UK pension transfer to USA
#16
Forum Regular
Joined: Jul 2018
Location: California
Posts: 254
Re: UK pension transfer to USA
This is important to me as I am holding a large amount of sterling at Transferwise. At the time I opened the
account I recall learning that my money is not safeguarded quite as safely as an fdic insured U.S. bank acct or it’s u.k equivalent. However I decided I can sleep soundly because the systems/insurances etc. that do safeguard my money are almost as secure.
would anyone care to handicap the safety of money in Transferwise for me.
Fdic 100% safe
u.k. High st bank 100% safe
Transferwise. 95%? 85%?
thanks
Should add that I understand that nothing is guaranteed in our world, I’m just looking for a sense of how secure folks on here feel about Transferwise.
I have no idea what the actual risk is.
#17
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Joined: Jun 2012
Location: Seattle
Posts: 90
Re: UK pension transfer to USA
I have been googling about this evening, and feel even more confident about them than I did before. FCA etc.
Just looking to learn is all.
#18
Re: UK pension transfer to USA
If Transferwise went bust and they had no assets, unless they have clients money in a “client account” my belief is you would lose all your money. Without searching their web site for the info my recollection is they don’t put the money in a client account.
How financially secure they are I have no idea.
How financially secure they are I have no idea.
#19
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Joined: Jun 2012
Location: Seattle
Posts: 90
Re: UK pension transfer to USA
Solicitors, and I know some of the currency brokers, place their clients money in a Client Account. That is a separate account from their business account and the money in such an account doesn't belong to the company. So in the event the company went bankrupt the Client Account is not an asset of the company, and the funds in it belong to the clients and can be returned to them.
thanks
#20
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Joined: Apr 2011
Location: The Shire
Posts: 1,117
Re: UK pension transfer to USA
Where is the boarderless account held?
There are different 'Terms and Conditions' for the US arm of Transferwise to those of the U.K. arm. Google Transferwise USA and Transferwise UK. Both have different financial regulations governed by their respective authorities.
Funds in a U.K. account , administered by the U.K. arm and under U.K. Financial Regulations (the funds are held in a Barclays account?) may require both FATCA and FBAR reporting if the account holder is a US Person.
There are different 'Terms and Conditions' for the US arm of Transferwise to those of the U.K. arm. Google Transferwise USA and Transferwise UK. Both have different financial regulations governed by their respective authorities.
Funds in a U.K. account , administered by the U.K. arm and under U.K. Financial Regulations (the funds are held in a Barclays account?) may require both FATCA and FBAR reporting if the account holder is a US Person.
#21
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Joined: Aug 2013
Location: Athens GA
Posts: 2,134
Re: UK pension transfer to USA
Where is the borderless account held?
There are different 'Terms and Conditions' for the US arm of Transferwise to those of the U.K. arm. Google Transferwise USA and Transferwise UK. Both have different financial regulations governed by their respective authorities.
Funds in a U.K. account , administered by the U.K. arm and under U.K. Financial Regulations (the funds are held in a Barclays account?) may require both FATCA and FBAR reporting if the account holder is a US Person.
There are different 'Terms and Conditions' for the US arm of Transferwise to those of the U.K. arm. Google Transferwise USA and Transferwise UK. Both have different financial regulations governed by their respective authorities.
Funds in a U.K. account , administered by the U.K. arm and under U.K. Financial Regulations (the funds are held in a Barclays account?) may require both FATCA and FBAR reporting if the account holder is a US Person.
For the UK it looks like funds are held in a "client account" at Barclays: https://transferwise.com/help/articl...erless-account
For the US I have been unable to find an answer.
Last edited by MidAtlantic; Oct 30th 2018 at 1:03 pm.
