Here's what I did:
• I was guided by the sheet which was attached to the DRS papers, which I think suggested CommSec and IB, so I chose IB;
• (no particular reason, had prob with CommSec before, but I now believe they're all pompous gits)
• opened an account with IB and transferred some cash into it (no guidance on how much, I dropped $500 - $1000)
• completed inbound transfer request following site instructions
• (see my earlier Post #:
61233710 above re being fleeced of the mandatory fee)
• The AEM.TSX shares arrived in my IB portfolio a couple of days after the second attempt
That's where I'm at now, but here are some further points which may be of interest:
(i) In Australia, when you hold broker-sponsored (CHESS) shares, they still appear in your portfolio when you log into the relevant share registry web-site (Link, Computershare, Boardroom etc). In Canada, once you transfer them to your broker, they no longer appear at the registry. If you are to receive a dividend, it will come from your broker. That may be obvious to more experienced investors, but it did have me confused at one stage.
(ii) Minor warning - when entering your profile data joining IB, if you put anything other than 'experienced investor', your application will be rejected. I tried to enter something in the middle (there so many geniuses on HC I feel a bit inadequate)
(iii) I'm fairly sure the 'error' in my first tfr request came from the fact that when I completed my IB profile, obviously it asked for my full name, and I'm 90% sure there was a note saying you can change it later, but when you're filling out the tfr request, it takes your name from your IB profile, and
you cannot edit it. As you'd appreciate, most people have a first, second and surname which can be expressed in many different ways (e.g. FirstName_Surname only, FirstName_Initial_Surname etc). I reckon there's a good chance of not getting a match with the holding record just on that, but if (as happened in my case re the blank middle name in Post #:
61233710) there are other issues on how the data is accepted at the other end, what hope do you have?
I don't have an opinion on who is the best broker (see above 'gits' comment) but seeking advice or dealing with a one-off issue with IB is extremely difficult. As with all big companies, it takes a bit of tenacity just to speak to a person, but when you do, there are other issues. When seeking clarification while opening my account, I found I was speaking to someone in Singapore on a poor line; this bloke had a strong sub-continental accent and spoke softly at a million MPH; on a later call after my rejection fee, the guy had a different accent, not quite so pronounced, but also just didn't seem to know anything. The third time I spoke to a person, she too was from NESB, but spoke clearly. She was very patient, even though she most likely thought I was a stupid old twit. Amazingly, she was the one who rang me back the next day to get me to edit my profile.
(iv) Highly irritated and by now on a pointless rampage, I went on a mission to find out how to complain. I had a look through the ACCC & ASIC web-sites and some others referred to therein, but being old and decrepit, I almost petered out. My last act was to refer the matter to my federal MP - they don't have much to do right now, what could go wrong?
As it happens, one of my MP's staff has since replied. I'm not sure if it's useful, but she suggested re-approaching both IB and Computershare Canada (I'm not attracted to that option), but also sent me references to:
- Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada: https://www.iiroc.ca/investors/how-make-complaint, and the
- Toronto Stock Exchange for advice: https://www.tsx.com/contact/other-inquiries
.... and that's where I'm at.
Hope this is of some help; still interested in feedback on others' expereriences.
If anyone is opening an IB account, please take note of each step of the process and let us know if you can confirm any of my experiences (or not).
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