International dealing

If you are looking to invest in some of the largest global companies then we can help

Perhaps you’re thinking of buying shares in Amazon, Tesla or Deutsche Bank for your portfolio. Our dealing service lets you choose from 24 international markets, and buy overseas shares online quickly and easily in a SIPP, Stocks and shares ISA, Lifetime ISA or Dealing account. As with any type of investing, though, remember that their value can change, and you could lose money as well as make it.

What international markets can I deal in?

We offer dealing in 24 international markets including the US, Canada, Japan, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

View full list of markets

Whilst we try to offer online dealing on as many markets as possible sometimes a quote may not be available. If this happens you can call dealing services on 0345 54 32 600 and they will be able to help you. For markets where phone orders are only available our phone dealing rates will apply.

How do I buy overseas shares?

Buying most overseas shares is as simple as investing in the UK. You can search for the company using the site search and view a share research page which will include a delayed share price in the local currency.

If you decide to buy or sell the share log in to your account and you will be given a quote in sterling which will normally be available for up to 15 seconds. The share will then appear in your portfolio and will be priced using the previous day’s closing price.

If you don’t yet have an account with us, you can open an account online in under 10 minutes.

Open an account

What are the costs for dealing in International markets?

When you buy or sell international shares with us, you will pay a dealing charge each time you deal, and an additional foreign exchange charge.

Value Charge
Buying and selling international shares online (per deal) £9.95
Buying and selling international shares by phone (per deal) £29.95
Foreign exchange charge on international dealing and foreign currency funds

First £10,000
Next £10,000
Value over £20,000

0.75%
0.50%
0.25%
Foreign exchange charge payable when we have to convert any dividends or corporate action payments into sterling 0.5%

Foreign exchange charge is based on the sterling consideration after conversion to / from the local currency at the prevailing spot FX rate. We may share a proportion of this charge with our service provider.

In addition to these charges there are additional government and local stock exchange charges for certain international markets. These charges will be added to your contract note. To view these charges click here

Dealing conditions and tax treatments

US and Canada

We offer online dealing in the main US and Canadian markets for shares that are available as CDIs - CDIs are UK securities representing an underlying interest in an overseas security and can be bought and sold easily in the UK. Online quotes in these markets are generally available between 2:30pm and 9:00pm UK time on UK business days. However sometimes it might not be possible to get an online quote, if this happens then you can call our dealing services team between 8:00am and 7:00pm.

If you're looking to buy US investments in any account other than a SIPP, you'll need to complete a W-8BEN form. For most accounts, you can complete this online. Just log in to your account and click 'Update my details' from the 'My account' menu to find it. For a Junior account and Joint Dealing account, you'll need to complete our offline W-8BEN form. Before getting started, please read the W-8BEN guidelines to help you complete the form correctly. As well as allowing you to deal in US shares, this form lets you benefit from the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) treaty rate, which lowers the withholding tax for qualifying US dividends and interest from 30% to 15%.

A W-8BEN form is not required for US investments held within a SIPP as the IRS recognises our SIPP as a qualifying pension scheme and all qualifying US dividends and interest are automatically paid to you free of any withholding tax.

For Canadian investments, you will need to complete an NR301 form (please see form guidelines here) if you are investing within your Stocks and shares ISA, Lifetime ISA, Junior ISA or Dealing account.  This allows you to benefit from the treaty rate available, currently all qualifying Canadian investments are paid net of 15% withholding tax instead of the full withholding tax rate of 25%. A NR301 form is not required for Canadian investments held within an AJ Bell self-invested personal pension.

European markets

Online dealing is available in all the main western European markets as CDIs. To view a full list or markets please click here. Market hours in European markets are broadly in line with normal UK market hours on UK business days.

Government taxes apply in the French and Italian markets, these are applied as a transaction tax based on a percentage of the consideration for purchases in certain shares and will be confirmed on your contract note.

Pacific Rim markets

We offer dealing in Australian, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore markets by phone only and there is a minimum investment size of £10,000.

Orders in these markets will only be accepted between 8am and 5pm on UK business days. For some shares you will need to place your deal as a limit order; our dealing services team can confirm this for you.

Japanese, Hong Kong and Singapore shares are traded in ‘board lot sizes’ which represent the recognised exchange trading unit. The board lot sizes vary for different exchanges and securities and you can only buy shares in the standard unit of trading for the security. Our dealing services team will confirm the lot sizes for you when you place your order. If you hold any shares outside of these standard lot sizes these will dealt in what is known as the odd lot market and prices for these will be slightly lower than that of the same security in the board lot market due to their lower liquidity. Please note that limit orders are not possible for the amount of your order that is dealt in the odd lot market. To view these charges click here

Tax reclaims

Tax treaty arrangements are available for any share dealings in the US and Canadian markets. However any dividend income you receive in other markets would be subject to that country’s relevant withholding tax. We do not offer any tax reclaim service. Your Dealing account annual tax summary lists any income received from international shares.