Euro Pacific Bank is fine

[lyseoy]

Just to balance all the EPB bashing on this forum:

I banked with them for a couple of years and never had any major trouble to speak of. There were some nuisances though:

Yes, they DO run on Caribbean island time, and some of the front line workers can seem a bit daft at times - Just be patient.​

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Yes, they like to waste your money on demanding various documents certified now and then - Shop around for your cheapest notary and just get it done.​

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Yes, they lost their USD correspondent bank - Transfer in another currency while you wait.​

BUT, they were one of a very few banks who would take me on, having no history anywhere. And I got all my banking needs taken care of. Eventually I moved on, to a more reputable bank, once I had some history of transactions to show, and I'm not looking back. My new bank is better in a number of ways, but I'm grateful to have had EPB as my first bank connection to get the ball rolling. (I never used my account for anything not allowed)

Best of luck!

 

[Forester]

Thanks for sharing your experience. (BTW, it's not in the contradiction with many of opinions posted.)
Would you mind sharing the name of your new bank (what was happy with EPB as the banking reference)? (I am neither the past nor current client of EPB, just I'm curious.)

 

[Chimaera]

Maybe all the bashing of EPB on this forum is one of the reasons why the bank no longer exists. Forced to close down by Puerto Rican authorities. Some clients transferred to QENTA bank, still ongoing process.

 

[lyseoy]

Maybe all the bashing of EPB on this forum is one of the reasons why the bank no longer exists. Forced to close down by Puerto Rican authorities. Some clients transferred to QENTA bank, still ongoing process.

Oh wow, I missed that. Lucky I made the switch before that happened! Seems the main reason they got shut down was for facilitating tax-evasion. Obviously not wise of them to get involved with. But I still stand by what I said. Follow the rules and you'll be fine, break them and you won't; a lesson even EPB learned in the end!

This is a pity though, as this was an easy bank to get started with, and I wonder what will be the next go-to bank for international businesses that are just getting started?

Forrester: I went to CIBC First Caribbean. Very happy with them so far. Yeah EPB isn't the best reference you could have but they were satisfied with seeing some contracts, invoices and bank statement, just to prove previous activity.

 

[spartan7510]

Just to balance all the EPB bashing on this forum:

I banked with them for a couple of years and never had any major trouble to speak of. There were some nuisances though:

Yes, they DO run on Caribbean island time, and some of the front line workers can seem a bit daft at times - Just be patient.​

​

Yes, they like to waste your money on demanding various documents certified now and then - Shop around for your cheapest notary and just get it done.​

​

Yes, they lost their USD correspondent bank - Transfer in another currency while you wait.​

BUT, they were one of a very few banks who would take me on, having no history anywhere. And I got all my banking needs taken care of. Eventually I moved on, to a more reputable bank, once I had some history of transactions to show, and I'm not looking back. My new bank is better in a number of ways, but I'm grateful to have had EPB as my first bank connection to get the ball rolling. (I never used my account for anything not allowed)

Best of luck!

It was first class boutique bank service when in St Vincent, when they moved to Puerto Rico it seemed to go downhill. Interesting that Peter Schiff lives in Puerto Rico, so should have had line of sight on ground view into daily operations rather than remote view. Also the financials published in the court document shows gross negligence in Bank management with under capitalization at 60% in 2021. How did it get to that? On banks landing page it states: A pioneer in bank safety. We are a full-reserve Bank. 100% Liquidity, 100% Deposit Ratio, Zero Loans.

I have followed Peter Schiff since pre-2008 crash where he predicted the housing crash, he was spot on many times and had a lot of credibility which is why I invested in his bank. I do believe the IRS went after him and pressured the OCIF. Peters dad was really outspoken against the IRS and was imprisoned unjustly for this and actually died in prison, quite a tragic story if you followed this.

I do hope Peter Schiff resolves this, he mentioned in another post he was going to get his lawyer involved to deal with the correspondent bank NOVO BANK in Portugal withholding the funds. That would certainly help install some trust back and credibility in Peter Schiff.

 

[Pschiff]

The bank was not insolvent. OCIF misrepresented the bank's financials. The bank had more cash on its balance sheet than was owed to all creditors, including depositors. I agree that the IRS likely pressured OCIF, and I think they did so as a favor to Nine Entertainment, my advisory in a defamation lawsuit I filed in Australia. Nine needed something bad to happen to the bank to justify the false allegations made about me and the bank.