Looking to make the move to canada very soon. If my employer sends me then within weeks. Very concerned that the pound is going to utterly slump against the loonie if the Scottish independence referendum goes the wrong way. Estimates are that it could lose 15% and take a very long time to recover. Looking to buy my dollars now. Anybody know how I can open a Canadian dollar account in the uk?

Fingers crossed. I'm moving a lot of dollars to sterling at the end of the month. Hope it plummets.

Hope this helps.

Probably not easy. I ended up opening mine in the Channel Islands with HSBC, as it was the simplest option at the time (2005-ish). Also had to keep some crazy amount of money in there to avoid high fees, which is why I closed it soon after moving here.

I've mentioned this before, perhaps on another BE forum, but the crazy amount of money can simply be in mutual funds under HSBC management. It doesn't have sit in a low or zero interest checking/savings account.

+1. I'm selling my house in Canada next spring. Something like $1.50 or less would suit quite well.

Depending on the amount of money involved can you buy an option? Or buy forward now?

It did today. So far down 5%.

Pound slumps to 10-month low after Scottish yes campaign takes poll lead | Politics | theguardian.com

If the vote goes the other way it could make a meteoric rise, if meteors can rise.

Hope for a yes vote

I doesn't need to be in Channel Islands either... If you have an account in the UK you can open one direct in Canada for £100/£50/free (depending on which account you have).

We used this service and it was pretty convenient.

Overseas Account: open an account abroad | HSBC UK

Well, quite. But the HSBC Premier accounts are (a) those that make opening accounts abroad free and (b) allow you to transfer funds instantaneously between accounts in different countries at no charge using Globalview.

As said, you need to maintain an ongoing investment (amount country dependent, but of the order of $100k) but it can be, for example, part of your retirement saving settled in an investment account managed by HSBC.

I moved a chunk of money today.. Can't risk it slumping again and they're talking about another 10% before the vote. Even with a no vote I can't see it shooting upwards..

Sigh, every time it dips I lose money - I am paid in sterling.

You can open a HSBC Canada account from the UK, if I remember right it's a bit of a faff as only certain branches deal with it & it takes a few weeks to get up & running, worth giving them a call though

Thanks guys. Problem is I don't have weeks. Vote is in 9 days

I'll PM you my Canadian account details and you can transfer it there. I'll look after it until you need it.

Honest.