I am interested in opening a Canadian currency bank account in Taiwan. Has anyone done this? Which banks will provide this service for me?
The reason I want to do this is I have declared non-residency for tax purposes in Canada, so I can’t have a Canadian bank account. However, I want to exchange my money into Canadian currency ultimately, so I am concerned about fluctuations in the value of the currency.
If you have any other ideas about how to deal with this problem…well, that’s what forums are for .
We opened up uk sterling and us dollar accounts with ICBC… already had a local NT$ account with them. Only needed ARC… not sure if you can get canadian $ accounts or not though but worth a try ?
I wanted to reply to this earlier… Just so you know if you open any foreign currency account, it is not protected. If the bank goes belly up your money is gone. No foreign accounts in Taiwan are protected. There may be one or two foreign banks that will insure foreign currency accounts but they have huge minimum balance requirements. I’ev been talking with the agency since last year about this and have gotten the issue on their agenda. The last I heard is that they agree that foreign accounts should be protected but it’s going to take some time to actaully get it implemented. When they tell me more I’ll let you know for those of you who are interested.
I opened a multi-currency account together with my NT$ savings account at Citibank. You can conduct currency exchange transactions by telephone during banking hours, up to a value of NT$500,000 per day. I usually keep modest stores of euros, sterling and US$ there, and sometimes do a bit of currency trading when I can be bothered and the opportunities for making a profit are glaringly obvious.
Be warned, though, that they rip you off on the interest side for foreign currency deposits, paying only a fraction of the rates on offer in offshore accounts.
Like 0.03% for USD and 0.4% for Euro and a whooping 1.2% for GBP according to my last statement (Citibank).
Yep, 0.03% is not a typing error but a fact; how sad …
I have some money in a foreign currency account at First Commercial Bank. I’d like to send some money to my US bank account.
Can I just transfer these “US$” to my American Bank or get a money order for the value I need. (NOTE: Taiwan bank issues American Bank Checks backed by Citibank.)
I seem to remember someone saying that even though the money is in US$, I still have to convert it to Taiwan dollars to withdraw it then convert it back again to US dollars when I buy the bank check or make the money transfer.
If that’s so, I’d rather let my US$ ride and convert my Taiwan dollars.
Thanks.
For telegraphic transfers of USD to another USD account there is AFAIK no conversion to NTD, however you are subjected to local (NTD600) and possibly foreign charges - not just from the receiving bank but also the intermediate bank. E.g. if you transfer USD from a Citibank account in Taiwan to anywhere in the world the money is routed via Citibank New York which deducts a fee (0.xx%). Similar applies e.g. for HSBC though the fee may differ.
I attached a U.S. funds account onto my then existing China Trust account. I had no trouble doing so but I don’t see the advantage at this point. The rate fluctuations are so small that I was better off simply wiring the funds to my U.S. account and gathering some pitance of interest.
If you can’t open a Canadian account, you can open a U.S. account. This can be done through the mail and the funds are insurred through USDIC up to 100k U.S. per depositor. I’m not certain if a Canadian is charged taxes on the account in the U.S. or not. I know Taiwanese aren’t but tax treaties being what they are you should check first.
This seems the more advantagious route to me but I’m not much of a banker.
Like 0.03% for USD and 0.4% for Euro and a whooping 1.2% for GBP according to my last statement (Citibank).
Yep, 0.03% is not a typing error but a fact; how sad …[/quote]
I currently get 4.0 per annum on my US deposits from the Taiwan Business Bank, AUD and NZD are currently 5%+ i think, not looked for canadian though. Those rates are for a one month deposit, better rates are available for longer term.
[quote=“Traveller”]
I currently get 4.0 per annum on my US deposits from the Taiwan Business Bank, AUD and NZD are currently 5%+ I think, not looked for Canadian though. Those rates are for a one month deposit, better rates are available for longer term.[/quote]
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