Trading UK shares from the US
 

Hi,
A good friend , who has dual nationality, living in the US has paper shares in the UK

Seeking advice on how he can continue to trade shares in the UK, ideally with exposure to the US market, without selling them all and incurring Capital gains? Seems it is very restrictive what can be done?
Advice sought please?
Many thanks

Re: Trading UK shares from the US
 

Why would he expect to be able to sell an asset and be exempt from (the currently unrealized) Capital Gains?

The US taxes on worldwide income regardless of where it arises, and I don't think there's any particular treatment that you'd be able to claim.

Re: Trading UK shares from the US
 

Thank you for this. However looking for a broker/ investor that can be used to trade/ advise.
Unfortunately many have dropped in value!

Re: Trading UK shares from the US
 

I imagine most of the big brokers in the US will accept foreign shares transferred in from the UK and trade them, but doing that from paper shares may make it harder.

I was able to transfer some shares of an old employer to Fidelity and sell them there. Unfortunately, that left me with GBP in my Fidelity brokerage account, and their fees (or possibly the exchange rate, I forget) to convert small amounts to USD are not great. I have a feeling that somewhere like e-trade may be better on that front, but it's worth checking with most of the low-cost brokerages - Schwab, e-trade, Merrill Edge, maybe Vanguard, to work it out.

Personally, I wouldn't want to be trading individual UK shares from the US, other than just selling. I want to 1. Keep things simple, and 2. Avoid any issues with non-qualified dividends, and 3. Avoid any issues with PFICs (if any of the investments are unit trusts etc., rather than individual shares).

Re: Trading UK shares from the US
 

Thank you