Brexit, Expats and U.K. bank Accounts

Borisjake

headers47 said:

As an EU resident, I have retained my U.K. bank account as my pension provider will only pay my pension into a U.K. based sterling account. Many people are receiving letters saying their accounts will be closed as from end Nov 2020 also Credit Cards are being closed. National Savings have also stopped their international payments facility so that withdrawals have to be paid into a U.K. bank account or a bankers draft. It’s difficult to find out which banks will continue to support non resident bank accounts after 31/12/2020. Can you help please?

Not by any means an expert but considering there are 1.3 million Brits in the EU, and 2.7 million EU people in the UK, I'd put money on banks continuing as they do now (don't quote me). Why? Because the EU will be crapping on their own if they carry on with their intransigence.
If you can afford the deposit, Barclays international account will be good for you

Tragen

headers47 said:

I am now considering moving to a jersey based bank as they appear to have foreseen the upcoming problems and have agreements in place with the eu and the U.K. or have I got that completely wrong?

Jersey is not in the UK, so would a Jersey bank account work with a pension provider that will only pay into a UK bank account?

MDMD

Tragen said:

headers47 said:

I am now considering moving to a jersey based bank as they appear to have foreseen the upcoming problems and have agreements in place with the eu and the U.K. or have I got that completely wrong?

Jersey is not in the UK, so would a Jersey bank account work with a pension provider that will only pay into a UK bank account?

It’s also not in the EU so presumably has the same restrictions that a UK bank will have from 1 January 2021?

headers47

MDMD said:

Tragen said:

headers47 said:

I am now considering moving to a jersey based bank as they appear to have foreseen the upcoming problems and have agreements in place with the eu and the U.K. or have I got that completely wrong?

Jersey is not in the UK, so would a Jersey bank account work with a pension provider that will only pay into a UK bank account?

It’s also not in the EU so presumably has the same restrictions that a UK bank will have from 1 January 2021?

Jersey already has arrangements in place with the EU

seradane

This is so weird to me that UK-based bank accounts, from UK-based banks, owned by a UK citizen, operating in Sterling only, and not any other currency, are somehow suddenly problematic if the address of the bank account holder happens to be abroad... I don't really understand why the Bank should care where you are living, all their dealings are UK-based?

colsten

seradane said:

This is so weird to me that UK-based bank accounts, from UK-based banks, owned by a UK citizen, operating in Sterling only, and not any other currency, are somehow suddenly problematic if the address of the bank account holder happens to be abroad... I don't really understand why the Bank should care where you are living, all their dealings are UK-based?

Not all dealings are UK based. Not all the affected account holders are UK citizens. But more importantly,  each country / jurisdiction has its own laws and rules, specifically when it comes to financial services. It's no different for non-UK banks who want to operate in the UK - - -  they need to have the permission of the UK authorities (FCA/PRA) to do so. All UK banks are free to apply for appropriate permissions to operate in any or all of the EU/EEA states. The blanket permission they had to do so for last several decades ceases on 31/12/2020, on request of the British Government, unless the British Government agrees successor permission with the EU.

Ballard

Borisjake said:

headers47 said:

As an EU resident, I have retained my U.K. bank account as my pension provider will only pay my pension into a U.K. based sterling account. Many people are receiving letters saying their accounts will be closed as from end Nov 2020 also Credit Cards are being closed. National Savings have also stopped their international payments facility so that withdrawals have to be paid into a U.K. bank account or a bankers draft. It’s difficult to find out which banks will continue to support non resident bank accounts after 31/12/2020. Can you help please?

Not by any means an expert but considering there are 1.3 million Brits in the EU, and 2.7 million EU people in the UK, I'd put money on banks continuing as they do now (don't quote me). Why? Because the EU will be crapping on their own if they carry on with their intransigence.
If you can afford the deposit, Barclays international account will be good for you

I hope that you’re right but this argument is very similar to the one where the big German motor manufacturers would be banging on Merkel’s door to insist upon a free trade agreement with the U.K. to protect their business. 

seradane

colsten said:

seradane said:

This is so weird to me that UK-based bank accounts, from UK-based banks, owned by a UK citizen, operating in Sterling only, and not any other currency, are somehow suddenly problematic if the address of the bank account holder happens to be abroad... I don't really understand why the Bank should care where you are living, all their dealings are UK-based?

Not all dealings are UK based. Not all the affected account holders are UK citizens. But more importantly,  each country / jurisdiction has its own laws and rules, specifically when it comes to financial services. It's no different for non-UK banks who want to operate in the UK - - -  they need to have the permission of the UK authorities (FCA/PRA) to do so. All UK banks are free to apply for appropriate permissions to operate in any or all of the EU/EEA states. The blanket permission they had to do so for last several decades ceases on 31/12/2020, on request of the British Government, unless the British Government agrees successor permission with the EU.

I understand different countries have different rules and that this Brexit situation is unusual because most of the time the rules don't change underneath everyone without ample warning of what's coming next.

But I guess what's confusing me is the "operate in the UK" (or EU) portion of the issue. Like, sure, if they had branches in the other country, or had accounts that used the other currency, or even offered their accounts to be opened by the residents of said country, then sure, that is clearly operating there and thus subject to the rules. Fine. But if one of their existing customers moves abroad means they now count as operating in that country?

Let's say, for example, you've got a British Citizen (and I'm using this not because everyone's a citizen but it just makes the example less complicated because I don't want to bring different immigration status rules into it) living in France, and they have one of these UK bank accounts that is uncertain. If they are still using a UK-based address, e.g. family members residence, are they fine? But not if they're using a french address? Or are they still technically causing the issue either way, just the bank isn't aware so won't be able to act accordingly?

colsten

Anyone with an address in the UK can hold a current, and other, accounts with UK banks and building societies. The fact that they may also have an address in one or more other countries is irrelevant.

Retaining and maintaining a UK address might be desirable for a variety of reasons, not just banking. Pretending to live at an address that you don't actually live at might, however, not be such a smart thing to do as their might be unwanted, and unforeseen / unforeseeable, consequences, for example when it comes to tax, or, in the case of banking, if the bank asks you to present ID in Branch.

cabaspre

As I understand the UK address registered should show that one is on the Electoral Register