When to transfer Euros into Pounds

Soot2006

I have some Euros savings (France) which I would like to use to buy a house in the UK ... Watching the exchange rate fluctuating with great interest at the moment, does anyone have any predictions about when would be the best time to strike?

neil324

Yeh wait about 1 month untill it gets to parity..

Baldur

We'd probably all be making our fortunes on the FX markets, rather than posting on these boards if we could accurately predict future rates.

Jonbvn

A lot of commentators are saying that sterling is likely to fall further against the $ & Euro. However, nobody (AFAIK) foresaw the massive (30%) decline in sterling over the last year against the dollar, so "they" could be completely wrong!

Soot2006

Baldur wrote: »

We'd probably all be making our fortunes on the FX markets, rather than posting on these boards if we could accurately predict future rates.

I agree, but I'm not seeking to make much money, just to lose a little less than usual !!

Graham1

Remember than profits on holdings of foreign currency are subject to capital gains tax (yes the government gains some extra tax when the £ weakens) - so if the appreciation in value is significant it might pay to split the sale over two consecutive tax years. - This probably only applies if at some time in the past you bought your euro with pounds. If the euro funds were earned abroad then probably no "capital gain" arises. I say "probably" as I am no expert on this.

paranoid-taxpayer

Is there some way in which people who want to exchange currencies, get together, work out a deal to bypass banks/currency traders? I am looking at buying euros with sterling. Just a thought. Am sure there are pitfalls etc, but worth investigating.

EdInvestor

Both Germany and Italy have officially gone into recession today (ahead of the UK)and looks like Germany is in real trouble on several fronts.Pressure on the ECB is mounting strongly to cut Euro interest rates.

You could argue that the 1% sterling cut expected next month is already in the price.

I wouldn't wait too long. You might be wise to get a chunk of it at least exchanged now.

Soot2006

I have transferred myself a lump sum this morning ... Not the bulk of it, because a small part of me sometimes wonders whether I might move back to the continent and is reluctant to break all ties ... What can I say - I love everywhere! I can't decide where to live!

The money was earned in Euros and is in my name, so hopefully should not be subjected to any UK taxes (under double taxation laws, as interest on my Euros savings is already taxed under French laws).

Thanks again for all your help! Never before have I been this aware of the outside world - it's a great learning curve for me to be checking markets & currency rates first thing every morning .

purch

Is there some way in which people who want to exchange currencies, get together, work out a deal

It's called the Foreign Exchange Market

Minarzouki

Hi Soot

Jonathan Loynes at Capital Economics (an independent research consultancy) have been quoted as saying on the BBC that they continue to expect interest rates to fall to 1% or even lower next year. This would see adverse effects on the Sterling and weaken it further to unimaginable levels. However, with Germany going into recession, this will also greatly level out the currency pair as even the Euro is crashing at the very moment. I cannot imagine levels much lower than 1.09 however no-one could have predicted the steep rise of the US dollar against Sterling. That is to say, the currency market is unpredictable.

It’s probably worth your while to sign up with a Currency Broker whereby you will be assigned your own personal currency dealer who will watch the market on your behalf and help guide you with regards to the optimum time to trade. You can also set up orders in the market with them where you dictate the levels with which you are happy to trade at and they will set that trigger in the market for immediate execution when the level is achieved. They will only ever act upon your instructions and are always more competitive than the banks. Why not sign yourself up to a daily market brief so that you are continuously kept up to date with currency fluctuations and news that may affect the current exchange rate.

Hope that helps,

Mina Rzouki, Quality Service Manager, Moneycorp, https://www.moneycorp.com