TheGreatEscape

Hi all, I'm looking for a good offshore account that can give me regular access as needed to use for bills payments etc.

My Financial Plan () is to convert AED to Sterling to the value of 3k per month. Of this I will use about £800 to pay bills back in England and the rest to save. The way it will actually work is that I will transfer £3k worth of AED to a currency broker per month (as I'd like to use a 12-month forward contract and fix the exchange rate today) and he will put £3k of sterling into an account I nominate.

So I'd like to be able to ensure that the £3k per month is going into a Sterling offshore account with easy access to pay bills (it would be good if I could actually set up my direct debits to come from there if this is possible?).

A lot of the offfshore accounts I'm looking at require a £5k balance. Are there any that anyone can recommend with a lower requirement (e.g. £1k)?

Thanks

Eva

Ask IndiGirl..she is the one in the know.
I found out the other day only; that whatever you put offshore...you are only 'insured' for 12k-singular account.

Bijilo123

Strongly recomend that you choose an IoM account because in this legislation they offer depositor protection which is not available in Jersey.

Generally an offshore bank is a separate corporation from its paresnt and they are underwritten by the parent - that amuses me as the risk really is with the parent and not the offshore.

On the other hand the liabilities - deposits are a banks liability, are usually taken care of properly so under ordinary circumstances a big bank whom you know would not be a bad idea.

In Kuwait there are no home addresses and so it is very difficult to prove you live overseas - I presume the banking authorities have a mandated check on home address. I ended up with B&B in IoM which was one of only two options available.

In fact most of my money is in Kuwait - which unlike the AED is a strong currency and I may move all of mine back as the interest rate is high and it is appreciating against $, Euro and £.

When I did my research they were prepared to open the account with a nominal amont and did not insist upon the £5k straight away.

still.unsure

i use hsbc offshore for a USD account but it's in jersey so may not have the depositor protection that IoM offers. also have a GBP one with lloyds in IoM. would recommend the lloyds one because it's got the same access to the UK as a normal 'onshore' account.

my 2p

UKCityGent

I use Internaxx which is a LUX based bank, this allows me to consolidate cash and also use it for trading purposes. Its has A+ backing (TD Waterhouse and Fortis). They have a Private bank section where you can start with $1000 but you can get a good rate for FX - as long as you declare your a frequent trader.

For pure cash account you can use any offshore (depositor protection does NOT apply to Jersey and Gurnsey - IOM has 90% to a max of £20k (so you will recieve £15k) in case of failure). Just make sure that the parent company is A+ rated (e.g. JPM, Citi, Bar, HSBC) and you shouldnt have too much worries.

IndieG

I'm not very familiar with offshore accounts (e.g tax implications for British expats.. etc), check with Meow or Norm - they're the experts.

Incidentally, would you believe Nakheel's Islamic bond/sukuk is yielding over 10% (they are maturing in Jan 2011).

And deposit rates offered by banks have just gone through the roof - with many offering up to 6% p.a. for AED deposits (7.5% p.a. on GBP)

So if you've got some decent money saved up, then drive a hard bargain., they're desperate for your deposit - cash is king today!

Norm_uk

The only drawback with these local bonds/accounts is absolutely no protection should the bank fail. Plus it would be subject to freezing if you are involved any criminal action etc...and if you die the chances are Sharia law would be applied to any money here.

Offshore accounts with reputable banks in places like the Isle of Man are subject to much stricter regulations than anything anywhere in the middle east. I normally recommend money that can't be missed be put offshore into such an account or perhaps a bond of some kind depending on how quick access would be needed.

N.

IndieG

What protection do offshore banks offer depositors against failure? I'm guessing there is a limit? (like the protection up to 100k offered by FDIC)

And am talking of majority- govt owned banks in UAE, so risk of failure in the next one year is negligible if not nil.

As for Sharia, I say let the wife keep it all

typical

IoM offers protection of 75% of fund held up to UKP15,000. Not wonderful, but better than the UAE.

The stats about the banks here terrify me. The LDRs of some of them are crazy. And people are already starting to talk about the UAE Central Bank having to make another AED50Bn liquidity injection.

IndieG

What stats?

typical

Mainly the LDRs (ADCB was up to 144% in July ) and the slowly ticking up EIBOR - manipulated though it is.

And of course that AED50Bn!

It may end up being a question of just how interventionist the various UAE governments are willing to be.

Bijilo123

Channel islands - no protection. Isle of Man say 20,000gbp. In fact your money is in a bank - sending it to another bank does not change anything. Either could go bust so if neither have deposit protection then you are in do different position. To be honest I think you are right - the banks would never be allowed to use deposits to repay liabilities.

I agree with you on the Sharia issue. I've kept all my money in Kuwait and if I die it will be treated under Sharia law which means, I think, that my brothers will get it rather than my wife - who I really want it to go to.

typical

Just to be clear these are the same things - 75% of up to 20k = up to 15k protected.

Am eyeing up the rates on Nationwide's 25k+ international account now

Meow

If you are after 'security' you might want to consider the banks that have been nationalised. Northern Rock and now Bradford & Bingley.

-

IndieG

Oh...I heard rumours it was more like 5x - now that had me really scared a couple of weeks ago! Like I said the big banks (and owned by the Govt.) should be fine hopefully..