2025 Full Analysis of Sub-Account Commission Fees | Benchmarking Actual Costs to Find the Most Suitable US Stock Investment Path for You

Looking to invest in US stocks in Taiwan but overwhelmed by the confusing fee schedules? Honestly, choosing investment tools often takes more effort than picking stocks. This article will deeply analyze the two main mainstream routes for US stock investment and their respective agency trading fee details, helping you quickly find the most cost-effective trading model.

How can Taiwanese investors access the US stock market?

The barrier to investing in US stocks is low, but choosing the right entry point is crucial. Taiwanese investors mainly follow these two paths: opening an account via sub-brokerage or directly connecting with overseas brokers.

Sub-Brokerage: Localized US stock investment solution

Sub-brokerage (Sub-Brokerage) officially known as “Foreign Securities Business of Trust Buying and Selling.” Simply put, you open a sub-brokerage account with a domestic broker, which acts as an intermediary to buy and sell US stocks for you. Since the order goes through two layers of agency processes, it’s called “sub-brokerage.”

Advantages of choosing sub-brokerage:

• Avoid the hassle of opening overseas accounts and dealing directly with foreign brokers
• Deduct NT$ directly from your New Taiwan Dollar account, with currency exchange and settlement handled by the domestic broker
• Backed by the Financial Supervisory Commission, with channels for dispute resolution, making your funds safer

What is the cost? Transaction fees tend to be higher, usually between 0.15% and 1% of the transaction amount, depending on the broker.

Direct connection to overseas brokers: An international self-service model

Overseas brokers are much more straightforward—similar to buying Taiwanese stocks in Taiwan, just replacing the target with US stocks. Investors skip domestic brokers and place orders directly.

The good news is that mainstream overseas brokers in the market now offer zero commissions or even zero fees, which is very friendly for frequent traders. The bad news is that you need to handle currency exchange and USD remittance yourself.

Advantages of direct connection to overseas brokers:

• Extremely low or zero commissions
• Fast order execution, supporting real-time trading
• Wide range of investment products like stocks, ETFs, options, etc.

Breakdown of US stock trading costs: understanding where every cent goes

Cost structure of sub-brokerage

Using sub-brokerage to trade US stocks, costs are divided into explicit fees and implicit fees.

Explicit fees—charged directly by the broker:

Transaction commission (the main part): usually between 0.25% and 1%, with significant variation among brokers. Almost all brokers set a minimum fee, typically between $25 and $100 USD per order. For example: buying $1,000 worth of US stocks at a 0.3% rate should cost $3, but if the minimum is $25, the actual cost becomes 2.5%! Small investors will see their effective rate inflated considerably.

Other service fees (usually negligible): such as remittance fees, paper statement fees, dormant account fees, etc., with different rules across brokers.

Implicit fees—regulatory fees collected by US authorities:

SEC transaction fee: Collected by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, only on sell transactions, at a rate of 0.00051% of the transaction value. This fee is bundled into the broker’s fee table, so you won’t see it as a separate item.

FINRA trading activity fee (TAF): Collected by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, also only on sell transactions, at a rate of $0.000119 per share, with a minimum of $0.01 and a maximum of $5.95. This fee is also included in the broker’s bundled fee.

Cost structure of overseas brokers: direct connection

Trading through overseas brokers involves a completely different fee structure.

Broker-side fees:

Trading commissions: Most mainstream brokers now offer zero commissions, but some still charge fees.

Margin interest: If you trade on margin, the broker charges interest based on the margin rate.

Currency exchange fees: Banks charge a fee when converting NT$ to USD. The fee varies, generally around 0.05% of the exchanged amount, with minimum fees ranging from NT$100 to NT$600.

Remittance fees: Banks charge for transferring funds from Taiwan to the overseas broker account, ranging roughly from NT$100 to NT$900 per transaction.

Withdrawal fees: Some brokers charge NT$10–NT$35 when withdrawing funds.

Third-party regulatory fees: Similar to sub-brokerage, SEC and FINRA fees apply, with the same rules.

Dividend tax—inevitable regardless of method

No matter which method you use to invest in US stocks, any stock that pays dividends will have a 30% withholding tax on cash dividends. This tax can be reclaimed through tax refund procedures, but you need to go through the relevant process.

Summary of costs

Current status of the sub-brokerage market: quick overview of mainstream broker fees

The following data is based on June 2025 information; actual rates may change at any time. Please verify the latest rates before placing orders.

Current sub-brokerage fee landscape:

Overseas broker fee comparison: international options at a glance

Overview of overseas broker trading costs:

Bank remittance fee reference (NT$):

Sub-brokerage vs overseas brokers: which is more cost-effective?

Let’s compare the most favorable options for each:

• Sub-brokerage: Fubon Securities (0.25% commission, no minimum)
• Overseas broker: Mitrade (zero commission, zero fees)
• Remittance setup: Bank of Taiwan (fee rate 0.05%, min NT$100, telegraph NT$200)
• Exchange rate assumption: 1 USD = NT$30

Key insight: When single transaction amounts exceed about US$200, the overseas broker’s costs start to show an advantage.

Note that this comparison assumes only one transaction per case. In reality, if you trade frequently—say, four times with US$10,000 total (2 buys and 2 sells)—the sub-brokerage fee accumulates to about NT$100 (NT$25×4), while the overseas broker remains at roughly NT$11.67, since remittance costs are mostly one-time.

Personalized investment choice guide

Based on the above analysis, the sub-brokerage fee comparison can be summarized into three groups:

Suitable for sub-brokerage investors:

• Low trading frequency, no more than 2 times per month
• Small investment amounts, single trades of US$1,000–3,000
• Prefer a one-stop service without hassle of remittance
• Not sensitive to trading delays

Suitable for overseas broker investors:

• Frequent trading, more than 4 times per month
• Larger single investments, over US$6,000
• Willing to spend time learning platform operation
• Pursuing maximum cost savings

Additional note on Mitrade: Licensed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) (license 398528), a legitimate firm. Account opening is simplified to 3 steps: fill out form → deposit (from US$50, supports TWD) → trade immediately.

Summary and action tips

• Sub-brokerage is suitable for small, low-frequency traders, saving remittance hassle but with higher per-transaction costs
• Overseas brokers are better for large, high-frequency traders, with the advantage of zero commissions accumulating over volume
• Sub-brokerage does not support margin trading; most overseas brokers do
• Before deciding, calculate your trading volume and scale—this is more important than blindly following trends