UK brokerage accounts that accept US citizens
The hardest account on this site, and the answer splits by how much you have. Of 50 providers checked, 17 will take you. Below about £100,000 your realistic choice is individual shares or a tax problem. Above it, several UK firms have built whole practices around this exact situation.
A general investment account, sometimes called a dealing account, is investing with no tax wrapper around it. There is no ISA allowance and no pension protection, so both tax authorities see everything, and a US person meets the underlying problem with nothing to soften it.
That problem is a squeeze from both sides. US tax punishes non-US pooled funds, which the IRS calls PFICs, passive foreign investment companies, and nearly every UK fund and UCITS ETF is one. The obvious escape is to buy US funds instead, and in Britain you generally cannot, because UK rules require a key information document that US-domiciled ETFs do not produce. Across every execution-only platform checked here, not one can sell you a US-domiciled ETF. That is not a gap in our research. It is the rule working as designed.
If you have a portfolio rather than a pot
Three UK wealth managers run dedicated services for US-connected clients, and they solve the problem properly rather than working around it. Canaccord Wealth is the bluntest, saying it has acted for US expats for decades and does not turn US citizens away, typically for people with over £100,000 to invest. Rathbones supports US citizens, green card holders and US visa holders through a team regulated by both the SEC and the FCA, and says its portfolios avoid PFICs. Evelyn Partners has run a US service for more than twenty years and custodies assets with a New Jersey custodian that produces the US tax reporting for you.
All three build portfolios from individual shares and bonds, and all three can use US-listed funds. Canaccord's approach is the neatest: US-listed funds that also carry UK reporting status, which satisfies both tax systems at once instead of trading one problem for the other. What you are buying from these firms is a compliance team, not a clever product, and the fees reflect it.
If you are doing it yourself
Charles Schwab International is the one execution-only account that escapes the squeeze, because it is a US broker opening a US-domiciled dollar account rather than a UK platform, so US-domiciled ETFs are simply available. It also avoids the trap that shuts Schwab's ordinary checking account to an emigrant, accepting a UK utility bill as proof of residence. The cost is protection rather than eligibility: SIPC at $500,000 instead of the FSCS at £85,000.
Otherwise the workable route is individual shares, which are not PFICs however many you own. Interactive Brokers, XTB, CMC Invest and Barclays all offer them. Sidekick is the most interesting attempt at squaring the circle, because its Custom Index holds the actual companies in the index rather than units in a fund, so index exposure arrives as real shares. Read its row carefully though: acceptance is read from its terms being silent on citizenship, and its custody runs through a US firm, so ask which compensation scheme covers you.
Who will not take you, and who never could
Twenty-six providers refuse a US citizen outright, and the refusals are blunt. Robinhood closes from both sides at once: its UK agreement makes you represent for the life of the account that you are not a US person, while its US arm requires a US residential address, so someone who has moved to Britain fails both tests. Interactive Investor's product page asks only that you are 18 and a UK tax resident, while its terms of service require a confirmation a US citizen cannot truthfully give. Trading 212, Freetrade, Moneybox, Chip, Plum, True Potential, Willis Owen, Redmayne Bentley and RBC Brewin Dolphin all bar US persons in their own words, several with a clause letting them close the account if you become one later. Bestinvest's test is wider than the rest, turning on where you were born rather than what passport you hold.
One caution on how these bars are published, learned from Moneyfarm. Its account opening terms carry no US person test at all, so the contract alone would tell you the door is open. The refusal lives in its FAQ instead. Where a provider below is marked as not yet verified, that is usually because its terms are silent rather than welcoming, and silence is not an offer.
Seven more offer nothing to anyone here, which is a different fact and is listed separately. Pepperstone and Spreadex sell only contracts for difference and spread bets, where you never own the share. Trade Republic has no UK arm. Stake left the UK in November 2024 and moved its book to Freetrade, which bars US persons, so those customers landed somewhere that will not keep them. Wombat is now Quilter Invest, and DEGIRO has closed UK onboarding.
