Bankers!!!

MYStargazer

MYStargazer

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Can anyone recommend a user-friendly offshore bank to hold funds out of the reach of rubbish local (foreign) banks, when I'm overseas for long periods?

No, I can't open an ordinary UK bank account because I'm no longer resident.

Any horror stories?

Thanks, folks.
 
Which country & what currency? HSBC have a pretty good network of branches in a lot of different countries and are a very large bank. They bought Midland Bank a few years back.
I see no reason why you should not have a UK account, except possible tax on interest, but nearly all the big UK banks will open you an account in the Channel Islands, usually with a subsidiary company.
 
Isle Of Man International Banking

courtesy of Barclays .....

Internet access and they don't care as long as you stay within the law.

As to UK high street banks .... I have friends and staff who have UK banks accounts and not resident - so whats the problem ? But I really do not like UK banks - as they refuse to allow operation of multiple currencies on internet banking ... also I cannot operate my Cards ...

ALL my Latvian Accounts allow operation of Visa Credit / Electron / Debit cards just like an ordinary account ... I have multiple currencys on each account ... US$, Euros and Lats ... I can have any traded currency I like and I can send the money to another account anywhere in the world in any traded currency ... UK hasn't even got close yet !!
 
I would also recommend HSBC. It's a bit like banking with the Daleks, but their network is very reliable.

A British-owned but non-UK active bank with a very good reputation and excellent third world coverage is Standard Chartered.

I am just wondering if you could open an account in Hong Kong (which does not tax non-residents on non-HK earnings) with either of these.
 
I used to work for Standard Chartered. Very good in the Middle East, Far East, Indian Sub Continent, but not operating in Europe, which is why I suggested HSBC.
 
Try Lloyds TSB jersey. they have done me very well over the years debit card on my us$ nd my € accounts. I have not used their internet yet but they are good on the phone straight throught to the bank in jersey.
 
I wanted to open a current account in jersey for use whne i visit but no uk bank would let me do it. I was really upset at the time.
 
Jersey .... I o Man ....

I don't understand why there is this hang-onto Jersey.... when I hear so many say they cant have this, not allowed that etc. Plus Ch. Isles as I heard does not have "all" Confidentiality as it used to ...

I bank Isle of Man based on information given me when I cleared up my tax affairs with Tax authorities and my Accountant ..... they both confirmed that I was better off using Isle of Man as that still had in place all protections etc. It's so long ago now - that I can't remember all the ins and outs of it ... but as I understood - UK Authorities coulkd not force disclosure of your details of Isle of Man accounts ...

Maybe things ahve changed I don't know .... but Barclays International Banking has provided very good service for em and was set-up easily without visit etc.
 
Thanks, all.

It's a toss-up between IOM, Jersey and Guernsey. I want somewhere with UK-ish consumer protection and laws. I'm not looking to evade, but avoidance would be helpful as a bonus. I just want an easy-to-use international account which I can set up whilst not being UK-resident.

Your valuable comments above are all much appreciated.
 
Re: Jersey .... I o Man ....

I believe that the confidentiality thing has changed a lot under G Brown, and only Lichenstein amongst the civilised places is reasonably secure from prying eyes these days
 
All CI banks & BS require you to declare that you are happy for them to disclose your details to the IR. If you say no then they levy a tax, I think its 20% on all interest earned. Apparently the EU and especially the UK IR and the French equivalent objected to non CI residents holding accounts in the CI. They suspected undeclared income and not declaring interest earned on these accounts. The EU got tough with the CI and that the deal they brokered.

If drug or terrorist money is suspected I believe ALL banks now disclose details to security services.
 
As I understand it ...

IoM as long as you state and declare that you are banking in fair and reasonable manner then you are secure.

I know when I was investigated some years ago for tax unpaid .... 14 yrs worth .... I was told that IoM accounts they couldn't get info and they needed me to actually state what was there etc. Not long after I received a letter asking if I objected to disclosure of details to UK IR ... which I had option to say no and explain why.

So far I've been very happy with them.
 
Re: Jersey .... I o Man ....

thanks for info. I bank with barclays but they are not very helpfull on the jersey request. Perhaps i should try another bank
 
To Powersalt ...

I use Barclays International Banking on IoM .... very happy with them ....

I must say that the best bank I ever had was BCCI - but they got shut down for Cocaine money Laundering and large unsecured loans !! They used to send flowers on wifes birthday etc. Everything was over the phone long before others caught up .... sadly when Bank Of England closed them down - I lost my holdings ... Thankyou Threadneedle St !
 
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