Which banks are safe for a european citizen in order to open a deposit account

atush

lots of UK banks operate in Cyprus, I magine this guy wants his money out of cyprus in case the take another tranche.

As for UK residency, this isn't exactly true it is required. It may be for some accounts and some banks, but not all accounts. I have accts with Santander UK, and BM both opened when I lived outside the UK. But these accts are not in Euros.

I have euro accounts with Barclays (based in Eire) and HSBC (based in Rennes France) that I opened thru my local HSBC premier. Perhaps the OP could go into HSBC and ask about their euroaccts in europe (ie not cyprus based). Mine are current acct and not savings but I imagine they have them.

AS for offshore, IOM banks are guaranteed up to 50K pp. When KSF went down, i got 100% of my money back plus interest (capped at 5%, was 7%).

DunPin

AdrianC wrote: »

No need for the OP to go to Jersey for HSBC - there's a Cypriot offshoot.

http://www.cyprus-banking.com/listings/name/hsbc-bank-plc

TBH, I'd expect any of the major international banking chains to have some kind of business in Cyprus, and - if not - in Greece. Since they're all part of the same multinational, they're as "safe" there as anywhere. Which, since the EU single-banking-business protection covers his balance, is near-as-dammit 100% safe.

Unless, of course, the OP's wanting to go offshore in order to avoid any Cypriot government haircut on deposit balances. I idly wonder about the legalities of such a plan.

He doesn't have to go to Jersey as he can get his ID verified by HSBC in Cyprus but as you'll note from the situation in Cyprus, he won't want to open a bank account in Cyprus. It isn't illegal to take his money out of the country, I know of a couple of people taking more than the OP is out of Cyprus and they were fine.

man2003

Please visit central bank of cyprus home page and check out: Restrictive Measures on Transaction

Archi_Bald

man2003 wrote: »

Please visit central bank of cyprus home page and check out: Restrictive Measures on Transaction

why would I want to do this?

gb12345

man2003 wrote: »

Please visit central bank of cyprus home page and check out: Restrictive Measures on Transaction

That rather renders your initial question as pointless then doesn't it. Since you are not allowed to transfer your money out of Cyprus.

Porcupine

Summary of my experience and other threads:

Euro accounts in UK (need UK address):
Barclays Euro Current Account: rubbish
Citibank Euro Current Account: OK, £5pm fee but you can dodge it
Cater Allen: no experience
(there are others, mostly with monthly fees)

Euro accounts openable by non-residents:
Keytrade Belgium: works well, in English
Deutsche Bank: speak German, may need visit
DSB (Germany): unsure
Irish banks: mostly friendly to non-residents

EU divisions of UK banks, mostly aimed at ex-pats with links to UK:
Halifax Spain (may have closed now)
Barclays France
HSBC (not the same bank everywhere, despite the ads)

'Offshore' accounts in Jersey/Guernsey/IoM/Gibraltar: not in EU, different protection schemes (potentially weaker)

man2003

Archi_Bald wrote: »

why would I want to do this?

You cannot open a new bank account within Cyprus incuding Hsbc Bank Plc in Cyprus.

Nicosia Address Details Address: 7 Dositheou str.
Nicosia, Nicosia
Telephone: 22376116 Fax: 22376121

* By the way, HSBC services have been terminated some time ago

But you can open a Euro Bank account outside Cyprus. If you maintain a Euro Bank account in Cyprus you can transfer 5000 EURO each month to any foreign Bank account of yours by using SEPA, SWIFT, electronic transfer.

atush

So, go to greece/italy or wherever. With some cash. Open an acct. pay into it over time.

Keep your balance lower than the amount guaranteed in whatever country you choose.

I suggest Germany. so plan a holiday?

man2003

atush wrote: »

So, go to greece/italy or wherever. With some cash. Open an acct. pay into it over time.

Keep your balance lower than the amount guaranteed in whatever country you choose.

I suggest Germany. so plan a holiday?

Is this valid according to another thread in this forum?

Quote:

Originally Posted by nkomp18
Today I did my research and discovered that DB has no retail branches in the UK, it only operates as an investment bank and they only talk to companies related to corporate banking.

So exactly was it that you opened an account? I am very curious how you did it. What contact numbers did you use?
It doesn't seem to be possible as far as I can see

Yes Deutsche Bank UK will only consider you if you are making deposits of over EUR €1 million. I tried that route first too

I got the branch details from a friend who lives in Germany. His local branch happens to be:-

Deutsche Bank
Roßmarkt 18
60311 Frankfurt am Main
Germany
+49 69 91033802

The chap I dealt with at the branch is Mr Tino Wagner. Phone him, he speaks perfect English. Even their online banking very helpfully has an English option.

sabretoothtigger

I think Belgium was bailed out, probably safe enough now.
The other option is to convert your cash to bitcoins within cyprus then you can move it anywhere and I know of an account that will pay about 6% apr daily

Unconventional but you could enquire at the Perth Mint about a purchase held in their bank vaults