AJ Bell remains the clearest reason to ask these questions one product at a time: it bars US citizens from this account and from its ISA, and accepts them for its SIPP, all in the same document.
Read what the PFIC rules do to UK funds before you buy anything here, and the pension page for the one UK wrapper the treaty does protect, which is where this money is usually better off.
We checked 50 providers. 43 offer a general investment account and 7 no longer do. Of those 43, 17 will open an account worth having and 26 will not take you. Last checked 17 August 2026.
The accounts you can open
Read the "what you can hold" column before the fees. A US person is taxed punitively on non-US pooled funds, which the IRS calls PFICs, and nearly every ordinary UK fund and UCITS ETF is one. Unlike a pension, none of this is protected by the US-UK tax treaty, so an account offering only ready-made fund portfolios is open to you and close to useless to you.
Annual fee is shown as each provider charges it. Percentage charges and flat fees sort separately because they are not the same measurement: a percentage grows with your holdings and a flat fee does not, so above a certain balance the flat fee wins.
You can hold individual shares
Direct holdings in single companies, which is the way round the PFIC problem: the tax penalty falls on pooled funds, and a share in one company is not one.
| What you can hold as a US person | The catch | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canaccord Wealth (formerly Hargreave Hale) (opens in a new tab) FSCS £85,000 investment cover · typically from £100,000 · managed, not execution only | Investment management for US expats (opens in a new tab) | — | — | Individual shares and bonds, plus US-listed funds approved for UK tax reporting. UK funds, investment trusts and most UCITS funds are deliberately avoided as PFICs. | No rates are published; the fee is linked to portfolio size and service, and each client is priced individually. Typically for portfolios over £100,000, and it does not do one-off share sales below £250,000. Tax reporting is produced in dollars for the US year and sterling for the UK one. |
| CMC Invest (opens in a new tab) FSCS £85,000 investment cover · holdings may be pooled in omnibus accounts Not yet verified · last checked 17 August 2026 | General investment account, Core plan (opens in a new tab) | None on Core. Plus is £6.99 a month and Premium £10.99 | No commission on trades | More than 3,000 US shares, large UK shares, over 400 ETFs, investment trusts and REITs, with fractions available. The ETFs are UK and European listed, so PFICs; the direct shares are not. | Currency conversion costs 0.99% on Core, falling to 0.39% on the paid plans. |
| Evelyn Partners (opens in a new tab) FSCS £85,000 investment cover · SEC registered · assets custodied in New Jersey | Discretionary management for US-connected clients (opens in a new tab) | — | — | Directly held shares and bonds, with US mutual funds and ETFs used where the client is US resident. | No fees are published and each client is priced individually, so ask for a written schedule. No minimum is published on the US pages, though the enquiry form's lowest band is under £250,000. Discretionary only. |
| Interactive Brokers UK (opens in a new tab) SIPC $500,000, not FSCS · FCA authorised but assets custodied with IBKR LLC in the US | IBKR brokerage account (opens in a new tab) | None. No account, custody or inactivity fee | US shares from $0.005 a share, minimum $1.00 an order. UK shares 0.05%, minimum £3.00. FX 0.03% built into the automatic rate | Individual shares, bonds, funds and options across global markets, US-listed stock included. UCITS ETFs are PFICs for US tax. | US-domiciled ETFs publish no UK key information document, so IBKR blocks them for retail clients. They open only if you are reclassified as an elective professional, which means giving up retail protections. |
| Rathbones (opens in a new tab) FSCS £85,000 investment cover · SEC and FCA regulated · discretionary only | Investment management for US taxpayers (opens in a new tab) | 1.10% to £750,000, then 0.90%, 0.70% and 0.50% on higher tiers, plus VAT | None. Rathbones says it adds no dealing, commission, custody or platform charges | Direct shares and bonds plus selected US ETFs and other US-compliant vehicles, with PFICs avoided. | One to one discretionary management only, with no advisory or execution only route. The US taxpayer pages publish neither fees nor a minimum, so confirm both at enquiry. ISA income and gains are included in the US reports it produces. |
