Best Way To Diversify From U.s. Dollars

[topfield]

So which singapore banks are receptive and welcoming for remote applications - and are low cost ?

So far mentioned is :

hsbc

ocbc

Standard Chartered (i think)

Anyone had any luck or disaster/warning stories with other banks in singapore (as a remote user wanting foreign currency accounts)

HI Khun Bob,

As an expert on (Private) banking with Singapore banks.....and I 've been with eight of them CITIGOLD , HSBC ,Stanchart, Dresdner Suisse, ABN AMRO, ING& DBS ,Bangkok Bank Singapore and had long discussions with another five I could not recommend them other than for the ultra rich and those willing to pay HNW fees..

Their CRM'S are looking for two to three percent of your capital and several do not hesitate to cancel and break written agreements when it suits them ie the events of 9/11 or their 'take' not being high enough .

Also they wont hesitate to double/triple their charges if they are not earning enough on your account.

Furthermore whether you know or not, Singapore never had a banking Ombudsman until two/three years back and no complaint was possible other than for very large amounts being disputed, when a complaints procedure was introduced by the ABS Association of Banks of Singapore following numerous complaints to the Monetary Authorities including the writer. Admittedly they have a great system in place now...finally.

One recommendation : if you want your own lounge with club atmosphere and unlimited snacks and drinks while in Singapore , Citigold comes highly recommended if you invest their minumum amount..

Their

Citi goldcard is however unbelievably NOT accepted at Citibank's customer lounges in London.

[Naam]

Singapore banks.....

Their CRM'S are looking for two to three percent of your capital and several do not hesitate to cancel and break written agreements when it suits them ie the events of 9/11 or their 'take' not being high enough .

Also they wont hesitate to double/triple their charges if they are not earning enough on your account.

topfield,

what do you mean by "looking for two or three percent of your capital"???

that banks increase their charges if they don't earn enough is nothing new to me. in fact i was just told that my priority status (not paying any safe custody fees for my portfolio) will cease to exist effective april 1st.

[Naam]

I would avoid the Dirham

UAE's largest trade partner is Iran and they are about to be embargoed. If that happens, a large chunk or UAE trade will cease to exist and that will weaken their currency.

= nothing but a wet dream of the texan village idiot and the puppeteers who pull his strings. Russia and China with veto rights in the U.N. security council have expressed already clearly that they will reject these kind of sanctions.

[Khun Bob]

Topfield, Dr Naam - thanks for the advice - in not a HNW person - Id just like to know where in Singapore (of if) I can have an account with relatively little in and be charged little, so that in the event that I need it, i have it straight away. I'd prefer not to have an account with a bank that has a UK head office as the elected stasi here are demanding that banks with UK head offices disclose information on offshore accounts - and they are getting it !

Seems I can have an HSBC GBP savings account if I put £800 in there - but I have to pay 1% of deposit in fees on money going in - this is the way i read their latest t&c's - I need to call to clarify...

But I dont want to be with HSBC - I know ICICI bank and OCBC have a presence there - I think I have come across a site with all the banks in Singapore, but it didnt go into that much detail or have websites with it...

With HongKong banks are there witholding taxes ? Also, does anyone know if it is possible to get an account in Brunei. Singapore and Hong Kong have too much connection with the UK.

Some time ago i called a few Labuan (Malyasia tax free area) banks and they were dinosaurs - got to go there to open an account and none had internet access...

Also I'm not sure how good Singapores banking secrecy is - the T&c's for hsbc singapore and frightening on what they can disclose...

[topfield]

Singapore banks.....

Their CRM'S are looking for two to three percent of your capital and several do not hesitate to cancel and break written agreements when it suits them ie the events of 9/11 or their 'take' not being high enough .

Also they wont hesitate to double/triple their charges if they are not earning enough on your account.

topfield,

what do you mean by "looking for two or three percent of your capital"???

that banks increase their charges if they don't earn enough is nothing new to me. in fact i was just told that my priority status (not paying any safe custody fees for my portfolio) will cease to exist effective april 1st.

Exactly ! Thats my point. What I find most annoying with these banks is they offer low charges to hook you and then raise them exponentially if you dont take up all the special offers goodies and tips they offer you from day one forcing you in practice to close your a/c. The difference between a good bank there and a bad one there is that a good one will not charge you tt fees etc to remove your funds and place them elsewhere. ING were very decent in this regard.l.

[topfield]

Topfield, Dr Naam - thanks for the advice - in not a HNW person - Id just like to know where in Singapore (of if) I can have an account with relatively little in and be charged little, so that in the event that I need it, i have it straight away. I'd prefer not to have an account with a bank that has a UK head office as the elected stasi here are demanding that banks with UK head offices disclose information on offshore accounts - and they are getting it !

Seems I can have an HSBC GBP savings account if I put £800 in there - but I have to pay 1% of deposit in fees on money going in - this is the way i read their latest t&c's - I need to call to clarify...

