Offshore accounts
 

I've been researching offshore accounts. It's pretty time consuming and some of the features I'm looking for are not always that clear.

I'm looking for an account that doesn't need a big opening deposit - say £500-£1000 and doesn't need regular deposits. A debit card allowing withdrawals in Canada would be good.

Anyone know anything that fits the bill?

Re: Offshore accounts
 

We have a current account with LloydsTSB Offshore in the Isle of Man (they also operate from Jersey). It operates in exactly the same way as our Lloyds current account did when we lived in England; we have the Visa debit/credit/ATM withdrawal card, a chequebook (rarely used these days!) and do online and/or telephone banking.

Our account is in Sterling as we still have a house in the UK which we rent out, and it's very useful on visits to the UK (spouse is often on business trips to London) etc. LloydsTSB also offers accounts in US$ and Euros.


http://www.lloydstsb-offshore.com/international/

http://www.lloydstsb-offshore.com/in...ontact/canada/ (offices in Canada)

How to open an account

http://www.lloydstsb-offshore.com/in...account/apply/ (You need an initial deposit of at least 100 pounds/$100 or 100 Euros.....then within 6 weeks of opening an account they like you to have 1500 pounds/$1500 or 1500 Euros as a balance (we usually have less than that in ours!)

All the big UK banks have offshore branches in the IoM or Channel Isles, eg. NatWest, Barclays, HSBC...also try AlliedIrish, Zurich etc.

PS. I have used my LloydsTSB Cashpoint/debit card to withdraw cash in a number of countries....I even used it in India as my US issued card from Chase wouldn't let me withdraw cash (when the Chase staff informed me that it would work there!). Have also used the Lloyds card in various parts of Europe, Australia, SE Asia...it's been more useful than my American card!

Re: Offshore accounts
 

Thanks very much for that. I had seen the details for Lloyds but I was a little put off by the £1500 within 6 weeks part. Perhaps it's not rigid then.

Nat West seems to want £50,000:eek: Barclays and HSBC don't seem to fit my requirements. Nationwide seems possible.

Re: Offshore accounts
 

Hmmmm...the Lloyds option looks a little expensive.

£7.50 a month to have the account and 2.99% currency charge plus 1.5% (min £2;max £4.50) for a cashpoint withdrawal outside the UK.

Every £100 withdrawal in foreign currency is going to cost a fiver.

£15 fee to have the card delivered and £30 for subsequent renewals.

Re: Offshore accounts
 

I don't understand the need for an offshore bank account in this day and age of international tax agreements, when I did some investigation the only real advantage was if you had several hundred thousand pounds as you could pay an annual 'tax fee' rather than income tax on the earnings from the account.

Am I missing something or are there other advantages to having an offshore account?

Re: Offshore accounts
 

Interest rates seem to be considerably higher than UK accounts.
For some there may be advantages in holding balances in different currencies rather than risking exchange fluctuations (although that seems available without going offshore).

New UK accounts can't be opened for non UK residents (so they all say) but the offshore accounts can. For those with a UK income it's sometimes convenient to have a UK bank account...and if an offsure account offers the same convenience but with a higher interest rate why not?

Except the charges may cancel the advantages.:(

Re: Offshore accounts
 

I see...........I kept my UK bank accounts open when we left and I've opened a sterling account here in Canada.

Re: Offshore accounts
 

I kept mine too. Since interest rates fell I was just wondering if there was something better.

It seems not, given the charges they make. Unless one does have loadsamoney of course.;)

Re: Offshore accounts
 

Of course off-shore isn't covered by the financial regs. I beleive if the bank goes down the pan so does all your money.

Re: Offshore accounts
 

I think that's why people tend to use the international parts of the UK banks though.:unsure:

Re: Offshore accounts
 

No - that only applies to banks in places like the Cayman Islands, Bermuda etc.

The banks in the Isle of Man and the Channel Isles are protected in the same way as if on the mainland of the UK.

Re: Offshore accounts
 

My husband's new cashpoint card arrived last month - it came in the ordinary post, you only pay the 15 pounds fee to have it couriered (if you don't have a safe posting address eg. if you live in parts of Africa etc.) and certainly no fee of 30pounds for 'subsequent renewals'....perhaps that's if the card doesn't arrive at all and they have to send another one out?

As already mentioned - it works for us as we rent out our house in Essex and of course receive the rent in sterling; the estate agents just pay it directly in to the Lloyds account (and outside the jurisdiction of the Inland Revenue or whatever it's now called) and of course whenever we are in the UK we use it.
We only tend to use our card for withdrawing cash when in the UK (and when I was in transit at LHR 3 weeks ago I used it in the shops). However, it has been a Godsend when our American cards haven't worked in the ATM machines and we would have had no way of quickly getting cash.

When we eventually return to live in the UK there will be no problem just transferring the account to a branch on the mainland.

Re: Offshore accounts
 

You may well be right about the courier thing. I just read it and assumed they wanted to use a courier for out of UK?CI deliveries.

