Opening a brokerage account for a visitor?

[phine]

Hi,
I was wondering if it is possible for a visitor to open a brokerage account? I'm very keen on getting on applying for new IPO's.
I'm currently in US, but not an American citizen. I have E*Trade account with which I can trade on Hang Sheng but E*Trade(US) doesn't participate in IPO's.
I'm a frequent visitor, I don't have an HKID but I'll be able to provide an HK address(my friend's address-for correspondence purposes).
Thanks for your time and hoping someone could answer my question or point me to the right resources?


ps:I did a search and it seems like opening a bank account should not be issue.

[PDLM]

You are aware that any meaningful participation in IPOs here involves getting access also to large amounts of margin financing? You need to subscribe (and have the funds for) 100 times the stocks you actually hope to buy - this is where the banks make their money.