Money from Fidelity shares USD to UK bank

TheStinkyHippy

Hi all,

I work for an american company who offer stock options. I have some shares in a Fidelity account (USA) worth a couple of thousand dollars...

I have options to;
- Wire to bank
- Wire to financial Institution
- Send check to address

I can either request the money in USD or GBP.

What is the best option?
To request a cheque costs $5
The exchange rate that fidelity offer is shown on the form. (currently 0.613 GBP to USD)

Should I wire, or cheque?
I know UK banks charge for foreign cheques, never done a wire transfer.

Any advice greatly received.

Thanks

agrinnall

Wire transfer is almost certainly the most sensible option - it'll probably be cheaper and will definitely be quicker.

A cheque would only be worth considering if they are able to provide you one drawn in sterling, and the exchange rate is at least as good as the wire rate, and your UK account can't accept electronic payments but can accept cheques (unlikely but not impossible).

grumbler

TheStinkyHippy wrote: »

The exchange rate that fidelity offer is shown on the form. (currently 0.613 GBP to USD)

The interbank rate is 0.642 currently, i.e. ~4.7% better.
A UK bank is likely to charge ~3% for the conversion.
So, a bank transfer seems to be the best option if you don't have an account in $.