offshore banking

brad171080

hi,

On monday i purchased aprox 9400 euros, it's money i need for a foreign investment installment that is due in August 08, bought now because i feared the pound could continue to weaken as the year pressed on. At the moment the money is witht the broker, they are waiting on account details from myself for them to forward the money too. Like an idiot i didn't prepare well for where i could put the money. I don't really want the money in their account gathering interest for 8 months but i have no offshore account to date.

Am i correct in assuming i need an offshore/International account to hold my Euro's? I had a quick look around last night and some accounts want a minimum of 10k euros, others won't allow any withdrawls in the first 12 months, both of these obviously unsuitable for my needs. Can anyone recommend an offshore account or does anyone think im better off just leaving the money where it is as i will only have it in my account for a relatively short space of time.

Thanks in advance

Brad

jodavid_2

www.lacaixa.es -this is my bank in spain, as ive been living there for the last 6 months but bk in england now.There really good and well known, was free to open acc and thats were i keep my euros, and do alot of transfering back and forth from english accs, along with quick access to acc, defo worth having a look at, i do all my banking with them online. Good luck

Fella

I think a lot of big UK banks offer Euro accounts.

Here's one from Nationwide that looks OK: http://nationwideinternational.com/accounts/accounts_euro_glance.htm

There may be better though, I'm not an expert.

Jonbvn

A&L IOM offer 3.68%. Min balance Euro5k.
http://www.alil.co.im/offshore-euro-us-dollar-accounts/Euro-Savings.aspx?bhcp=1

caliston

I've been looking at this...

Moneyfacts (impartial rate comparison site used by all the newspapers etc) has an offshore section - if you click on Search you can enter how much you have and the notice you want and it'll show the best rates (ignore 'expat accounts', don't know what they are).

Things to watch:
Most of these accounts are in the Isle of Man/Jersey/Guernsey. The IoM has a deposit protection scheme (75% of the first £20K) but Jersey and Guernsey don't, so you have to be a bit circumspect about where to put your money. Many of the top-paying accounts are those banks which have less than perfect credit ratings (see the Icesave/Kaupthing/etc threads on this board) - if you don't have any deposit protection then this is more of a worry. Possibly a good idea to split across different banks.

Watch carefully fees for transferring in and out of your account. They may be fee-free for transfers to and from the home bank but usually transfer into/out of non-UK banks get charged fees (even Euro-Euro transfers). In theory Euro-Euro fees will be disappearing over the next three years (starting last week) thanks to the Single Euro Payments Area.

I've yet to find a sensible Euro current account, though Barclays Euro Account might do the trick. Mostly free for transactions in the UK, though I assume there is no credit interest (because it doesn't mention it).

Be prepared for a lot of reading of small print.


Anyone know if banks in European member states will open accounts for residents of other member states, and if so is there a price comparison site for accounts in other Euro countries? Or MSE-like sites in other countries?

Jonbvn

caliston wrote: »

I've yet to find a sensible Euro current account, though Barclays Euro Account might do the trick. Mostly free for transactions in the UK, though I assume there is no credit interest (because it doesn't mention it).

The OP said that he wanted an interest paying account, not a current account???

caliston

I realise that, I was suggesting the OP might want a Euro current account too.

With some Euro savings accounts there are charges for some types of transactions (it's a minefield, you can't expect things which are free in the UK to be free offshore). So having a Euro current account too might help - for example if you need to issue some cheques in Euro you can do a free transfer into your current account and then issue cheques from there without charge. It seems like it's much harder to do BACS-like transfers in Euro without incurring charges, especially across borders. A current account with branches is the only simple fee-free way to handle Euro cash - not many Euro ATMs in this country.

The Barclays one isn't great, but it's the only current account I've found so far that doesn't charge a monthly fee.

consumer

Hi,

I've got Citibank US Dollar Current Account...and they do Euro Current Account as well.

They provide you with a cheque book for payments in euros..and a debit card. No minimum fund requirements and charges. So, I think it will be most suited for you.

Here is the link - http://www.citibank.co.uk/personal/banking/international/eurocurrent.htm

Easy to open as well. I opened one before my USA trip and used debit card for transactions in USA. Also provided good exchange rate.

influence

The citibank Euro account doesn't come with a cheque book since I am using it. It is only their USD account that has this service.

I think it is quite convenient since I can use the debit card in any ATM within Europe to withdraw my Euro without extra charges.

It also kinda offer fairly good rate (definitely better than travelex or some high street exchange).

consumer

Thanks for confirming that Euro account does not come with Cheque book.

I kind of assumed from the wordings on their website that both US and Euro account come with chequebook and I've only USD Current Account with them.

Reaper

brad171080 wrote: »

i feared the pound could continue to weaken as the year pressed on.

It hasn't continued to weaken this year, it is higher against the Euro than it was at the start of the year. Still, if it you are buying your investment in Euros at least you don't have to worry about future fluctuations.