personal/private bank for uae resident crypto user (pass thru to ibkr) (white/safe)

[Valdotti]

as a UAE resident, want a private/personal banking that has no problems sending/receiving funds from crypto exchanges - suppose 7 figs+

Flow from personal crypto exchange account -> bank -> ibkr (or other brokerages) , and vice versa without much hassle.
(suppose can provide sources of wealth through blockchain explorers and exchange flows, tho tedious and time consuming for compliance)

I'm put off by high fees that private banks would require, and they don't really like it if i'm just using them as an offramp to get into ibkr. they want the money to be invested with them.

somethings i've been thinking about

ikbr/discount brokerages <-> private banking <-> exchange

i wouldn't mind if it's just $500k or $1M invested with them at all times - how much should be the minimum so they don't care what amount other than the agreed upon amount, i can just send anywhere i want so i can self manage?
so i could send anything extra to transfer everything else to ibkr and vice versa. want no problems with frozen transactions/accounts.

would banks in UAE (fab or enbd private bank) welcome to that arragement? i think banks here are not so crypto friendly and dont have resources to do compliance on this front. but also, i dont know if i could fully trust uae banks.

other jurisdiction like lichenstein/singapore? just want to have xx$ amount in those banks and to be able to use them as offramp/onramp for crypto and brokerage accounts, all legit, as fees for their private banking is very high - custody wise, and also transaction fee per trades (usually 0.5-1%), and don't want all my money being kept in private bank.


from my personal experience, cashing out 500k$-$1M through uae banks(even just retali banking) has not been a problem but i have to say that it's not crypto. i know larger amounts would get flagged and cause some problems.

 

[denniz07]

i wouldn't mind if it's just $500k or $1M invested with them at all times - how much should be the minimum so they don't care what amount other than the agreed upon amount, i can just send anywhere i want so i can self manage?

I think they are ok if you invest at least $1M, although I often hear that they require more if you say your SOW is from crypto. Some banks are saying that you should go to some third party, get a report and then they can onboard you, in such case the requirements are lower. Third party report can cost up to 20k in Switzerland not sure how expensive it is in UAE.

Flow from personal crypto exchange account -> bank -> ibkr (or other brokerages) , and vice versa without much hassle.

I tried the same path as well. BUT so far really not happy with ibkr. They are the slowest one. You can't talk to a person there. My money got frozen although I asked them if it is ok to deposit despite having an open ticket. So in any case it is better to update you source of wealth information first, wait till they approve and then deposit the money. Then I guess you are fine - although it seems that they are really fast to close accounts.

 

[Valdotti]

I tried the same path as well. BUT so far really not happy with ibkr. They are the slowest one. You can't talk to a person there. My money got frozen although I asked them if it is ok to deposit despite having an open ticket. So in any case it is better to update you source of wealth information first, wait till they approve and then deposit the money. Then I guess you are fine - although it seems that they are really fast to close accounts.

so ibkr could freeze accounts even though you're just sending money from your own bank accoun to your brokeage account?

i wouldn't mind have private banking again but i find it hard to rationalize 1% + of AUM costs (yearly) if you take in account trasanction fees and custody fees. I read in a forum here that Standard chartered Singapore has no custody fees and just trasanction fees of 0.2% per trade. maybe good? or any other recommendation?

i would like to have a bank outside UAE because i trust places like singapore, france over UAE as as jurisdiction..

 

[denniz07]

so ibkr could freeze accounts even though you're just sending money from your own bank accoun to your brokeage account?

I don't think so. In my case I had to update my account, since the wealth increased. So if in your account is stated that you have 2MM$ cash and you transfer it, guess there is no problem.
But if the amount you transfer is higher then your net worth known to ibkr you get into trouble. In my case I had a pending ticket regarding the updated profile.

Anyway I think for high amounts you are always at risk if your SOW is not known to ibkr. Same is true for any bank since they might start ask questions. Just expect that private banks respond faster.

 

[fortunespeculator]

as a UAE resident, want a private/personal banking that has no problems sending/receiving funds from crypto exchanges - suppose 7 figs+

Flow from personal crypto exchange account -> bank -> ibkr (or other brokerages) , and vice versa without much hassle.
(suppose can provide sources of wealth through blockchain explorers and exchange flows, tho tedious and time consuming for compliance)

I'm put off by high fees that private banks would require, and they don't really like it if i'm just using them as an offramp to get into ibkr. they want the money to be invested with them.

somethings i've been thinking about

ikbr/discount brokerages <-> private banking <-> exchange

i wouldn't mind if it's just $500k or $1M invested with them at all times - how much should be the minimum so they don't care what amount other than the agreed upon amount, i can just send anywhere i want so i can self manage?
so i could send anything extra to transfer everything else to ibkr and vice versa. want no problems with frozen transactions/accounts.

would banks in UAE (fab or enbd private bank) welcome to that arragement? i think banks here are not so crypto friendly and dont have resources to do compliance on this front. but also, i dont know if i could fully trust uae banks.

other jurisdiction like lichenstein/singapore? just want to have xx$ amount in those banks and to be able to use them as offramp/onramp for crypto and brokerage accounts, all legit, as fees for their private banking is very high - custody wise, and also transaction fee per trades (usually 0.5-1%), and don't want all my money being kept in private bank.


from my personal experience, cashing out 500k$-$1M through uae banks(even just retali banking) has not been a problem but i have to say that it's not crypto. i know larger amounts would get flagged and cause some problems.

Maybe possible to help.

 

[ecool]

I still don't understand how in UAE being crypto legally allowed, marketed, and started to regulate, banks still block your account for sending to crypto exchanges. Even for small amounts.