How to buy US stocks and ETFs from Germany

This page lists the investment platforms whose own pages say they accept residents of Germany, with their licences, fees and the deposit methods available here. We only count platforms that publish a list of the countries they accept: a company that does not say whom it accepts is left out, even if it might open an account for you. Being on the list is not a recommendation.

Some verified points for Germany:

• Interactive Brokers names Germany on its list of available countries and territories. Its pages do not say which of its companies opens accounts for residents of Germany, so check the company named in your client agreement; one of them is Interactive Brokers Ireland Limited, regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. IBKR charges no fee for bank transfer deposits (your bank may), and after two free withdrawals a calendar month it charges a fee per withdrawal.
• BaFin, Germany’s financial supervisor, says that banks, investment firms and other financial services providers “need written authorisation from Bafin” before they can do business. Firms from another EEA country that work in Germany under the freedom to provide services or through a branch “are only required to register with Bafin”, which is known as the “European passport”. BaFin’s database of companies shows which firms hold authorisation or have filed such a notification.

If a securities trading firm assigned to the EdW, a German compensation scheme, can no longer meet its obligations to clients, the EdW pays “90% of the claims against the securities trading company (not more than EUR 20,000)”. It adds that “deposits and moneys denominated USD or CHF will not be compensated”, which matters if you keep dollars for US shares. Bank deposits are protected by law “up to 100,000 euros”, says the Compensation Scheme of German Banks. No investor compensation scheme pays for falling prices.

For US shares, the platform will ask you for Form W-8BEN. The IRS says most US-source income of a foreign person, dividends included, is taxed at 30% through a withholding tax unless a tax treaty or the tax code sets a lower rate. Germany is on the IRS list of US income tax treaties, so a lower rate may apply. Germany may tax the same dividend too, so ask the tax office or a qualified tax adviser.