US NRI Investing in Stocks India

[venky08]

Can somebody who open a brokerage account in India while on NRI status please provide information as to how to do it?

[akred]

Originally Posted by venky08

Can somebody who open a brokerage account in India while on NRI status please provide information as to how to do it?

I did it but then closed it as it is cheaper, safer and more convienient to invest using a US based account.

Basically this is what you have to do.

1. Approach an broker. Mine was a sub-broker of ILFS.

2. Open demat account, and broker account. Both accounts will have separate maintainence charges.

3. Prepare power of attorney(s) in favor of someone who will be available locally in case of an emergent situation. Deposit POA with broker and have them give you a receipt that they have acknowleged it.

4. Open NRE account with a bank authorized to get RBI approval for the Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS). Broker will then link these two accounts.

5. Get client codes, fund the account and start trading. You have two options - a) trade over phone/email/fax or b) hire the broker as a portfolio manager @~2% of total assets a year.

[kumar1]

s

[ramaonline]

I have an nre demat acct thru ICICI - You can find all info on icicibank.com - It wld take abt 2 months to get the acct opened - and requires PAN number

You can trade thru any broker - All dividends/stock sale payments etc will be credited to your linked NRE savings a/c

You cannot trade online but can do it on the phone thru your broker. You must pay capital gains tax for short sales just like any resident Indian if the total earnings exceed the standard deduction for a certain year.

[reddweb]

Originally Posted by akred

I did it but then closed it as it is cheaper, safer and more convienient to invest using a US based account.

what do you mean by US based account? Do you mean investing in US stockexchange based indian ETFs? using US trading account?

[mnkaushik]

Are we supposed to pay any taxes in the US for the money we make in India? Does it change based on your status? Are there different rules if your H1 as compared to EAD or GC?

[miththoo]

Originally Posted by ramaonline

I have an nre demat acct thru ICICI - You can find all info on icicibank.com - It wld take abt 2 months to get the acct opened - and requires PAN number

You can trade thru any broker - All dividends/stock sale payments etc will be credited to your linked NRE savings a/c

You cannot trade online but can do it on the phone thru your broker. You must pay capital gains tax for short sales just like any resident Indian if the total earnings exceed the standard deduction for a certain year.

Where did you open the NRE Demat account in ICICI ? I enquired in one of their branches but those folks did not know about this ?

Thanks,
Miththoo

[miththoo]

Originally Posted by yabadaba

wats a PIS account?

PIS is Portfolio Investment Account which has RBI's approval. When you ask a bank e.g. UTI to open the PIS account, they ll generally get the RBI approval on your behalf.

Miththoo

[akred]

Originally Posted by reddweb

what do you mean by US based account? Do you mean investing in US stockexchange based indian ETFs? using US trading account?

Yes.

[sam_hoosier]

Originally Posted by bestin

Hi i opened my account when i was a resident Indian in 2004.

Then you can trade through that as a Resident. The money you invest & the gains will not be repatriable though, but atleast you can get some good returns.

[immigrationvoice1]

.

[gconmymind]

Originally Posted by a.j.2048

Thanks for the tip on MINDX. With no-load and an expense ratio of 1.41%, MINDX is cheaper than any Indian mutual fund one can buy.

You can also buy Life insurance policies that invest in the market. these are repatriable after several years. One great way for long-term india investment.

Btw, I am invested in MINDX, IFN, IIF. MINDX tends to follow BSE-100. IFN/IIF are more prone to mood swings.

[21stIcon]

http://www.r2iclubforums.com/clubvb/

[reddweb]

akred

can you please educate us on why NRI's investing via demat (PINs account) is not cost effective.

I have been trying to open a icicidirect account for putting some money in indian market (i am not so sure about dollar holding value), i have seen fees charged by icicidirect in maintaining the account is little high...lot of charges.

Is swing trading indian markets not cost effective? I dont think indian retail brokerage is as cost effective as retail brokerage here.

we might as well (swing)trade MINDX, IFN, IIF etc here in US?

[psam]

Originally Posted by ramaonline

I have an nre demat acct thru ICICI - You can find all info on icicibank.com - It wld take abt 2 months to get the acct opened - and requires PAN number

You can trade thru any broker - All dividends/stock sale payments etc will be credited to your linked NRE savings a/c

You cannot trade online but can do it on the phone thru your broker. You must pay capital gains tax for short sales just like any resident Indian if the total earnings exceed the standard deduction for a certain year.

Can you recommend some brokers who are good and allow phone banking.
Also someone friendly with postal communication from US is good.