| XTB (opens in a new tab) FSCS £85,000 investment cover · FCA authorised | XTB investment account (opens in a new tab) | None, though £10 a month applies after a year without trading and 90 days without a deposit | No commission up to €100,000 of monthly turnover, then 0.2% with a £10 minimum | Real shares and ETFs on UK, US and European exchanges, including fractions. The ETFs are European listed, so they are PFICs for US tax; the direct shares are not. | Currency conversion costs 0.5%, rising to 0.8% at weekends. No custody fee up to €250,000. |
| Barclays Smart Investor (opens in a new tab) With strings US persons: a signed W-9 before any trade, and a restricted service range Barclays will not publish FSCS £85,000 investment cover · online, app and phone | Investment Account (opens in a new tab) | None. Barclays removed its platform charge on 31 May 2026, so holding investments is free | £6 an online share, ETF, trust, bond or gilt trade, £25 by phone. Fund trades free. FX 1% on the first £5,000, tapering to 0.10% | More than 8,000 investments: UK and international shares, ETFs, investment trusts, bonds, gilts and funds. The funds and UCITS ETFs are PFICs for US tax; the direct shares are not. | No trade is placed until Barclays holds a signed W-9 with your US tax number, and your service range is restricted in ways it will only explain on request. |
| Charles Schwab International (opens in a new tab) With strings US persons: a US-domiciled dollar account with SIPC rather than FSCS, and a W-9 SIPC $500,000 including $250,000 cash, plus excess cover at Lloyd's. No FSCS | Schwab One International Account (opens in a new tab) | None. No service fee and no minimum to open | $0 on online US stock and ETF trades, $25 broker-assisted, options $0.65 a contract | US-listed shares, US-domiciled ETFs, options, bonds and offshore funds. The only account here where the US funds are actually available, which answers the PFIC problem outright rather than working around it. | UCITS ETFs are not available online at all and cost $50 broker-assisted. Sterling converts on the way in and out by wire, with no separate conversion commission published and $25 on outgoing wires. |
| Charles Stanley Direct (opens in a new tab) With strings US persons: no US bar in its terms, but overseas dealing needs a W-8BEN you cannot sign FSCS £85,000 investment cover · a trading name of Raymond James Wealth Management Not yet verified · last checked 17 August 2026 | Investment Account (opens in a new tab) | 0.30% a year across all your accounts, minimum £60 and maximum £600 | £10 an online share trade and £4 a fund trade, with £50 of trading credits every six months | More than 12,500 investments including UK and international shares, funds, trusts and ETFs. US-domiciled ETFs are out of reach for want of a UK key information document, so ETF exposure means UCITS funds, which are PFICs. | US shares deal online as depository interests at £10 plus an international charge from 1.00% falling to 0.15% on the largest trades. Shares without a depository interest are phone only at 1%, minimum £50. |
| Hargreaves Lansdown (opens in a new tab) With strings US persons: a paper W-9 instead of the online form, no treaty rate, and no transferring in online FSCS £85,000 investment cover · online, app and phone | Fund and Share Account (opens in a new tab) | 0.35% a year on funds to £250,000, then 0.25% to £1,000,000 and 0.10% to £2,000,000. Shares and ETFs 0.35% capped at £12.50 a month | £6.95 a share trade, £3.95 after 20 trades last month, £1.95 a fund trade. FX 0.99% on the first £10,000, then less | UK and overseas shares, investment trusts, ETFs, bonds and gilts across US, Canadian and 15 European markets, plus over 3,000 funds. The funds and UCITS ETFs are PFICs for US tax; the direct shares are not. | A US citizen files a W-9 on paper before dealing in US shares and gets no treaty reduction on the withholding. |
