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The most expensive hidden cost: FX conversion at your broker
FX markup is usually the biggest single cost for euro and franc investors buying US assets. What brokers charge, how they hide it, and how to cut it.
8 min
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Knowledge
From the basics to tax optimisation — practical, with nothing to sell you.
FX markup is usually the biggest single cost for euro and franc investors buying US assets. What brokers charge, how they hide it, and how to cut it.
Every piece is written by the same desk that maintains the broker records — and carries a visible update date.
13 guides
Commission, spread, FX markup, custody and pass-through levies: the five layers of broker cost, explained by mechanism and worked through with real numbers.
CFDs cost you in four places: spread, overnight financing, FX conversion and slippage. Worked examples, ESMA leverage caps and what the loss figure means.
How to start an ETF savings plan: picking the index, the fund and the broker, with worked examples on order costs, spreads, TER and tax.
Options explained: contract size, premium, margin and assignment, with per-contract costs and what separates a good options broker from a bad one.
Custody, deposit guarantees and investor compensation are three different things. What the FSCS, EdW, esisuisse and SIPC actually pay, with worked examples.
Fees, FX markups, regulation, execution: the ten points that decide what a broker really costs you, with worked examples and a decision checklist.
Moving a portfolio to a new broker: how transfers actually work, what they cost, the tax traps in Germany and Austria, and how to tell whether it pays.
From opening an account to reading the contract note: ISIN, venue, limit orders, order size, settlement and tax — explained with concrete numbers.
Standard, ECN or raw? We convert spread and commission into one number, explain execution models and swaps, and show when the raw account is not worth it.
How Germany, Austria and Switzerland tax dividends, gains and funds: rates, allowances, the Vorabpauschale, withholding tax and offshore-broker paperwork.
Custody, cost and tax decide this, not the app. What MiCA does and does not protect, what a round trip really costs, and why ETPs are taxed differently.
How commission-free brokers earn: order flow rebates, spreads, cash interest and FX. What the EU ban changed, and what PFOF measurably cost investors.
A register lookup takes five minutes and screens out most of the field. Plus 12 red flags, the arithmetic behind bonus conditions, and the withdrawal test.
Content on Brokaro is for information purposes only and is not investment, legal or tax advice.
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