#22
Forum Regular
Joined: Jun 2012
Location: Seattle
Posts: 90
Re: UK pension transfer to USA
Hi again. Well I live in the USA and opened my acct on line with Transferwise because I was anticipating receiving an inheritance from my Fathers solicitor back in London, where Dad lived. The money was transferred last month from Lloyd’s of London (solicitors bank acct) to Transferwise in Shoreditch London (I gave the solicitor a sort code and my borderless bank acct number with the Transferwise Shoreditch address. The funds are in U.K. pounds. I had another google yesterday about Transferwise, and it appears they are governed by FCA.
I did not realize that my money is actually in a Barclays Bank acct. Be that as it may, do you folks feel I should be confident in having funds there? FCA seems to indicate that Transferwise Shoreditch are bound to refund me if my loot gets pinched.
thanks again
I did not realize that my money is actually in a Barclays Bank acct. Be that as it may, do you folks feel I should be confident in having funds there? FCA seems to indicate that Transferwise Shoreditch are bound to refund me if my loot gets pinched.
thanks again
#23
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Joined: Aug 2013
Location: Eee Bah Gum
Posts: 4,131
Re: UK pension transfer to USA
Hi again. Well I live in the USA and opened my acct on line with Transferwise because I was anticipating receiving an inheritance from my Fathers solicitor back in London, where Dad lived. The money was transferred last month from Lloyd’s of London (solicitors bank acct) to Transferwise in Shoreditch London (I gave the solicitor a sort code and my borderless bank acct number with the Transferwise Shoreditch address. The funds are in U.K. pounds. I had another google yesterday about Transferwise, and it appears they are governed by FCA.
I did not realize that my money is actually in a Barclays Bank acct. Be that as it may, do you folks feel I should be confident in having funds there? FCA seems to indicate that Transferwise Shoreditch are bound to refund me if my loot gets pinched.
thanks again
I did not realize that my money is actually in a Barclays Bank acct. Be that as it may, do you folks feel I should be confident in having funds there? FCA seems to indicate that Transferwise Shoreditch are bound to refund me if my loot gets pinched.
thanks again
https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/prud...nsation-scheme
Amounts of compensation: deposits
Deposits held in banks, building societies and credit unions (including in Northern Ireland) that are authorised by the PRA are protected up to £85,000. This includes, for example, eligible deposits in current accounts, savings accounts, cash ISAs (held with a deposit taker) or savings bonds.
The deposit protection limit applies to the total eligible deposits of each person, per PRA-authorised firm. So for deposits in a joint account, this means that each account holder is protected up to the deposit protection limit, i.e. the total protection adds up to two times £85,000.
A PRA-authorised firm may own several banking and building society brands. This means that anyone who has deposits in more than one account under a single brand, or multiple accounts under different brands owned by a single firm, is only protected up to a total of £85,000 across all these accounts.
There will be temporary deposit protection for up to 6 months above the £85,000 limit for certain types of deposits classified as temporary high balances, such as the proceeds from private property sales. Protection will be up to £1million in most cases.
People with eligible deposits that add up to more than the deposit protection limit may wish to take steps to keep their deposits fully protected (e.g. by splitting their deposits across different PRA-authorised firms).
Note - PRA
The Bank of England prudentially regulates and supervises financial services firms through the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA).
Last edited by durham_lad; Oct 30th 2018 at 4:51 pm.
#24
Re: UK pension transfer to USA
I am sure it probably is not held in an individual account. If you are lucky the account may be covered up to £85k , but if that money belongs to 100,000 people, you will not get much back. I know this happened in 2008 when money market accounts held by insurance companies went under.
This article has a pretty comprehensive review of Transferwise. https://www.neverendingvoyage.com/tr...erless-review/
"However, Transferwise isn’t as secure as a normal bank because your money is not guaranteed by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). If the bank where Transferwise stores your money (i.e. Barclays in the UK) were to become insolvent then you aren’t guaranteed the return of your funds (usually you’d get up to £85,000 back)."