| HSBC InvestDirect (opens in a new tab) With strings US persons: no published US rule either way, plus an HSBC current account and extra IRS paperwork before US dealing starts FSCS £85,000 investment cover · needs an HSBC UK current account Not yet verified · last checked 17 August 2026 | InvestDirect Plus (opens in a new tab) | £10.50 a quarter for each investment account, so £42 a year | £10.50 an online UK share or ETF trade, £7.95 after your ninth in a quarter. US shares $29.95 online. Gilts £39.95 | UK shares, investment trusts, gilts and UK-listed ETFs, plus US shares on the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. Euro and dollar cash accounts are available. | HSBC does not publish an FX charge, converting at its own rate, so the true cost of a dollar trade is not visible before you place it. |
| IG (opens in a new tab) With strings US persons: barred from US-incorporated stock in the share dealing account, and a paper Form W-9 FSCS £85,000 investment cover · client assets held in segregated trust accounts | IG share dealing account (opens in a new tab) | None. No platform, custody or inactivity fee | No commission on shares and ETFs. FX 0.49%, a reduced rate held until 4 September 2026 | UK and international shares and ETFs, but not US-incorporated stock if you are a US citizen. Every UCITS ETF you can buy here is a PFIC for US tax. | Switching to manual currency conversion removes the FX fee but brings back £3 commission on UK shares. |
| Killik and Co (opens in a new tab) With strings US persons: no published US policy either way, and a £100,000 minimum FSCS £85,000 investment cover · minimum portfolio £100,000 Not yet verified · last checked 17 August 2026 | Stockbroking Service (opens in a new tab) | 0.5% custody on the first £250,000, then 0.1% | 0.5% commission, minimum £50, plus £10 a trade | UK and overseas shares, corporate bonds, gilts and funds. The funds are PFICs for US tax; the direct shares are not. | Execution only, for investors making their own decisions. Minimum portfolio £100,000, and currency conversion costs 0.35%. |
| Quilter Cheviot (opens in a new tab) With strings US persons: no published US service, and a £250,000 discretionary minimum FSCS £85,000 investment cover · minimum portfolio £250,000 · discretionary only Not yet verified · last checked 17 August 2026 | Discretionary Portfolio Service (opens in a new tab) | — | — | Bespoke portfolios of direct shares, bonds and funds. Whether the funds could be kept out of a US person's portfolio is exactly what to ask about. | No percentages are published; the fee is quarterly and calculated on portfolio value, covering management, custody and reporting. Minimum £250,000, currency conversion 0.75%, discretionary only. |
| Sidekick (opens in a new tab) With strings US persons: no published US bar, but execution and custody sit with a US firm Custody with DriveWealth LLC in the US · app only · confirm which compensation scheme applies Not yet verified · last checked 17 August 2026 | Custom Index (opens in a new tab) | 0.50% a year including VAT | None to execute or hold, with about 0.10% of market spread passed through | The individual US company shares that make up a rules based index you can tilt or exclude from, held directly. This is the rare UK product where index exposure does not arrive as a PFIC. | No currency conversion fee at all. Minimum first investment of £1,000, and US regulatory fees are passed through on sales. |
| Webull UK (opens in a new tab) With strings US persons: nothing published about US persons, and the protection is not what it looks like FCA authorised as agent only · your account is opened with its Australian entity · do not assume FSCS on investments Not yet verified · last checked 17 August 2026 | Webull individual account (opens in a new tab) | None | No commission on US shares, and none on UK shares and ETFs for the first 90 days | US shares, UK shares and ETFs, Hong Kong and China A shares, and US options. The ETFs are London listed, so PFICs for US tax. | Currency conversion of 0.50%, or 0.35% on its higher tier. Webull routes customers through a W-8BEN with its US clearing partner, which is the form for people who are not US persons, so ask first. |
Ready-made funds only
These will open an account for you and then offer you nothing but pooled funds, which US tax treats as PFICs. Open to a US person, and of little use to one.
