How to buy US stocks and ETFs from Malta

This page lists the investment platforms whose own pages say they accept residents of Malta, 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 Malta:

• Interactive Brokers names Malta on its list of available countries and territories. Its pages do not say which of its companies opens accounts for residents of Malta, 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.
• Lightyear names Malta on its list of countries where personal accounts are available. In Europe its service is provided by Lightyear Europe AS, authorised and regulated as an investment firm by the Estonian Financial Supervision Authority (Finantsinspektsioon). Lightyear says its customers’ assets are covered up to €20,000 by the Estonian Investor Protection Sectoral Fund; crypto assets are not.
• Malta’s Investor Compensation Scheme explains that “Business conducted by investment firms licensed under the Investment Services Act is regulated by MFSA”, the Malta Financial Services Authority, and that business carried on through the Internet “may only be covered if the firm you are dealing with is a licensed intermediary”.

The scheme itself is “a rescue fund for customers of member investment firms licensed by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA)”, for when such firms are unable or likely to be unable to meet their obligations. It “covers 90% of a firm’s net liability to an investor” in respect of qualifying investments, “subject to a maximum payment to any one person of €20,000”. Certain firms incorporated in other EEA states may join it to supplement their home scheme for investments made by their Malta offices, and the scheme says “The firm’s own literature in relation to the Scheme may state to which scheme(s) the firm belongs.” It “does not compensate losses caused by market fluctuations in the value of investments”, and no other investor compensation scheme pays for falling prices either. For bank deposits, the Depositor Compensation Scheme says: “The maximum amount which the Scheme is obliged to pay to depositors of a failed bank is €100,000.”

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. Malta is on the IRS list of US income tax treaties, so a lower rate may apply. Malta may tax the same dividend too, so ask the tax authority or a qualified tax adviser.