Luxembourg bank refusing my salary transfer.

[laislica]

Could they send the money in Baht to Thailand via a company like XE.com?

It costs a wire charge of 12.50 quid and the rate is about 0.7 baht lower than the mid rate.

Trouble the xe.com bank is in London....

There must be other companies that could do it?

All far too confusing.

Maybe it's too much work for little profit?

Bastards all!!!

Hope you get it sorted soon

[bermannor]

You would be crazy to do it into a Thai bank account, even when it is a $ account.

Fly to Hong Kong and clear it there with one of the big banks or go to Singapore. Personal attendance seems to be the most important point when start doing business with a bank. And, use a big one worldwide operating. Also introduce yourself, talk and see that bank manager whome you will deal with by phone in future.

[mikiea]

I'm guessing it's easier to say 'no' than do the paperwork.

it is the amount , $10000 or over is the amount that has to be recorded and reported to the IRS , they in turn pass info on to other law enforcement to check for money washing trends in your accounts . . the trick is to transfer anything that is less then 10 grand . $ 9999 and it is not noticed by anyone . foreign banks do not want the paperwork involved in this sort of transaction as they lose money on the transfer with their own rules they have to abide by . this applies to any bank in the world if they are sending us dollars . bad guy bagmen are sending money home every day , it is just less then $10000 .

[bermannor]

mikiea, I wouldn't bet on this. 365 days, every day transferring amounts between 9000 and 9998 $, I am quite sure that they have an eye on you.

[KittenKong]

My bank is HSBC in France, this month I had to transferred the 800,000 Bahts for my retirement extension like the year before and the year before...

I did it with online banking, but I had to told them again "why", I told them why, even if they knew already.

But I had to call HSBC premier 2 times asking why this money transfer was still pending after 5 days? No problem sir everything is correct, in fact it should have been done already so we cannot answer...

Then on another phone call they told me Thailand is on a black list (?) so an authorisation from a manager was needed.

An authorisation from a manager to send myself my own money

I'm always delighted when my UK bank takes the trouble to get extra confirmation before sending my money anywhere, including to me. This is what I want from a bank, especially if the money is being sent to a dodgy country like Thailand.

[taxout]

Before jumping on a plane to Hong Kong, be aware that Honk Kong banks have become much more difficult when it comes to account opening, especially for non-residents (and for business accounts).

[dhream]

Just drop them, I'd try HSBC in Hong Kong, account can be sub-divided into various sub accounts and you can transfer between currencies within your currency sub accounts, online or at an ATM, it's great. fly in with all your paperwork, and they'll gladly have you, it'll take less than an hour, you'll get a card on the spot.

For any bank o/s insist they send cards and security dongles via DHL. I have had three cards go missing here in as many years, registered or not.

Pay for DHL if you have to, but most banks will oblige, especially AFTER the first card never arrives.

[dhream]

Before jumping on a plane to Hong Kong, be aware that Honk Kong banks have become much more difficult when it comes to account opening, especially for non-residents (and for business accounts).

That may well be true, I'd call them first.

If it's looking difficult try Singapore.

Their banks are relatively high fee compared to HKG, but, the convenience... Panama, even now, is still worth a look. A bit far, but if you're just a 'small fry' in the scheme of things, I hear it's easy.

Also if you're a US Citizen , well, expect drama everywhere -thanks to that IRS FBAR or whatever they call it...

Also Peter Schiff of Bloomberg fame, has a private bank in the Caribbean, with local reps, google that.

Our own homeboy Marc Faber also works with clients, not a bank per se, and not sure if he's only taking on high net worth clients... just options if you get really in a jam.

[chiang mai]

I'm guessing it's easier to say 'no' than do the paperwork.

it is the amount , $10000 or over is the amount that has to be recorded and reported to the IRS , they in turn pass info on to other law enforcement to check for money washing trends in your accounts . . the trick is to transfer anything that is less then 10 grand . $ 9999 and it is not noticed by anyone . foreign banks do not want the paperwork involved in this sort of transaction as they lose money on the transfer with their own rules they have to abide by . this applies to any bank in the world if they are sending us dollars . bad guy bagmen are sending money home every day , it is just less then $10000 .

It may come as a rude awakening but banks and the law enforcement agencies are wise to that trick, that's why they look for aggregated payments totalling more than 10k. In the US it's 10k, else where such as the UK it's, "any suspicious" transactions.

[Crossy]

Thanks for the input chaps. I've spoken to a couple of ex.pat mates who have had similar issues recently, with both HK and S'pore banks rejecting payments.

It appears to be a tax / money laundering issue with the banks asking all sorts of information about home country affairs and source of funds (all are Brits like myself as it happens). My Lux. bank didn't even bother with that, seems my pitiful payments are too small for them to even bother with the paperwork.

I have a temporary solution so at least I can access my funds and pay the mortgage (anyone tried paying a Thai mortgage with a credit card?) although it will cost me more to transfer the cash.

[4evermaat]

Yes, if no debit card is attached to acct, you could use credit card. But check cash advance fees.

Overpay on your credit card and then make payments/withdraw cash.

[Naam]

I'm guessing it's easier to say 'no' than do the paperwork.

it is the amount , $10000 or over is the amount that has to be recorded and reported to the IRS , they in turn pass info on to other law enforcement to check for money washing trends in your accounts . . the trick is to transfer anything that is less then 10 grand . $ 9999 and it is not noticed by anyone . foreign banks do not want the paperwork involved in this sort of transaction as they lose money on the transfer with their own rules they have to abide by . this applies to any bank in the world if they are sending us dollars . bad guy bagmen are sending money home every day , it is just less then $10000 .

no Luxembourg bank reports anything to the IRS except income and capital gains of a US citizen respectively US person.