| What you can hold as a US person | The catch | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prosper (opens in a new tab) With strings US persons: the door may open, but the shelves hold only funds FSCS £85,000 investment cover · app first, web available | General investment account (opens in a new tab) | No platform fee, with fund manager fees refunded on more than 30 funds | None, and no transfer or exit fee | More than 200 index, portfolio and mutual funds and ETFs. No individual shares, so nothing here escapes the PFIC rules. | Private market investments carry a 1% upfront fee, and Prosper keeps the interest on uninvested cash. |
| Sidekick (opens in a new tab) With strings US persons: no published US bar, but execution and custody sit with a US firm Custody with DriveWealth LLC in the US · app only · confirm which compensation scheme applies Not yet verified · last checked 17 August 2026 | Core and ready-made portfolios (opens in a new tab) | 0.25% on core holdings, 0.50% on personalised ones | None to execute or hold | Ready-made and themed ETF portfolios plus managed strategies. This is the pooled side of the platform, so these are PFICs for US tax. | No currency conversion fee. Fund charges are levied by the ETF provider on top. |
Institution and account names link to the provider's own site. momo has no active affiliate partnerships; if that changes it will be disclosed and will never change a verdict.
Who will not take you
Checked and confirmed to refuse US persons, so you can skip the application. The reason matters: some bar US citizenship outright, others require that you are tax resident in the UK and nowhere else.
| Institution | Why | Last checked |
|---|---|---|
| AJ Bell(opens in a new tab) | AJ Bell states it plainly for this product: if you are a US citizen, or a US tax resident, you cannot open a dealing account. Do not read across from its SIPP, which does accept US citizens. AJ Bell sets the rule product by product, and this is the one where the answer is no. | 17 August 2026 |
| Bestinvest(opens in a new tab) | The stated test is residence, then a birthplace test is layered on top: if you were born, live or pay tax in the United States you cannot open a Bestinvest account. That is wider than citizenship and catches people who have never held a US passport. Bestinvest attributes it to its custodian not complying with IRS reporting, and it covers every account type. | 17 August 2026 |
| Chip(opens in a new tab) | Chip has chosen not to accept US persons, or anyone not solely UK tax resident, as customers. The forward-looking clause is the worse half: if you later become a US person you must tell Chip and the account will need to be closed, which lands on someone who naturalises years after opening. | 17 August 2026 |
| Dodl by AJ Bell(opens in a new tab) | Dodl states it plainly: you cannot open its general investment account if you are a US citizen or US tax resident. It reproduces the AJ Bell split exactly, because its pension rule bars only Canadians, so a US citizen turned away from this account can still open the Dodl pension. | 17 August 2026 |
| eToro UK(opens in a new tab) | Both eToro doors are shut and they shut on opposite groups. The UK terms treat US residents and citizens as a blocked country, while the US arm says it cannot serve US citizens who live outside the States, which is precisely where you are. | 17 August 2026 |
| Fidelity UK(opens in a new tab) | Fidelity's client terms restrict accounts to UK residents over 18 who are not US persons, and the definition covers any US citizen and any US passport holder wherever they live. It also reserves the right to sell your investments and close the account if it merely suspects you will become one. | 17 August 2026 |
| Freetrade(opens in a new tab) | Freetrade sells a general account with no fee and no commission, and its terms make not being a US person under FATCA a condition of every account it offers, including citizens and residents of the States. The bar bites before you reach its separate fund restrictions. | 17 August 2026 |
| Halifax Share Dealing(opens in a new tab) | Halifax puts a citizenship test in its eligibility list beside the residence one, requiring that you are not a US person, a US citizen, or US tax resident by any other route. Both tests must be met, so living in Britain does not rescue it. | 17 August 2026 |
| Interactive Investor(opens in a new tab) | The marketing page and the contract disagree, and the contract wins. The product page asks only that you are 18 or over and a UK tax resident, which a US citizen in Britain passes. The terms of service then require you to confirm you are neither a Canadian resident nor a US person, and a later clause lets ii close your positions if it believes you are one. | 17 August 2026 |
| InvestEngine(opens in a new tab) | A general account exists and is open to eligible clients, and US persons are not among them: InvestEngine cannot open accounts for US citizens or US tax residents. It sells only ETFs in any case, so every holding here would be a PFIC even if the door opened. | 17 August 2026 |
| iWeb (now Scottish Widows Share Dealing)(opens in a new tab) | Worth knowing that iWeb is no longer called iWeb. It is now the Scottish Widows Share Dealing Account, run by the same Lloyds business as Halifax, and it carries the same bar: the application criteria require that you are not a US citizen or US taxpayer. | 17 August 2026 |
