How to buy US stocks and ETFs from Portugal

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

• Interactive Brokers names Portugal on its list of available countries and territories. Its pages do not say which of its companies opens accounts for residents of Portugal, 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.
• The Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM) publishes alerts for investors on its website, including about entities it says are not authorised to carry out financial intermediation in Portugal and warnings from other European supervisors.

Portugal’s investor compensation scheme (Sistema de Indemnização aos Investidores, SII) works alongside the CMVM. According to its answers to frequent questions on the CMVM’s investor portal, it covers up to €25,000 per investor, however many accounts you hold, when a participating financial intermediary cannot return your financial instruments or the money you gave it to invest. Participants include intermediaries authorised to carry out investment business in Portugal. Firms based in another EU member state take part where the SII’s cover is more favourable than their home scheme’s; their investors are then protected by the home country’s scheme, complemented by the Portuguese one. Claims from investments made through firms that do not take part in the SII are excluded, and losses from the normal working of the capital markets are not covered.

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