[Krataiboy]

You've got lots of sensible options, Singapore, IOM even overseas banks in Thailand, presumably that was HSBC in Lux., they're shrinking their footprint considerably these days and the Panama thingy will shrink them even further.

the compliance department of my Singapore bank demanded to know a couple of years ago why i paid something like €4,000 to a german forwarder to ship two dogs to India.

Luxemborg is under EU tax (not money laundering) pressure. i'm not sure but i gather that Crossy is an EU citizen and his bank suspects that his salary is subject to the claws of Her Majesty's taxcollector.

it's the stupid bàstàrds of the compliance departments who think they have to prove their raison d'être but are too lazy to check whether a resident of Thailand is liable to pay UK income tax.

Naam is probably pretty close to the mark. The Channel Islands have just enacted new disclosure legislation as they are pressured by tax authorities of various EU nations including HMRC for information on their clients.

The compliance departments are staffed by, IME, very junior people who check forms and follow procedures designed to protect the bank. Example HSBC. Their latest is to "rule" themselves who is resident for tax purposes in the UK. (I'm not - and they know I haven't been for several years). But now they say I am because I have a UK NI number - which is nothing to do with tax and where you are resident but issued when you commence work and remains the same for life. Now they want me to fill in yet another self declaration form, and support this with translated (at my expense) proof of residence for tax purposes in Thailand. They generously demand you do this before mid June. There compliance has got sillier and sillier with more forms and less and less common sense. Time to terminate them.

For you, I suspect it is a little different. You are not resident in the UK and presumably claim HK or Thailand as your tax residence. If HK you will be paying HK tax. It Thailand, then they will suspect your're having your salary paid into their bank to avoid Thai income tax. The Jersey legislation includes the provision of information to countries outside the EU. If you work outside the EU, have your salary paid into a EU or area like the Channel Islands or Isle of Man or tax friendly places like Luxembourg or Liechtenstein and then transfer to your Thai account to avoid Thai income tax, they will tell the Thai tax authorities, Even though at the moment Thailand doesn't tax the income unless it's brought in in the year earned.

It sounds like your back just won't do this anymore as that's easier than covering their arse even if they loose some business.

Got one of those HSBC letters because my records "indicated" I might be a UK tax resident. Phoned to point out that I fulfilled none of the criteria for this status (having lived in Thailand for 18 years and banked with them in Jersey as a Premier customer throughout). Mumbled apologies about the letter being computer-generated and a promise to get back to me when they had checked my records to confirm my tax status.For some reason - lots of calls from other peed-off customers like me? - it is going to take FIVE DAY to for their "investigation team" to get round to looking me up on a computer.

Time to move on by the sound of it.

[topt]

Thanks for the input chaps. I've spoken to a couple of ex.pat mates who have had similar issues recently, with both HK and S'pore banks rejecting payments.

It appears to be a tax / money laundering issue with the banks asking all sorts of information about home country affairs and source of funds (all are Brits like myself as it happens). My Lux. bank didn't even bother with that, seems my pitiful payments are too small for them to even bother with the paperwork.

I have a temporary solution so at least I can access my funds and pay the mortgage (anyone tried paying a Thai mortgage with a credit card?) although it will cost me more to transfer the cash.

Crossy don't know if you would consider a UK offshore solution but I have been using Lloyds International $US account for about 4 years now. Lot of paperwork to open but nothing insurmountable at the time. May be worth a look.

[Mudcrab]

It gets worse.

Still no explanation as to why they refuse funds from outside the UK, but they now also inform me that I can't transfer what I have in their bank to Thailand (it's been OK in the past) due to internal instructions that they cannot be an intermediary bank (the funds all came from outside the EU).

Such is life.

Investigating alternatives to launder my massive funds.

If you do any good ask them if they can launder my massive undies as well.

Only the fronts massive if that helps!!!!

[mjakob007]

There are many niche banks, who are operating in isle of man and jersey such as nedbank old mutual, standard bank etc, they have solid balance sheets as well. talking to friends who have operated with the likes of Barclays and HSBC, these niche banks are more customer oriented and easy to deak with,as along its all above board

[manarak]

You've got lots of sensible options, Singapore, IOM even overseas banks in Thailand, presumably that was HSBC in Lux., they're shrinking their footprint considerably these days and the Panama thingy will shrink them even further.

the compliance department of my Singapore bank demanded to know a couple of years ago why i paid something like €4,000 to a german forwarder to ship two dogs to India.

Luxemborg is under EU tax (not money laundering) pressure. i'm not sure but i gather that Crossy is an EU citizen and his bank suspects that his salary is subject to the claws of Her Majesty's taxcollector.

it's the stupid bàstàrds of the compliance departments who think they have to prove their raison d'être but are too lazy to check whether a resident of Thailand is liable to pay UK income tax.

actually, Luxembourg banks are being investigated in relation to the Panama papers, notably the Bank Rothschild which setup various offshore structures for that Dubai fund manager.

I think the trend in banking is very worrying. In many European countries it has become impossible to do international business and the thresholds for payments have become ridiculously low as you mentioned.

I wonder when I will finally run into similar problems.

The bank sent me a form to fill about my activities last year, nothing since then.

Edited April 23, 2016 by manarak