Onboarding for Asian Market Access - Any recent friction points?
Been looking to expand some of my Asian market exposure, particularly into some of the lesser-traded equities on the SET and IDX, beyond the usual HKX and Nikkei. The issue I'm running into isn't necessarily finding a broker offering these, but the onboarding process itself. Specifically, the KYB requirements for non-resident entities seem to have gotten increasingly granular, to the point where even with all documentation ready, there are often multiple back-and-forth cycles for verification. It’s not just a time sink, but the lack of clarity on specific nuances for certain jurisdictions is frustrating. Has anyone navigated a smoother path recently for establishing accounts for broader Asian equity access, or found particular firms to be more efficient with their compliance reviews for non-local entities? I'm curious if there are specific regions or firm types that are more streamlined in practice than their initial documentation suggests.
That's interesting. I've only really looked at HKX and Nikkei myself, so I hadn't even considered the onboarding for those smaller markets. What kind of specific KYC issues are you running into?