General

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New legislation in respect of VAT has been promulgated resulting in services rendered on offshore equities to a Resident which were previously Zero Rated will now be subject to VAT at the current prevailing rate.

In terms of the 2017 Taxation Laws Amendment Bill, which was Tabled in Parliament on the 25th October 2017, the Value-Added Tax Act No.89 of 1991 (the “ Act”) was amended to specifically exclude debt securities, equity securities or participatory securities from the zero-rating provisions of Section 11(2)(g)(i) of the Act. As of the 1st of April 2018 services rendered to a resident of the Republic of South Africa on debt securities, equity securities or participatory securities situated in any export country will be subject to VAT.

Please take note that VAT will therefore be levied on ALL applicable fees and charges effective 1 April 2018.

An annual administration Fee ("Administration Fee") of 20 (twenty) basis points will be charged in respect of each and every trading account held with The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited under the Terms of Business ("Terms"). The administration Fee is calculated as follows:

  • The daily closing value of the Client's open share positions [calculated as per close of the New York Stock Exchange] x 20bps x1/365. The Administration Fee is calculated daily and billed monthly in arrears.

Advisory services are provided to clients through SBG Securities (Pty) Ltd (acting through its Stockbroking Division). Advisory fees may be charged and such fees will be deducted off your trading account held with the Standard Bank of South Africa Limited under the Terms. Please contact your equity advisor for further details in this regard.

Net Free Equity is defined as:

  • The value date cash balance on the main (base) trading account.
  • Plus or minus the value of any unrealized profits or losses from open trade exposures in FX and CFDs on the main trading account.

Minus the value of Standard Bank’s margin requirements for open trade positions on all accounts.

Account Value is defined as:

  • The cash balance on your trading account
  • Plus or minus the value of any unrealised profits or losses from open trade exposures in FX Spot and Spot Precious Metals on your trading account.

The following interest rates apply to funds deposited with Standard Bank:

  • As of 1 October 2019 the interest rate earned on positive Net Free Equity (only USD cash balance) is at the ruling Effective Federal Funds Rate* less 0.25%. Standard Bank Webtrader will then deduct a "Cash Handling Fee" of 0.5% inclusive of VAT. The net interest rate earned on Net Free Equity will be the Effective Federal Funds rate* less 0.75%.
  • Interest changed on Negative Net Free Equity will be at market as rates** plus 8%.

*The Effective Federal Funds rate is the interest rate banks charge each other for overnight loans to meet their reserve requirements.
**Ask rate is how much the dealer wants for a currency

Interest will be calculated daily and settled monthly - within seven (7) business days after the end of each calendar month.

A 1.0% currency conversion fee will automatically be applied to all trades that are done on an account where the instrument currency is different from the account currency. If a client trades a EUR stock on a USD account, the amount in EUR will be converted back to USD using the current Spot FX rate at the time of trade. Thereafter the above mark-up/down added. These charges are levied on the client account when the trade is executed.

In the case of internal transfers between subaccounts, a Conversion fee of 1% will be applied as a separate charge.

For transfers of shares or a repository to another bank, an exit fee will be charged for all clients upon final closure and settlement of the account. The fees are as follows:

  • Shares listed on Danish stock exchanges EUR 25 per ISIN (max. 100 EUR)
  • All other shares: EUR 50 per ISIN (max. 160 EUR)

There are annual IRS reporting obligations for each income stream earned on US Exchanges.

Read here for more info

It is standard practice for US depository receipts to charge an annual administration fee up to USD 0.05 per share depending on the issuing depository bank. The intent of the fee is to cover costs for the banks that take on the operational processes necessary to issue and trade the depository receipt line. Typically the fee is deducted when dividend payments are made, however, in case the depository receipt does not pay a dividend or did not include the custodial fee in their dividend events, the fee will be administered through fee-only events. The dividend fee is stipulated in the Deposit Agreement between the depository bank and the company based upon industry standards. The Deposit Agreement is filed with the SEC and is readily accessible by the public. The fee per depository receipt is not dependent on the total amount of dividend being paid but the amount of shares held.

In case an order is split, and filled partially over a period of more than one day, the total trading costs may increase. The reason for such increase is that the minimum fee may be charged more than one time based on the number of days necessary for the total execution of the order.