But I dont want to be with HSBC - I know ICICI bank and OCBC have a presence there - I think I have come across a site with all the banks in Singapore, but it didnt go into that much detail or have websites with it...

With HongKong banks are there witholding taxes ? Also, does anyone know if it is possible to get an account in Brunei. Singapore and Hong Kong have too much connection with the UK.

Some time ago i called a few Labuan (Malyasia tax free area) banks and they were dinosaurs - got to go there to open an account and none had internet access...

Also I'm not sure how good Singapores banking secrecy is - the T&c's for hsbc singapore and frightening on what they can disclose...

Hi Khun Bob !

For sterling I have another suggestion.....Dubai. These Arab banks offer excellent rates for pounds if you care to look at Gulf News and other excellent UAE newspapers such as the Khaleej Times. Also total banking secrecy of course. ps Same experience as you with Labuan !!

[Khun Bob]

Thanks for the replies - I'm interested in Singapore primarily as it is close to where I will be living - but I am also interested in other good banking opportunities - Dubai is known to be a tax free haven.

So care to mention :

* The best Singapore based banks (not for high rollers) with low costs and few gotchas

* What banks you have found to be good in Dubai/other mid east countries

I am concerned that having a large holding in the Middles East may be a bit risky as it seems like giving your money to the 'enemy' of the west. Any comments ?

Cheers as always

PS With regard to labuan - I think there are some opportunities there to make them into a real offshore banking centre as that is what the Malaysian gov wanted to do - all the big malaysian banks are there - i just dont get it as the onshore malaysian bank are quite with it. Actually I have a few onsore malaysian bank accounts for several years now and had few problems with them. Very little costs as well (read zero here - for few trnsactions as well - call centres speak good english too). Ironically getting a Public Bank account in Laos was easy (I think getting most bank accounts there is easy) and this helped me get an account with Public Bank in Malaysia (Publich Bank as far as i am aware is a Malaysian bank)

Topfield, Dr Naam - thanks for the advice - in not a HNW person - Id just like to know where in Singapore (of if) I can have an account with relatively little in and be charged little, so that in the event that I need it, i have it straight away. I'd prefer not to have an account with a bank that has a UK head office as the elected stasi here are demanding that banks with UK head offices disclose information on offshore accounts - and they are getting it !

Seems I can have an HSBC GBP savings account if I put £800 in there - but I have to pay 1% of deposit in fees on money going in - this is the way i read their latest t&c's - I need to call to clarify...

But I dont want to be with HSBC - I know ICICI bank and OCBC have a presence there - I think I have come across a site with all the banks in Singapore, but it didnt go into that much detail or have websites with it...

With HongKong banks are there witholding taxes ? Also, does anyone know if it is possible to get an account in Brunei. Singapore and Hong Kong have too much connection with the UK.

Some time ago i called a few Labuan (Malyasia tax free area) banks and they were dinosaurs - got to go there to open an account and none had internet access...

Also I'm not sure how good Singapores banking secrecy is - the T&c's for hsbc singapore and frightening on what they can disclose...

Hi Khun Bob !

For sterling I have another suggestion.....Dubai. These Arab banks offer excellent rates for pounds if you care to look at Gulf News and other excellent UAE newspapers such as the Khaleej Times. Also total banking secrecy of course. ps Same experience as you with Labuan !!

[Naam]

I'd prefer not to have an account with a bank that has a UK head office as the elected stasi here are demanding that banks with UK head offices disclose information on offshore accounts - and they are getting it !

in this respect there is nothing to worry KhunBob. Singapore's banking secrecy is better than that of Switzerland or Luxembourg!

have you tried UOB, Singapore?

http://www.uobgroup.com/

[Naam]

Singapore banks.....

Their CRM'S are looking for two to three percent of your capital and several do not hesitate to cancel and break written agreements when it suits them ie the events of 9/11 or their 'take' not being high enough .

Also they wont hesitate to double/triple their charges if they are not earning enough on your account.

topfield,

what do you mean by "looking for two or three percent of your capital"???

that banks increase their charges if they don't earn enough is nothing new to me. in fact i was just told that my priority status (not paying any safe custody fees for my portfolio) will cease to exist effective april 1st.

Exactly ! Thats my point. What I find most annoying with these banks is they offer low charges to hook you and then raise them exponentially if you dont take up all the special offers goodies and tips they offer you from day one forcing you in practice to close your a/c. The difference between a good bank there and a bad one there is that a good one will not charge you tt fees etc to remove your funds and place them elsewhere. ING were very decent in this regard.l.

my case looks a bit different Topfield. several years ago a whole group of clients (including myself) moved from Luxembourg to Singapore because our banker team moved. now our team has moved again within Singapore to another bank and the successing team manager is trying to play hardball with us because moving a portfolio with a lot different assets is a tedious task and he thinks that he gets away with it.

little does he know!