It certainly does sound useful for your circumstances. For the amount of money I had in mind, the other charges mean it's not attractive.

I appreciate your help anyway.:)

Re: Offshore accounts
 

Bradford and Bingley have an expat offshore account - minimum deposit is 1000 GBP but the interest rate isn't very good at the moment in common with other accounts.

http://www.bbi.co.im/

Re: Offshore accounts
 

When I looked into it- that wasn't the case. I looked at a bradford and bingley off shore in Isle of man and it expressly stated it wasn't covered.

Re: Offshore accounts
 

Brownstar, which Bank do you use for a sterling account in Canada. I've never been able to find one.

Thanks for your help,

Phil

Re: Offshore accounts
 

Probably the best bet for a return on your money at the moment is the bluest of blue chip dividend paying stocks; the tax rate on dividends in Canada is very favourable also. I also appreciate that the stock market is not for everyone.

Re: Offshore accounts
 

Why go offshore? I cannot see the advantage these days. You still have to declare interest for tax purposes in Canada and the UK.

New immigrants to Canada can also establish a 5 year immigrant trust in which they can invest their money in Canada for up to 5 years tax-free:

http://www.foxexchange.com/public/fo...rust102006.PDF

Re: Offshore accounts
 

In the earlier answer to this, higher interest rates were given as a reason.;)

Check post number 6

Re: Offshore accounts
 

Certain accounts can be opened by non-residents. I opened one while back there on holiday. It does not pay much interest and is a basic savings account.

Re: Offshore accounts
 

I have never found this to be the case. ICICI Bank UK offer 4.35% in the UK on a fixed deposit and I would doubt that anyone can beat this at the moment. I have also found that fees are often high with an offshore account. But, I am open to being proved wrong.

Try this site, it is good for comparing accounts:

www.fool.co.uk

It is called "fool" because, in the Middle Ages, the court jester was the only person who was allowed to tell the truth (to the king).

Re: Offshore accounts
 

That's impressive.

I was getting interest rates way in excess of all accounts I saw from Cahoot. I think it was around the 6.00% in the last few years. It's fallen to about 0.5% now unless you have loadsamoney. So when I saw between 2 & 3 % on the offshore sites for a grand or 5 it seemed pretty good.

Since my first post on this thread I came to the same conclusion about the fees for the amounts I'd be concerned with. :(

Re: Offshore accounts
 

I've yet to find any and I'd be grateful if you could point me there.

Re: Offshore accounts
 

Try these people:

www.internaxx.lu

It is essentially an online trading account but allows you to hold cash/equities in multiple currencies. The interest rates are the pits but exchange rates are good and you can convert online.

Re: Offshore accounts
 

Halifax have accounts for non-residents. Here is their site, give me some time and I will try to find the exact info. I will send you a PM.

http://www.halifax.co.uk/home/home.asp

Re: Offshore accounts
 

As far as I know, there are two. Try:

http://www.hsbc.ca/1/2/en/home/home

or....

http://www.icicibank.ca/default.htm

Re: Offshore accounts
 

Useful info. Cheers.

Re: Offshore accounts
 

Thanks John. Actually I remember now that I came across the HSBC account but didn't like their 2.50 pounds per transaction fee. It must be me but I couldn't find sterling accounts on the ICICI website. I'll give them a call.

Re: Offshore accounts
 

I checked this out with Bradford and Bingley and was assurred that the account is covered by the government guarantee. I have it in writing.

Re: Offshore accounts
 

Which government?

Re: Offshore accounts
 

Interesting because its not the UK guarentee! There is however an Isle of Man one it appears to offer- but their website states clearly that its not the UK one.

Re: Offshore accounts
 

Quite right. If you read the following article, they state that offshore accounts are not covered by the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme. However, some offshore centres or crown dependencies do have their own account protection schemes. The Isle of Man and Guernsey only introduced their own scheme in 2009 - too late to save some people from the recent losses.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/saving-...icle_id=394274

Re: Offshore accounts
 

Here is a table everyone may find useful; it shows the best savings rates, etc. for offshore accounts:

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/savings...&in_page_id=50

There is also an interesting link to what they refer to as "safe savings".

Re: Offshore accounts
 

Remember folks that National Saving and Investments have increased the interest rate on their Income Bonds to 2% now. People living overseas can buy them and even savings of over £50,000 is fully guaranteed by the government. All interest is paid gross and can be paid monthly into a British current account.

Cheers
Granma Nessie

Re: Offshore accounts
 

It is the Isle of Man compensation guarantee. This is what I received:-

Thank you for your recent query regarding your International eSavings Account.



Deposits invested within Bradford & Bingley International are covered under the Isle of Man Depositors Compensation Scheme. This scheme was recently reviewed and now guarantees full protection to deposits up to £50,000 made by individuals



If you have any further questions please e-mail us at [email protected] *



Yours sincerely,



Danielle Brown

International eSavings Unit

Bradford & Bingley International Limited