Australian Dollars in the UK

emuzeg

I have Australian Dollars in an AUD account in a Turkish bank (long story). Can I open an AUD account in any UK bank so I can send it from my Turkish AUD account to the UK one?

jonesMUFCforever

Are you a UK resident and have a verifiable address here?
If yes you can open a AUD account with most banks but in all probability will be offshore in either Jersey or Isle of Man.

Any bank will need to ID you and will want to know the whereabouts of how you obtained the currency.

I suspect this will cost you quite a lot.

eDicky

Offshore Jersey/IoM accounts are available to non UK residents, but an AUD account may not be so easy to find these days.

Unless you have a particular requirement for AUD in the UK, why not use a normal GBP bank account (if you are UK resident) to have the funds sent to and converted in the process?

emuzeg

Thanks for the replies. I am a UK resident and citizen yes.

To give a bit more detail: I worked in Turkey for a while and all my savings are in Turkish Lira there. The horrendous rate from Lira to GBP is putting me off converting it to pounds and sending it over but I am very unsure about waiting as the situation in Turkey might make it get even weaker.

So, I was thinking of switching the Lira to Aus Dollars since the dollar is a little weak at the moment and when the dollar gets stronger (which it is far more likely to than the Turkish lira) I'll switch it to GBP.

I've just moved back to the UK so am job hunting, could I still open an offshore IOM account? Is there a monthly fee to them and can I open online?

I'm surprised I can't open a foreign currency account with regular banks since you can in Turkey.

Thrugelmir

emuzeg wrote: »

I'm surprised I can't open a foreign currency account with regular banks since you can in Turkey.

This isn't Turkey though.

grumbler

http://www.barclays.co.uk/Otheraccounts/Currencyaccounts/ForeignCurrencyAccount/P1242557963858

"You'll maintain a minimum balance of $2,000 or the foreign equivalent in your account"

"You can open a Foreign Currency Account or Currency Deposit Account in a wide range of currencies" including AUD.

Foreign Currency Account rates and charges