Offshore Bank Accounts for Expatriates

A complete guide to the legitimacy and usefulness of offshore bank account solutions for expatriates living abroad

If you’re planning on moving abroad or you’ve already expatriated, you may well be wondering about the best way to manage your banking needs and requirements.  There are three main ways you can handle your banking when you live abroad, you can keep your old bank account back home, you can open a new account in your new nation of residence, or you can move everything to an offshore bank account.

In this report we’ll discuss why increasing numbers of expatriates are finding that the increasingly flexible, secure and attractive offshore bank accounts being offered by all the leading banking institutions, particularly in Europe, are the best ways to manage all of their international banking transactions.

If you’re wondering about the legalities of banking offshore, you want to know how to open an account or are just curious as to why anyone would want or need such an account, this report into offshore bank accounts for expatriates will contain all the information you need.

Is Offshore Banking Legal, Moral and Acceptable?

Offshore bank accounts are now offered by all the leading high street institutions; they are no longer the seedy haunt of dodgy international criminals trying to squirrel their illegal gains away from the taxman or indeed a policeman! 

Because of the international crackdown on money laundering and a global push on the exchange of information between all nations where criminal activity is suspected of occurring through international bank accounts, offshore accounts are seen simply as a globally facing alternative to an onshore current account.

This means that in a nutshell, anyone and everyone can potentially open and benefit from an offshore bank account.  However, those who are most likely to benefit from such an account are expatriates and international business persons who travel abroad regularly.  This is because offshore accounts offer them the flexibility that they really need.

So yes, offshore bank accounts are certainly legal.  They are also moral because of their legality, and finally, they are now seen as a perfectly acceptable way for international individuals and companies to manage their cash flow.  In the recent past the only lasting argument against having an offshore account was the fact that some companies felt uncomfortable if they were invoiced by an individual and asked to pay into an offshore bank account – this is no longer the case, because offshore accounts are well regulated, and those who use them and have legitimate cause to, such as expats, are simply understood to have a genuine requirement for such a flexible banking alternative.

How Can an Expatriate Open an Offshore Bank Account?

As stated, all high street institutions now offer an offshore or international bank account option to clients, so, it can be as easy as speaking to your bank and asking them if you can have an international account.  However, if you have an IVA or have been declared bankrupt, if you have adverse credit history or need a slightly more complex banking solution, you may need to speak to a specialist bank that will consider such individuals.  If you fall into the latter category, , we have preferred partners we can put you in touch with who may be able to assist.

Alternatively, if you’re living abroad already you may decide to approach a local bank for an international account.  If you do take this approach, see who the parent company of the bank is, if it is a leading international institution such as Santander for example, chances are the local bank will be able to offer you an international and offshore banking solution.

You simply need to be clear about what you need from such an account, and ensure that any account you choose can offer you all the advantages and facilities that you require of it. 

How Can Expatriates Benefit from an Offshore Bank Account?

This final question could well be the most salient point we touch upon in this report for you if you’re wondering why on earth anyone would want or need an offshore account.  As mentioned at the start of this article, yes, you can keep your bank account back home open, or you can open a new local account in your new nation of residence if you prefer.  However, many expatriates can benefit more if they open an offshore account and here are the main reasons why: -

• Offshore bank accounts are flexible and can be accessed from anywhere in the world.

• Depending on the nation you’re resident in, you may not want to bring any foreign sourced income onshore.

• Depending on the nation you’re domiciled in, you may not want to take any foreign sourced income ‘home.’

• You can manage complex financial arrangements easily through an offshore account – so if you have bills to pay back home, investments to pay into offshore, you receive your salary in a currency other than the one you spend day to day or you need to engage in cross-border transactions for example, an offshore account can give you a central monetary repository from which you handle all transactions.

• Offshore accounts can offer greater privacy and security for some people.

• Offshore bank accounts are ideal for expatriates who work in multiple locations.

• Such an account can be ideal if you have multiple currencies to manage – you may be paid in one, have to transfer money back home in another currency and perhaps you save into your offshore pension in yet another currency.

• An international back account located in a secure jurisdiction makes sense for those who work in a less than secure nation.

• An offshore account with a leading and reputable bank may be safer than holding funds onshore in a small local bank.

• You may get preferential interest rates on an offshore bank account.

• You may be able to utilise an offshore bank account to save yourself taxation.  For example, if you’re resident in a nation where you’re not taxed on foreign source income unless you remit it, you would probably be best advised keeping foreign source income in an offshore account and therefore outside of any taxation remit in the nation you’re resident in.

If you have any questions about opening an offshore bank account or saving and investing offshore as an expatriate, you can always because even if we can’t answer your questions, we have preferred partners who can.