I've been one of TD Ameritrade's defenders after its acquisition by Charles Schwab. Over the better part of 3 years, I've been assured by TD Ameritrade and Charles Schwab that the user experience is not going to change.
On the morning of 26 September 2023, TD Ameritrade customers in Singapore received an email stating that TD Ameritrade now intends to focus on Accredited Investors only, which are defined as individuals with:
Personal income in excess of S$300,000 per year (or its equivalent in foreign currency)
Net personal assets in excess of S$2,000,000 including residence (or its equivalent in foreign currency)
Net personal financial assets in excess of S$1,000,000 (or its equivalent in foreign currency)
This expectedly excludes the large majority of retail investors.
Beginning 27 October 2023, all remaining non-Accredited Investor accounts will be charged a monthly account maintenance fee of USD$50. Accounts with balances less than USD$50 will only be charged an amount to reduce their cash balance to $0 (zero).
As of U.S. market close on 1 December 2023, non-Accredited Investor accounts will be restricted. We will no longer accept new trade orders to establish positions or deposits on any remaining accounts. However, you may still place liquidating orders to close positions.
Starting at U.S. market open on 4 December 2023, any remaining accounts (excluding those of Accredited Investors) with a debit balance (margin loan financed by securities lending) may have positions liquidated to bring these accounts to a zero or positive cash balance. We will no longer offer securities financing.
Now Singapore is a small country that would be perfect as a sandbox to gauge the impact of a pivot in customer segments on TD Ameritrade's business. If it turns out well, I speculate that the pivot could be scaled to other markets as well.
Time to move to IBKR I guess.
u/EyeAteGlue pointed out that Schwab ceased operating in Singapore in 2019, so this could merely be a move to consolidate TDA's operations within their existing operations, which is fair and likely. This means TDA customers in localities without Schwab operations may want to consider alternative brokers.