What's the maximum you would keep with CIM Banque (CH)?

[response67red]

I see CIM bank from Switzerland being mentioned a lot but at the same time people advise not to keep a lot of money there. Why is that? Up to how much would you keep there?

 

[Martin Everson]

Up to how much would you keep there?

Zero.

It used to be the expensive fee bank all the Russians and Eastern European shady folk used to go to. Always made be nervous about using them. But they stopped serving Russians etc a few years ago after Ukraine war started and kicked out a lot of the dirty clients I believe.

https://www.cimbanque.com/ru/

It's probably today a far cry from what it used to be. Maybe someone who still uses them may have a better up to date opinion on them.

 

[BeyondBorders]

If I had some spare capital to park, I’d always go with ZKB in Switzerland. Account opening is straightforward, and the service has been excellent in my experience. Just pop into their Bahnhofstrasse branch in person—smooth process.

 

[JohnnyDoe]

Take your money out of Switzerland until you can.

 

[response67red]

Take your money out of Switzerland until you can.

In general or is there something going on right now affecting all CH banks?

 

[JohnnyDoe]

In general or is there something going on right now affecting all CH banks?

CH=EU nowadays. Only more expensive.
Therefore, avoid.

 

[Martin Everson]

CH=EU nowadays. Only more expensive.
Therefore, avoid.

I agree it is not what it used to be. No one can sell me the Swiss banking illusion any more.

 

[Ilias]

Does it even still open accounts for offshore entities?

I remember a few years ago that an EU citizen friend of mine opened the account with tolerable fees for a BVI business with $50K opening deposit, which is not bad

 

[Sols]

It's a bank without any connection to the Swiss market. It has ties to high-risk jurisdictions like like Russia and Tunisia.

FINMA has no reason to step in an rescue the bank if it ever goes belly-up. To the extent Swiss banks can be considered stable, that stability is largely contingent on societal integration and high-value clients with large deposits. CIM Bank has neither.

I'm not sure if it's publicly verifiable information, but FINMA has privately expressed concerns to CIM Bank regarding the bank's appetite for high-risk, offshore companies and clients in a way that no other Swiss bank does or ever did. For a long time, you could open a bank account with CIM Bank for your run-of-the-mill Seychelles IBC with a minimum deposit of 5,000 or 10,000 EUR/CHF. They have stopped that now, and that has made the bank stagnate.

I don't mean to imply CIM Bank is doing poorly or that they're about to lose their license. These are just factors that contribute to why I don't touch the bank, while recognizing that it has some use cases for some people sometimes, probably. For example, they have certain card products that might be attractive.

CIM Bank is for people who want to bank in Switzerland but don't meet the capital expectations of Swiss banks.

 

[JohnnyDoe]

FINMA is a completely useless bunch of brainless monkeys. They only act for political reasons when instructed to do so. A complete joke of a regulator, today even subjugated to the U.S.