Opening a foreign currency account abroad

Look, the topic is already live... you can find the answer if you just scroll up through the previous posts... but if you want the bottom line, here it is: bank secrecy (Switzerland)

From what I can gather from this thread, there seems to be quite a bit of confusion regarding exactly what’s required to open a local bank account abroad.

1. Is it even legally permitted?
2. Am I required to show up in person to open the account?
3. If I hold an account in Austria, would I be able to withdraw cash in Canada, and if so, am I looking at extra fees?

Thanks in advance to everyone for the help!

1. No... just look back at post number 8... what exactly is supposed to change once January 1st, 2010 rolls around? 🤷
2. 😕
3. Look, if you have money sitting in our local banks or even an international one, and you've got a card linked to that account, you can pull cash from any ATM that accepts that specific card type... as for the fees, well, that just depends on whatever bank issued your card.

1. Not exactly, though I'm not entirely sure they even have the infrastructure in place to track you down.
2. Of course, and in places like Canada, they ask for your tax ID, so if you start moving significant amounts of money, the IRS might come knocking about your health insurance coverage too.
3. You can do it in Japan as well—though there's always a fee involved, naturally.

Hey, just wondering for those of you who have an open non-resident bank account over in Austria... I was curious if anyone knows roughly what kind of initial deposit you're looking at having to put in there to get things moving?

I recently found out I landed a scholarship from the Palo Verde Generating Station. I called their HR department to ask if they could deposit the funds into my American bank account or if I’d need to open one over in Canada. The woman was polite at first and said an American account would work fine. Then, a few minutes later, she calls me back to say she was wrong—I absolutely have to have a Canadian account. So, I drove down to a small town in the Midwest, grabbed a tax ID, and opened a checking account at Wells Fargo. Am I breaking any laws by opening this account? If I am, where do I go to legalize it?
The scholarship is roughly $380. Am I required to report this to the IRS here in the States, assuming the taxes will likely be handled in Canada?
Regarding your questions about having an account in Austria and withdrawing cash in Canada—that's doable without fees once a month (at least with Canadian banks) within the European Union countries that use the euro.
Thanks in advance

As of January 1st, 2010, you actually need the green light from the Federal Reserve to open an account overseas. Your reasoning for doing it is solid enough that they’d likely grant you permission—but the real question is whether you even need to bother asking for something so minor (even if, technically speaking, you’re currently out of compliance with foreign exchange regs).

Regarding the IRS side of things, you’re probably better off getting a straight answer from a lawyer or a CPA.

I’ve been scrolling through every single thread on this forum about foreign currency accounts, but I can’t seem to find an answer to my specific headache. Here’s the deal: I’m heading abroad for a while starting in February. Once I actually get my hands on cash over there, where am I supposed to stash it? I swung by Chase today and the teller basically told me that even if I open a foreign currency account here right now, I'll just get hit with massive transaction fees every time I try to withdraw money while I'm away. So, logically, wouldn't it be smarter to just open an account locally once I arrive so I can withdraw funds fee-free, just like I do back home? But then I start reading all these legal updates about how the Federal Reserve isn't allowing certain types of foreign currency accounts to be opened, and apparently, that stays in effect until January 1st. What happens after that? Is the door actually opening up?

Any advice or info you guys have would be huge... thanks!

If you’re looking to open an account overseas, you actually need to get the green light from the Federal Reserve first—otherwise, you're looking at some pretty annoying foreign exchange violations.
To even get that approval from the Federal Reserve, you’ve gotta have a legit reason for doing it, like medical stuff, studying abroad, or something along those lines.

From what I gather, opening accounts abroad wasn't part of the recent deregulation, so you still need to jump through those hoops to get permission.

Look, I don't know all the specifics, but if you're planning on working under the table and getting paid in cash, then yeah, you don't need a bank account. But if you're actually trying to open an account abroad, don't you think you'll need some kind of legal status and ID just to get through the door? