thinkorswim® trading platform: a powerful, easy-to-use trading platform offering advanced customizable charting capabilities and elite-level analytics tools for trading on U.S. equity, options, and futures markets.
– Service when you need it: a dedicated support team located in Singapore to help make your transition easy.
– Free platform demonstrations and education: free weekly online platform demonstrations where you can learn how to use the thinkorswim platform to execute your trading strategies.
You will be able to transfer your account with no blackout period and little or no disruption to your trading. You will also remain on the same commission schedule you currently have.
How Do You Move Your Assets to TD Ameritrade Asia?
If you wish to open an account and move your assets to TD Ameritrade Asia, please follow these two easy steps:
– Complete the online application
Go to www.tdameritradeasia.com and click “Open an Account.”
– Submit the account-opening documents and the Internal Transfer Form
Once you complete the online application, you will be prompted to submit the account-opening documents and a completed Internal Transfer Form. You can fax these to (+65) 6238 6601 or mail them to TD Ameritrade Asia at: 1 Temasek Avenue, #15-02 Millenia Tower, Singapore 039192.2
If you have any questions or need assistance with this process, please contact the TD Ameritrade Asia office at (+65) 6823 2250 or via email at help@tdameritradeasia.com.
2. Transfer Your Account to Another Firm:
To do so, open an account with the receiving firm and have that firm initiate the transfer. Please allow three weeks for processing. If you choose to transfer to another firm, TD Ameritrade, Inc. will waive our transfer fee. However, until the transfer is initiated, any standard fees related to your account will continue to apply.
3. Liquidate Your Account and Request a Full Withdrawal:
You can sell all your securities and request a check, ACH, or wire transfer for the sale proceeds by logging in to your account and clicking My Account > Deposits & Transfers.
Wire, check, and ACH withdrawal requests (U.S. bank accounts only) are processed within one to two business days after they are received in good order. When liquidating assets, you’ll also need to allow for settlement time before the withdrawal can be made. If you choose to wire funds, TD Ameritrade, Inc. will waive our wire fee. However, until the wire is initiated, any standard fees related to your account will continue to apply.
Key Dates
Account Liquidation: If you have not transferred your full account out of TD Ameritrade, we will liquidate your account for you.
– On October 3, 2016, your account will be restricted to closing trades only, and we will not accept deposits of funds into the account except those intended to meet a margin call.
– On November 4, 2016, we will liquidate the account and mail a check for your account balance to your address of record. If your account holds securities positions, we will sell those securities and mail you a check once the trades have settled.
This came as a shock to me. Anyway, I chose to open the account at TD Ameritrade Asia (option 1 from the email above) so that I can keep my existing investments at TD Ameritrade intact.
I applied to TD Ameritrade Asia the next day on 16 July 2016.
I sent the required documents on 18 July 2016.
Documents to open an account at TD Ameritrade Asia
That was quite a lot of documents required (see picture above).
Four days later, I received an email from TD Ameritrade Asia telling me that I was not meeting the customer account review (CAR) requirements on 22 July 2016.
Below is the detail of the email:
Hi _____,
With regards to your TD Ameritrade Asia new account opening, we will need the following from you to complete the application
· As you did not meet the customer account review requirement, you will need to do the SGX quiz
· A copy of your employment pass (Front & Back)
SGX Quiz
SGX Quiz & Additional Information – Attached Instructions
If you do not meet the requirements in the CAR form, we require you to take the SGX learning module available at the “Online Education Programme.â€
You may attempt the Quiz until you pass. The Quiz is free of charge.
Successful completion of the quiz following the module will qualify you to trade the listed Specified Investment Products TD Ameritrade Asia offers.
Once you have passed the test, please send the results together with your replies to the 2 questions below:-
a. The number of correct answers on any previous attempts BEFORE passing the quiz (if applicable)
b. The name of any brokers who have rejected your application to open an account to trade Specified Investment Products
Regards,
Desmond Lim
Representative, Accounts
Here is the attachment: SGX Quiz Registration.
I took the quiz on 23 July 2016 and sent the passing result to accounts@tdameritradeasia.com right away. Note: Be prepared to take about an hour or two to go through the courses and take the quiz.
Once you passed the quiz, you will receive an email notification. Sample quiz result notification email from sgx.com:
Dear ____ _____ ____,
Congratulations!
You answered 18 questions correctly out of a total of 20 questions. Your overall score is 90%.
You have PASSED the quiz.
Thank you for taking time to complete this quiz.
We hope you have found the SGX Online Education Programme useful.
Regards,
SGX elearning System Administrator
My account was ready on 27 July 2016 with a welcome email from TD Ameritrade Asia.
On 29 July 2016, the transfer from my TD Ameritrade account to TD Ameritrade Asia account is completed with all my open trades and cash balance moved to TD Ameritrade Asia. However, I am no longer be able to access TD Ameritrade dashboard.
So there it is: it took about two weeks (14 days) to move your asset from TD Ameritrade to TD Ameritrade Asia.