Saving multi currency offshore account

[matihop]

Hi
Currently I live in Poland, but I'm moving to Mexico in a few weeks. I'm looking for a good bank where I can store my savings. Mostly EUR, USD, maybe GBP and PLN.
The idea is to keep the money on saving accounts and time deposits. From time to time buy/sell currencies, so small spread is needed. If it's not possible then this bank should accept some EMIs with low spread.

I'm not interested in EMI to keep money, because the don't guarantee deposits.

I was thinking about HSBC Jersey and Standardbank Jersey.
After I read a lot about HSBC here, I don't think it's a good idea any more. From the other hand I read that Standardbank is a good option.

Would you have any other recommendation?

 

[Sols]

Hi
Currently I live in Poland, but I'm moving to Mexico in a few weeks. I'm looking for a good bank where I can store my savings. Mostly EUR, USD, maybe GBP and PLN.
The idea is to keep the money on saving accounts and time deposits. From time to time buy/sell currencies, so small spread is needed. If it's not possible then this bank should accept some EMIs with low spread.

PLN isn't a very common currency outside of Poland. Try Swissquote, though. Generally good exchange rates and supports a lot of currencies. AFAIK, they have no problem with account holders becoming resident in Mexico.

I'm not interested in EMI to keep money, because the don't guarantee deposits.

Common misconception.

Banks: 100,000 EUR deposit insurance (average within EU). Everything above 100,000 EUR is entirely based on you trusting the bank to not go bankrupt.
EMI: 100% (sometimes more) reserve of all deposits. You can hold 10 billion in an EMI and the EMI has to keep 10 billion in a segregated safekeeping account. If the EMI goes bankrupt, your funds are safe.

I was thinking about HSBC Jersey and Standardbank Jersey.
After I read a lot about HSBC here, I don't think it's a good idea any more. From the other hand I read that Standardbank is a good option.

Add Barclays and Lloyds to this list, but AFAIK none of them will open accounts while you are resident in Poland. You may have to wait until after you've moved.

 

[JohnLocke]

Try Swissquote, though.

Do they allow to keep your money there as in an saving account? I asked them some time back, they replied negative and rejected our account. Could possibly be for another reason.

 

[Sols]

Do they allow to keep your money there as in an saving account? I asked them some time back, they replied negative and rejected our account. Could possibly be for another reason.

Yes, they provide savings accounts. As far as I know, they always have. But they might not like account holders that only/mainly use them for savings. Perhaps that's something to inquire with the bank when opening the account.

If you're also using them for currency exchange, crypto trading, and securities trading, then at least they don't seem to complain about money sitting in the savings account.

 

[Marie Manila]

I was thinking about HSBC Jersey and Standardbank Jersey.

Please note that the Jersey Depositors Compensation Scheme only compensates up to GBP 50,000.
50,000 GBP (or equivalent) is also the minimum balance required for HSBC to open and maintain the account.
https://www.gov.je/Industry/Finance/DepositProtection/Pages/Overview.aspx

 

[thomasparra]

I am a HSBC Expat customer since 2019 and I am happy with the service. Setting it up was tedious though as lots of documents to fill and there was some synchronisation issue with the HSBC UK website (which is Sharedealing - integrated platform to invest in LSE stocks). You can use the service as a resident in Mexico or Poland.

You could also open an Interactive Brokers account which eliminates any FX spread and allow you to direct deposit to your bank account every month for free.

I have not tried the other options such as Standard, Barclay etc but HSBC is a stronger and more established full fledged bank so I would tend to trust this institution more. Also HSBC in Mexico is well implementated I believe so you could open and link your HSBC Expat account with your Mexico accounts and perform transfers between Jersey and Mexico instantly and for free. Having a bank in HSBC Mexico would also help you issue wire transfers to other parties in Mexico more easily (landlords etc), withdraw money for free and without a FX fee as well as getting a debit/credit card in MXN.

 

[zaybxc]

Banks: 100,000 EUR deposit insurance (average within EU). Everything above 100,000 EUR is entirely based on you trusting the bank to not go bankrupt.
EMI: 100% (sometimes more) reserve of all deposits. You can hold 10 billion in an EMI and the EMI has to keep 10 billion in a segregated safekeeping account. If the EMI goes bankrupt, your funds are safe.

Who holds a segregated safekeeping account for an EMI?

 

[Sols]

Who holds a segregated safekeeping account for an EMI?

Commercial banks, central banks, and/or other EMIs. When held by private banks, it's balance the commercial bank cannot use for other purposes (i.e. cannot be borrowed against or invested).

 

[zaybxc]

Commercial banks, central banks, and/or other EMIs. When held by private banks, it's balance the commercial bank cannot use for other purposes (i.e. cannot be borrowed against or invested).

So if for example one of the banks holding an EMI's funds fails, does it mean that a part of those funds might be lost?
I'm thinking about the recent banking turmoil, Credit Suisse, Silicon Valley bank ect.

 

[Sols]

So if for example one of the banks holding an EMI's funds fails, does it mean that a part of those funds might be lost?

Safekeeping balances are kept entirely separate. Creditors cannot take money from those types of ring-fenced accounts, nor can banks use that money for anything besides just safekeeping. But if such a bank were to fail spectacularly, there may be disruptions to EMIs.

I think Wirecard is the only big such bank to have suffered a failure, and AFAIK no EMIs on their platform lost money.

It's not very profitable for banks to offer such accounts, which is why most banks don't engage in it and why it's hard for EMIs to find banking partners.

 

[zaybxc]

Safekeeping balances are kept entirely separate. Creditors cannot take money from those types of ring-fenced accounts, nor can banks use that money for anything besides just safekeeping. But if such a bank were to fail spectacularly, there may be disruptions to EMIs.

I think Wirecard is the only big such bank to have suffered a failure, and AFAIK no EMIs on their platform lost money.

It's not very profitable for banks to offer such accounts, which is why most banks don't engage in it and why it's hard for EMIs to find banking partners.

Yep, it doesn't seem profitable for a bank to offer such accounts to EMIs.
Thanks for your answers!