This article has a pretty comprehensive review of Transferwise. https://www.neverendingvoyage.com/tr...erless-review/
"However, Transferwise isn’t as secure as a normal bank because your money is not guaranteed by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). If the bank where Transferwise stores your money (i.e. Barclays in the UK) were to become insolvent then you aren’t guaranteed the return of your funds (usually you’d get up to £85,000 back)."
#25
Forum Regular
Joined: Jun 2012
Location: Seattle
Posts: 90
Re: UK pension transfer to USA
So I found this, text is at the bottom. It makes clearer to me what Lansbury said earlier. If Barclays went bust I’m out of luck. May I infer from this though that if Transferwise went bust I’m insured up to £85,000? That last part isn’t exactly spelled out.
FWIW I’m happy to live with the possibility that Barclays might become insolvent.
As I type this I realize I’ve drifted away from my real concern, which is what happens if the account is hacked and my funds are stolen?
Is my money covered by a financial protection scheme?
TransferWise is an authorised Electronic Money Institution regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK.
We're required by law to protect your money by storing it in a low-risk financial institution (in Europe this is in our UK Barclays bank accounts).
That means that, in the unlikely event that TransferWise became insolvent, your money would be unaffected and should be refunded to you in full.
If our official Banking Institution (in Europe this would mean Barclays), became insolvent, your return of funds would not be guaranteed as the account is not guaranteed by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
We take the safety and security of your money very seriously. We fulfil rigorous regulatory standards in UK, Europe, US, and every country we operate in. As such, millions of customers trust TransferWise with their money, we currently move over £1 billion around the world every single month.”
FWIW I’m happy to live with the possibility that Barclays might become insolvent.
As I type this I realize I’ve drifted away from my real concern, which is what happens if the account is hacked and my funds are stolen?
Is my money covered by a financial protection scheme?
TransferWise is an authorised Electronic Money Institution regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK.
We're required by law to protect your money by storing it in a low-risk financial institution (in Europe this is in our UK Barclays bank accounts).
That means that, in the unlikely event that TransferWise became insolvent, your money would be unaffected and should be refunded to you in full.
If our official Banking Institution (in Europe this would mean Barclays), became insolvent, your return of funds would not be guaranteed as the account is not guaranteed by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
We take the safety and security of your money very seriously. We fulfil rigorous regulatory standards in UK, Europe, US, and every country we operate in. As such, millions of customers trust TransferWise with their money, we currently move over £1 billion around the world every single month.”
#26
Re: UK pension transfer to USA
Having listened to MoneyBox recently, you funds are not necessarily protected against fraud under current UK banking regulations. There have been many stories where people have lost their life savings and not been protected. To be fair, there is only so much you can do to protect your money.
#27
Forum Regular
Joined: Jun 2012
Location: Seattle
Posts: 90
Re: UK pension transfer to USA
Having listened to MoneyBox recently, you funds are not necessarily protected against fraud under current UK banking regulations. There have been many stories where people have lost their life savings and not been protected. To be fair, there is only so much you can do to protect your money.
okay mrken. Just to put what you have written in perspective, does Moneybox draw any distinction between the fraud occurring at Transferwise (Barclays), and the fraud occurring at a High St bank. That High St. bank could be Barclays again, or Lloyd’s etc.
#28
Re: UK pension transfer to USA
From memory the banks were Santander and TSB, I could be wrong. But the story involved High Street banks not online banks. Thought the fraud was committed online.
#29
Forum Regular
Joined: Jun 2012
Location: Seattle
Posts: 90
Re: UK pension transfer to USA
i just got off the phone with TWise, agent needs to research and get back to me. She stated they will make me whole in the event of a hack/fraud, but could not explain how TWise would achieve that as they are not insured against such an event.
I will update on here when I get something in writing from TWise.
The reason I am letting the funds sit there at TWise is that I was hoping the GBP might improve between now and April next year, before converting to usd.
#30
Re: UK pension transfer to USA
For the UK it looks like funds are held in a "client account" at Barclays: https://transferwise.com/help/articl...erless-account