| Lightyear(opens in a new tab) | Lightyear declines on citizenship rather than residence, naming US citizens and US tax residents among the cases where it cannot offer services, so living in the UK does not help. | 17 August 2026 |
| Moneybox(opens in a new tab) | Moneybox states the bar on the product page itself: you must be 18 or over and resident in the UK, and not a US citizen. That is a citizenship test rather than a residence one, so living here does not help. Its individual US shares are offered in the ISA rather than in this account in any case. | 17 August 2026 |
| Moneyfarm(opens in a new tab) | Worth reading as a warning about how these bars are published. Moneyfarm's account opening clause carries no US person test at all, so the contract alone would tell you the door is open. Its FAQ closes it: Moneyfarm decided not to accept further US persons as customers, counting citizens, green card holders and anyone born in the States. Only people who opened before March 2021 are carried on, and only while they live in the UK. | 17 August 2026 |
| Nutmeg (J.P. Morgan Personal Investing)(opens in a new tab) | A general account is one of the products and the terms are flat: it does not provide portfolios or services to US persons. The clause that reaches forward is worse than the refusal, warning that if you become a US person it may sell your investments and withhold cash against US withholding tax. | 17 August 2026 |
| Plum(opens in a new tab) | The account declaration you sign says you are not a US person as the IRS defines one, so the door shuts on citizenship rather than residence. Plum's help centre is blunter still, saying American citizens, including those with dual citizenship, cannot use the funds feature in the app. | 17 August 2026 |
| RBC Brewin Dolphin(opens in a new tab) | The client terms say it may not provide services if you are or become a US person, and reserve the right to withdraw them if you become one, with US person defined to include any citizen or resident of the States. The site disclaimer adds that no offer is made to any US person. | 17 August 2026 |
| Redmayne Bentley(opens in a new tab) | Its own forms require you to confirm that you are not a United States person as FATCA defines one, nor a Canadian resident, and state that the application cannot proceed if the box is not ticked. The account opening page adds that the process is for UK residents only. | 17 August 2026 |
| Revolut UK(opens in a new tab) | Revolut closes both doors and its own wording spells out the trap: trading entities outside the US cannot serve US persons living outside the US, and only its US entity may serve US persons, who must be living in the US. Note this is Revolut's trading arm; its everyday and savings accounts are a separate matter. | 17 August 2026 |
| Robinhood UK(opens in a new tab) | The cleanest double trap on this site. The UK agreement makes you represent for the life of the account that you are not a US person as the Internal Revenue Code defines one, while the US arm requires a legal US residential address, so an American who has moved to Britain is locked out at both ends by design. Note also that the UK brokerage assets are not FSCS protected: they sit with Robinhood Securities in the US under SIPC. | 17 August 2026 |
| Saxo UK(opens in a new tab) | Saxo will not take you. Its UK help centre says it cannot offer services to anyone classified as a US person, and expressly includes dual citizens living outside the US. The only route back in it names is a certificate of loss of nationality. | 17 August 2026 |
| Trading 212(opens in a new tab) | The Invest account is the one outside a wrapper, and the bar is set at platform level rather than per product. Trading 212 does not offer accounts to US persons, and defines those to include US citizens, anyone born in the States, green card holders and anyone with US tax obligations. | 17 August 2026 |
| True Potential(opens in a new tab) | To open one you must be resident in the UK and not be a United States person or citizen. Its definition is the widest on this page, catching anyone born in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam or the US Virgin Islands, and anyone with a US citizen parent. The account holds only True Potential's own funds, so it would be no use even without the bar. | 17 August 2026 |
| Vanguard UK(opens in a new tab) | The terms say the accounts and funds are not available to US persons, and define one to include any US citizen and any US passport holder whatever their residence. The help pages repeat it in plain words. | 17 August 2026 |
| Wealthify(opens in a new tab) | The general account test starts as residence, being over 18 and living in the UK or the Channel Islands, and then adds a nationality test in the same breath: you must not be a US passport holder. A later clause lets Wealthify end the agreement if you stop meeting those conditions after opening. | 17 August 2026 |
| Willis Owen(opens in a new tab) | The broadest shelf of this group, taking funds, shares, investment trusts and ETFs, and the application stops a US citizen dead: you must confirm that you are a UK resident and not a US person. So the direct shares that would have solved the PFIC problem stay out of reach. Note it has been part of the Moneyfarm group since December 2024, which also declines US persons. | 17 August 2026 |
No longer offering this, or never did
Nothing to do with your citizenship: these are providers that do not offer a general investment account to anyone in the UK. Several are still recommended in forums and guides, which is why they are listed rather than left out.