For all margin products you finance the traded value through an overnight credit/debit charge. If you open and close a margin position within the same trading day, you are not subject to overnight financing.

If the financing credit is negative it will be debited from your Webtrader account.

Overnight Financing on CFDs

When you hold a Single Stock CFD position (or an ETF/ETC CFD position) overnight i.e. have an open CFD position at close of market on the Stock Exchange, your CFD position will consequently be subject to the following credit or debit:

When you hold a long CFD position, you are subject to a debit calculated on the basis of the relevant Inter-Bank Offer Rate for the currency in which the underlying share is traded (e.g. LIBOR) plus a mark-up (times Actual Days/360 or Actual Days/365).

When you hold a short CFD position, you receive a credit* calculated on the basis of the relevant Inter-Bank Bid Rate for the currency in which the underlying share is traded (e.g. LIBID) minus a mark-down (times Actual Days/360 or Actual Days/365).

The credit/debit is calculated on the total nominal value of the underlying Stock(s) at the time the CFD contract is established (whether long or short).

Should the relevant Inter-Bank Bid Rate minus the mark-down result in a debit as opposed to a credit, then you will pay the finance charge.

No Overnight Financing on US2000 Index Tracker

As the price of the US2000 Index-Tracking CFD tracks the price of the underlying Futures Contract no overnight financing shall apply.

Tom/Next Rollover on FX Spot

All open FX positions held overnight are subject to a debit or credit interest rate revaluation to reflect the position being rolled over to a new Value Date. The operation known as the Tom/Next Rollover is applied to spot positions held at 17:00 Eastern Standard Time (New York time) on any given trading day.

The 'rollover' is made up of two components, namely the tom/next swap points and financing of unrealised profits or losses. The accumulated combined rollover credit or debit is added/deducted from the previous opening price of the position.

A borrowing cost may be applied to short CFD positions held overnight. This borrowing cost is dependent on the liquidity of the underlying Stocks and may be zero (0) for high liquidity Stocks.

The specific borrowing rate for a Single Stock CFD can be seen as the 'Borrowing Rate' under 'Account' > 'Trading Conditions' > 'CFD Stock/Index Instrument List '

When selling a Single Stock CFD, the borrowing cost for holding the position overnight is shown in the CFD Trade module in the 'Estimated borrowing cost per day' field.

The borrowing rate will be fixed when the position is opened and will be charged on a monthly basis. Please be aware, that for certain corporate action events, the borrowing rate on the short position may be reset to the current rate in the market, upon the execution of the corporate action.

For UK Shares, a Panel for Takeovers and Mergers (PTM) Levy and Stamp Duty may be applicable. Stamp Duty is applied on all buy transactions at a rate of 0.5% of the transaction value. A PTM Levy of GBP 1 is applied to buy and sell transactions where the Gross Value of the trade exceeds GBP 10,000. Please note that for Irish registered shares, Stamp Duty is 1% of the transaction value.

For Hong Kong Shares, Stamp Duty and other charges apply: 0.108%. Note: Automated trading from 09:30-16:30 with a break between 12:00 - 13:30.

For French large cap Shares a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) of 0.20% apply to all buy trades.

The full list of the 109 affected Shares can be found in the official application decree (in French).

From January 2014 the Italian Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) of 0.1% will apply on all purchases of Italian shares, Derivatives and Equity linked securites (ie. Depository receipts) in listed companies that have a registered office in Italy.

Standard Bank passes on to clients the SEC Section 31 fee of $22.40 per million (0.224 BP) on share SELL transactions where client orders are entered directly into the underlying market.

This fee applies only to US exchanges.

Click here to read more about Section 31

In US markets, share liquidity can be consolidated from a number of sources in addition to the primary exchanges.

When there is a delay in the opening of the primary exchange, orders can be filled from these other sources before trading commences on the primary exchange.

