Can a person living in Africa invest in British and US Markets and how ?

Question

My friend , who lives in Zimbabwe which currently is experiencing hyperinflation wants to invest his foreign currency earned from his flower export on British and USA stock markets or investment companies so that he does not loose his retirement funds .he has about US10 000 . He is worried sick and i cannot help .Any specific Investment vehicles he can use since he can not come physically to Europe .

Answer 1

The standard requirement to open a brokerage account is to provide enough identification to prove where you live and who you are. That normally means they take a copy of your passport and a utility bill. I have opened a brokerage account in the UK and the US and both times it was quick and easy once I produced an identification.

In most cases it doesn't matter where you live. The rules are the same for everyone, and the brokerage companies will be happy to take your money even if you're living on the other side of the world. If you can pass the identification requirements and pay the fees then you're in.

There are a tiny number of countries where the US and UK regulators consider that there are no effective money laundering controls in place and they will not allow citizens of those countries to open brokerage accounts. It is considered too dangerous - accounts from those countries would be used for criminal purposes. You need to check but I'm pretty sure Zimbabwe is one of those countries. The others I know of are Burma, Iraq, Iran, Syria and North Korea.

So a person living in Zimbabwe will not be able to directly invest in the British and US Markets.

Answer 2

Andy is absolutely correct. He may have trouble opening account because of lack of proof residency and etc. He needs to open a trust account, and needs someone in a more accessible country to be the trustee. Basically he would give the trustee the money and he'd invest on his behalf. I would suggest, maybe yourself calling a major firm and inquire about this. He can make contributions to these accounts however he can not take it out, while in africa. He would need to be in europe most likely. Or his trustee can do this for him.

hope this helps.

Answer 3

Although you can open a brockerage account as the first guy said. It is probably not that easy.

Most countries now will want to see KYC documents (proof of address and identity - e.g. passports) in order to open the account.

Some of them may also be suspicious of foreign cash transactions for money laundering concerns.

Answer 4

Open a brokerage account with any one of many USA on line stock brokerage firms, or you can open with British or Canada firms who trade on the US exchanges.