mrken30

You could spread your risk and do both US and UK investments. Just do it all through a US brokerage to save on tax complications.

nun

Actually I am saying that.......take the GBPs, convert to US$, buy a US mutual fund that invests in UK companies. The share price will be reported in $US, but you are owning UK assets valued in GBPs. Of course UK companies have foreign holdings so their share price will depend somewhat on the value of the GBP.

mrken30

I thought that was the main point . Your assets will track GBP and the UK economy.

warren505

hi guys,
I think this got off topic but I don't see another thread similar.
The point it the OP got GBP in the UK from an inheritance and wanted to invest it in the UK while he is a US tax resident. Converting to USD is not the point , the exchange rate is so low it makes more sense to wait it out and meanwhile invest the money in a UK.
I have the same problem.
I want to invest the GBP with a GB company as a hedge against the exchange rate and inflation as I do not need the funds at the moment, its essentially a windfall I was not expecting.
Vanguard is now in the UK but I cannot invest with them because they have not got the clearances from the USA.
The problem is the USA got the EU to mandate that all financial companys, banks etc must provide details of all US passport holders financial holding so they can decide if they should be taxed,
This even applies to UK based dual nationals holding a US passport even if they have never paid any USA taxed before.

So is there any worthwhile investment using GBP , currently in a UK bank, that can be done by a US resident?
thanks
I know this is way past the start date of this thread.
warren

Owen778

What is your current situation? It sounds like you are a dual UK and US citizen living in the UK. Is that correct? If so, your situation is the opposite of the original poster above, who is a US resident, but not a UK citizen.

The really unreasonable bit of US FATCA rules is not that they require the details of US citizens who live outside the US. Because the US taxes its citizens wherever they live, this is understandable. Whether you have paid those taxes before you are still potentially liable to US taxes under US law. You could easily argue that this is also unreasonable, but what most people complain about is the administration cost and hassle of this US law being passed on to financial institutions worldwide, and many of their customers who aren't liable to US taxation.

Pulaski

His post says he is a US resident.
And therefore financial institutions outside the US are just saying "no US citizens", or at very least no US citizens who are resident in the US.

mrken30

I was thinking of bringing money to the US and investing in a fund like Blackrock EWU

https://www.ishares.com/us/products/...ed-kingdom-etf

Vanguard (US) does allow you to purchase stock on the LSE, but it's a bit of a tax nightmare holding UK stock.

warren505

Hi the OP is uk national but resident in the USA .
I am U.K./USA dual national living in USA.
It appears the FATCA rule that the EU agreed to ignores dual nationals and all the USA cares about is if you are a USA tax payer which I am. My U.K. Status means nothing.
In fact if you are a dual national in the U.K. Who has never paid a penny of tax to the USA you are required to file USA taxes because finical instutions in U.K. ( and eu) have to disclose finically holdings/earnings of any USA passport holder to the IRS.

So far I have not found a way to make a simple investment of money in the U.K. As a hedge against inflation until exchange rates improve . I am wondering if taking the hit on the exchange rate and investing in the USA ( with better returns) will in the long run be a better option. But honestly I don't need the money in usa at moment as I approach retirement and would prefer to keep in U.K. For a while but not in a non interest bearing situation.
Thanks warren

mrken30

Being a dual national , you get the worst of both worlds. UK brokers won't deal with US residents and US brokers won't deal with UK residents. So if you have assets in both countries , you may come across some issues.

Pulaski

That is incorrect. A US citizen has to file a US tax return (subject to some de minimis exceptions) because US law says so, it has nothing to do with British banks and what they do, or have to do. And to this point, US citizens were required to file tax returns regardless of where they live in the world since long before the FATCA disclosure law was passed.

Steve_

What he's saying is that he's got a ton of Sterling and wants to invest it in the UK. This is actually quite tricky, stuff about 8621s is irrelevant because he can't use a UK broker, he's resident in the US and he's got to use an SEC registered broker.

The trick is finding the broker, they do exist. Once you've found the broker they issue the same US paperwork, i.e. a 1099 and usually it will be in the foreign currency and you just convert it to put it on your 1040.

This isn't a case of someone moving from the UK like we usually have on here and they have to do a ton of obscure paperwork to report their pre-existing UK investments.

Who exactly in the US will do investments in Sterling is a good question, no idea but I bet you there is someone who will. Search the web for a US broker who will do investments in Sterling.

I know there are a couple of banks here in Canada that will do investments in Sterling and they're registered with the provincial SECs in most provinces but they do charge a lot.

I'm willing to bet HSBC capital markets do it because I've seen them file a lot of SEC paperwork for british companies.

Steve_

FATCA is irrelevant because you would likely deposit the Sterling with a US financial institution that is holding the investment, thus it's not a foreign account.

This is a question that doesn't come up on here that often but I would like to know the answer myself.

One option you could do is to buy some property in the UK and rent it out. Or better yet, buy some property on the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands and then you don't have to worry about inheritance tax.

Pulaski

But most US banks that offer non-USD accounts park the account in one of their overseas branches, often in the Cayman Islands, but sometimes locally for the currency - I think Citibank sterling accounts were (are?) held in London.

ilikeitlikethat

Okay, here's what you do.
Get another bank account in the UK or prepare to be a foreign investor.
Since you say you already have a UK bank account, I'd start by asking what other SAVINGS accounts they can offer you.
See if you can apply for https://www.londoncapitalandfinance....&utm_content=b

ilikeitlikethat

You're right, let's assume OP has paid inheritance TAX. and let's say OP's reason to be a US resident isn't to avoid HMRC, then, OP should be fine, and I can understand not wanting a stagnate 0% interest bank account in any economy little lone the one of late.