How do I open a financial instrument account through the online bank?
To start investing in financial instruments (shares, bonds, investment funds including exchange-traded funds or ETFs) you must be a Citadele customer:

You must sign an agreement for opening a financial instrument account and making transactions with financial instruments. It is easiest and simplest to sign the agreement in the online bank under Investments > New order > Application to sign an agreement for a financial instrument account and transactions.
In the application, you must add the following:
- Create a phone password. This is a password you make up yourself (a word using the Latin alphabet, may also contain numbers), which you will have to tell our brokers if you have to identify yourself during a phone call. This password is also used in transaction confirmations that are emailed to you.
- Select a default currency by which the value of your securities portfolio will be calculated, your commission fee will be taken, and so on. Your financial instrument account is a multi-value account, so you can use it to hold and use funds in different currencies.
- In question "The Client confirms that he/she is included in the list of holders of inside information of an issuer, whose FI are placed in circulation on any of the regulated markets" indicate whether you hold a high position (on the management board, advisory board or elsewhere) at a business whose securities are in circulation in a regulated market and have access to important internal information for this business.
- Your financial instrument account can be designated an “Investment Account,” which in accordance with the Law On Personal Income Tax is subject to simplified tax calculation and declaration, however there are some restrictions to this (for example, for securities transfers). You can find out what choice is right for you here.
We will send you a notification in the online bank once your agreement has been signed and your financial instrument account is open. We will transfer the securities you purchase into this account, and hold them there, as well as the money you use for transactions with financial instruments. We usually open an account within three hours of receiving your application.
Important: To purchase securities traded on the U.S. markets, or whose income comes from the United States, you must fill in and submit a valid (signed by yourself) W-8BEN tax form in three copies. See form.
You can submit the form at any of our branches, first making an appointment here.
On request, for example, by submitting a free-form order through the online bank, we can prepare this form for you using the information we have at our disposal and send it to your chosen branch to be signed.
Please bear in mind that the form is valid for 3 years.
Additional information for legal entities: If the company’s management wishes to authorise an employee to make financial instrument transactions in the company’s account, and who is not an authorised person according to the business registry, you must submit an additional authorisation form. See example here.