Data subscriptions for real-time prices

At Standard Bank all equities trade on actual market data from the stock exchanges. To receive and trade on real-time market data, you will have to subscribe independently to the individual exchange via third party providers.
A subscription to live price data from an exchange gives you access to live prices on Shares and ETFs/ETCs from the particular exchange.
An Online Subscription Tool is available in the Trading Platform. In the tool, you will find a list of available exchanges and news services alongside the applicable monthly fees. You will be able to subscribe and unsubscribe to services of your choice. Further information can be found in the Subscription Tool guide, which is also available on the Trading Platform.

Level 1 or Level 2 data

Level 1 price data refers to the first level of the order book on the exchange. With a Level 1 subscription you can see live, streaming, bid and offer prices.
With a Level 2 price data subscription you can see live, streaming prices as with Level 1 but on top of this you can see the market depth of bid/offer prices and the amounts available at each price point.

Level 1 and Level 2 Exchange Data Fees

Exchange Level 1 Level 2
Private Professional Private Professional
NYSE MKT (AMEX – American Stock Exchange) 1.00 USD 30.20 USD Only Level 1
BME Spanish Exchanges (SIBE) 4.25 EUR 16.00 EUR 12.50 EUR 39.50 EUR
NYSE Euronext (PAR, BRU, LISB and AMS)* 1.00 EUR 59.00 EUR 1.00 EUR 84.00 EUR
Deutsche Börse (XETRA) 15.00 EUR 56.00 EUR 20.00 EUR 68.00 EUR
Hong Kong Exchanges (HKEx) 120.00 HKD 120.00 HKD 200.00 HKD 200.00 HKD
London Stock Exchange (LSE_SETS) 4.00 GBP 37.00 GBP 6.00 GBP 157.50 GBP
London Stock Exchange (LSE_INTL – IOB) 2.00 GBP 20.00 GBP Only level 1
Borsa Italiana/Milan Stock Exchange (MIL - Equities and Futures) 0.50 EUR 12.00 EUR 1.20 EUR 40.00 EUR
NASDAQ* 1,00 USD 20,00 USD Only level 1
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) 1.00 USD 127.25 USD** Only level 1
New York Stock Exchange (ARCA) 6.00 USD 26.00 USD Only level 1
NASDAQ OMX Exchanges (CSE, SSE and HSE)* 1.00 EUR 29.00 EUR 5.00 EUR 56.00 EUR
Oslo Børs/Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE) 10.00 NOK 280.00 NOK 100.00 NOK 280.00 NOK
Tokyo Stock Exchange (TYO – Equities and Futures) 120.00 JPY 2200.00 JPY Only level 1
Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE and TSX)* 9.50 USD 58.00 USD Only level 1
Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) Only Level 2 9.00 USD 30.00 USD
Wiener Börse/Vienna Stock Exchange (VIE) 2.00 EUR 33.00 EUR 3.00 EUR 43.00 EUR
Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) 12.40 PLN 136.75 PLN 80.10 PLN 136.75 PLN

* Denotes multiple exchanges covered by a single agreement.

** The Price for New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) varies with the number of devices/users a client subscribes to. Example: one client considered to be a professional must pay USD 127,25. Two users marked as 1 professional client must pay 2 X USD 79,50/month:

Devices / users on NYSE Professional
1 Device USD 127.25
2 Devices USD 79.50
3 Devices USD 58.25
4 Devices USD 53.00
5 Devices USD 47.75
6-9 Devices USD 39.75
10-19 Devices USD 31.75
20-29 Devices USD 30.25

See our FX Spot and Spot Precious Metals trading rates.

A Practical Example

You place a day order to sell $5 000 against ZAR in a forex spot deal at a rate of 8,46815 i.e. you buy R42 340,75 [being the market limit]. Because your trade size is below the commission threshold for USDZAR deals [threshold being $50 000 and your trade is only $5 000], a ticket fee of $10 is payable on the trade. This ticket fee, translated to USD at the bid rate of 8,427 amounts to the total cost of the trade of R84,30.

Forex Forex 2

See our Shares trading rates.

A Practical Example

You place an order for 10 Arcelor Mital shares at the delayed asking price of €11,765 per share. Due to your trade size, the minimum commission of €20 is levied, thus bringing the total of your trade to €137,65 (being 10 shares at 11,765 each plus €20,00 commission).

Shares

See our ETFs & ETCs trading rates.

A Practical Example

Please refer to our share example

Forex Forex 2