| Provider | Why not | Last checked |
|---|---|---|
| DEGIRO(opens in a new tab) | DEGIRO fails twice over. It says it cannot serve a US person and that US law follows the person rather than the address, and separately its UK site says onboarding for new UK clients is closed. Worth noting the protection too: flatexDEGIRO Bank SE is an overseas firm and the FSCS does not cover you. | 17 August 2026 |
| Investec Wealth and Investment(opens in a new tab) | There is no longer an Investec Wealth and Investment UK to apply to. The business joined Rathbones Group in 2023 and client investments have migrated across, so a US citizen should read the Rathbones row and its US taxpayer service instead. | 17 August 2026 |
| Pepperstone(opens in a new tab) | Not a share dealing account, and not a refusal either. Pepperstone offers only leveraged derivatives, and says plainly that you do not own or have rights in the underlying asset, so a contract for difference on Apple is not an Apple share. Its terms say nothing about US citizens either way. Worth knowing because it is often suggested alongside brokers, and it is a different product with different tax treatment again. | 17 August 2026 |
| Spreadex(opens in a new tab) | Another firm that never gives you the share. Spreadex offers spread bets, contracts for difference and options, and confirms you do not own shares when you take a spread bet, with no voting rights passed on. Its customer agreement never mentions US citizens, and its only US rule bites if you move to the States rather than if you are American here. | 17 August 2026 |
| Stake(opens in a new tab) | Stake closed its UK operation on 15 November 2024 and moved eligible accounts to Freetrade, so there is nothing to open. Worth knowing where those customers landed, because Freetrade bars US persons under FATCA, so anyone transferred across ended up somewhere that will not keep them. Note also that Stake never held your assets under the FSCS: custody sat with DriveWealth in the US under SIPC. | 17 August 2026 |
| Trade Republic(opens in a new tab) | Two reasons this is not available to you. Trade Republic says plainly that US persons cannot open an account and that it does not accept US citizens or US taxable persons, and separately it is not FCA authorised and does not serve the UK, so there is no UK account to apply for. Cash sits under the German deposit guarantee rather than the FSCS. | 17 August 2026 |
| Wombat Invest (now Quilter Invest)(opens in a new tab) | There is no Wombat account to open. Quilter bought the app in 2024, it became NuWealth that June and Quilter Invest in October 2025. The successor does run a general investment account, and its terms require that you are not a US person on an ongoing basis, with a duty to tell them immediately if that changes. | 17 August 2026 |
Why this is the rule
PFIC
Almost every UK-domiciled fund is a PFIC, taxed by the US at punitive rates with heavy filing. This is why US citizens hold individual shares, not UK funds.
TaxFATCA
FATCA makes UK banks report accounts held by US persons to the IRS. It is not a tax; it is a reporting trail. Where it bites is access.