Opening a Bank account before PR

[9jcanada]

Hi all,

We are looking for your kind guidance on the possibilities of opening a bank account for someone who has not yet landed in Canada. Our PR application is in process, awaiting medical request any time now. We are planning to set up our own private practice and we have some money saved up toward that. With the ongoing financial turmoil in Europe, we fear for the short to medium term prospect for the Euro, hence we are looking to see if we can open a bank account ahead of our PR so we can transfer some of the money lest we loose everything.

Has anyone gone through this process. What are the steps involved. Please feel free to PM me with details if you wish.

Thanks for your responses.

9j

 

[steaky]

Todays currency markets are highly volatile. It's hard to predict which currency, commodity and other investment serves the best refuge. Earlier, I heard people buy japanese yen to take refuge due to the ongoing financial turmoil in Europe. So if don't want your Euros, would you consider to convert them to Japanese Yen?

You can open a HSBC premier account in your home country and then tell the bank manager you want to open another HSBC premier account in Canada. Follow the instructions, you can transfer your funds to Canada free and instantly.

 

[9jcanada]

Todays currency markets are highly volatile. It's hard to predict which currency, commodity and other investment serves the best refuge. Earlier, I heard people buy japanese yen to take refuge due to the ongoing financial turmoil in Europe. So if don't want your Euros, would you consider to convert them to Japanese Yen?

You can open a HSBC premier account in your home country and then tell the bank manager you want to open another HSBC premier account in Canada. Follow the instructions, you can transfer your funds to Canada free and instantly.

Thanks for this steaky, will work on it.


9j

 

[toby]

Todays currency markets are highly volatile. It's hard to predict which currency, commodity and other investment serves the best refuge. Earlier, I heard people buy japanese yen to take refuge due to the ongoing financial turmoil in Europe. So if don't want your Euros, would you consider to convert them to Japanese Yen?

You can open a HSBC premier account in your home country and then tell the bank manager you want to open another HSBC premier account in Canada. Follow the instructions, you can transfer your funds to Canada free and instantly.

(1) If you are concerned that your European bank may fail, then transferring your money to a Canadian bank makes sense. But few Canadian banks (except HSBC) will allow you to choose a foreign currency; mostly they convert your money to Canadian dollars. If you'll be spending Canadian dollars in Canada, that is not a problem, especially since the Canadian dollar is expected to remain strong for a while.

(2) I'd be careful about speculating in currencies. Essentially each currency decision is a guess, and governments can spoil your plans. Recently the Japanese government took action to lower the value of the Yen, for example, and those who were seeking a safe haven in the Yen were disappointed.

(3) If you're not worried about the safety of your European bank, you could use your Euros to buy an ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) that gives you access to US dollars (UUP), Canadian dollars (EFC) Japanese Yen etc etc. or even gold via GLD or IAU. If your commission is low (I pay $7 per trade), that might be the lowest-cost way to get out of the Euro. But that means that your cash is now with the brokerage or bank that sells you the ETF. If, again, you worry about that bank, you need to get your money over to Canada asap.

(4) If you cannot get a low commission to buy an ETF, then perhaps your best option would be to convert Euros to Canadian dollars, and either leave them at your current European bank or preferably transfer to a new account in Canada. Ask about the exchange rate before you do convert your Euros. Sometimes banks give a poor exchange rate to small customers. The exchange rate for large customers, today, is 0.719839 Euros per Canadian dollar. If your rate is much worse, look for another bank.

(5) If you decide to transfer to a Canadian bank, but do not meet the hefty minimum-balance requirements of HSBC premier-client account. You can open a lower-balance account (Smart Vantage etc) at HSBC and still be able to choose the currency to store your in-Canada money in. At least HSBC allows you to do this in other countries; check with HSBC that this is true in Canada.

 

[an124]

Lucky you, who have access to HSBC in your current country.

If i would have an opportunity to open a bank account here and a bank account in the very same bank in Canada, i would do it right away. Then i would just wait till the exchange rate is OK and transfer my money to Canada converting into CAD.

But i have to do it the hard way. If i go directly to my internet bank account and exchange the money i would lose about 1500-2000$ CADS. Then i will have to pay a huge comission just to get my CADs out of my account in cash. If i want a bank draft on my name then it's extra comission. to I could buy a car for that money!

So i have to take my money out of my account with ATM, sum by sum daily. Go exchange it to a currency exchange place. I have to watch rates daily to make sure i don't lose money on any particular day. I started to study currency rates charts and graphs on a freaking daily basis. And you know what have i found out? I would have nearly 1200CADs more if i would exchange my money to CADs in november 2011. This drives me totally crazy!

I'm starting to feel like some sort of an economist or analyst doing this thing. I'm an industrial architect for crist sake!

 

[steaky]

Hey an124,

Exchange rates goes ups and downs in minutes! Some banks charge a finance fee for withdrawing funds from overseas atm machine. At HSBC, you can open some foreign currency account such as Euros, British Pound and Hong Kong Dollar. If you are unsure about the exchange rate, you can just wire on your base currency to that HSBC foreign currency account. You can then use HSBC internet banking to do the converting between the CAD and foreign currency account (s) anytime at your own convenience.