teamfitz

I'm now a US citizen having moved to the US 23 years ago from the UK. Unfortunately I closed my old Lloyds bank accounts many years ago.

I'm now looking to set up a bank account where I can deposit and hold cash, (in USD or UK Pounds), that comes from UK inheritances, old UK saving plans etc. Question is - where can I bank?

The deposits will not be large so I wouldn't meet the requirements of some of the larger offshore investment firms... A few site recommended Standard Bank international but they don't appear to want US Citizen as customers.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

lansbury

A Borderless Account with transferwise.com might be a possibility for you. https://transferwise.com/us/borderle...e=publicNavbar

A word of caution unlike UK and US bank accounts these are not insured. So depending on the sums involved and how long the money would be in the account there is an element of risk to consider.

durham_lad

When we received inheritances (we had 2 while living in the USA) the law firms managing the estate were perfectly capable of paying the money in $s into our USA bank.

If you do have a foreign bank account then you’ll have to start filing FBAR forms each year you have over $10k at any point during the year.

Nutmegger

That has been my experience with bringing a bequest to the US (and with no tax consequences). OP, is there a specific reason why you want to keep the money in the UK?

morpeth

I had same experience, law firms can easily handle the transfer if no Uk bank account.

Actually the easiest I have found , to get a sort code and account number, is some of the prepaid cards but even they need an address and something to verify the address. A bit challenging opening a UK bank account these days, even more so as an American citizen.

Rete

When I had an inheritance from Germany, there was no attorney to deal with. The bank that handled the German accounts wire transferred the Euro to my US bank.

teamfitz

Thanks for the feedback. Given that they'll be recurring transactions I'd prefer to find a banking solution, likely not a UK high street bank but an offshore bank that doesn't require 100k on deposit!

Anyone had success opening an offshore account for UK funds in the 10's of thousands rather than 100's of thousands?

Thanks

penguinsix

I opened an HSBC Premier account in the USA and after awhile they were able to 'vouch' for me to their colleagues in the UK that I was who I said I was and they opened me an HSBC account in the UK.

durham_lad

This is what my son did but when he tried to open an account in the UK they were quite prepared to do so but he had to go to a branch to sign documents and the closest branch available to do this was LA and he lived in Houston.

He decided to wait until he was in England but for sure having an existing account in HSBC USA was a big help. (No proof of income needed).

teamfitz

Thanks for that. I will reach out to HSBC and see what I can make happen.

Any suggestions for 'offshore' banks (Isle of Man for example) that permit US residents to open bank accounts?

Thx.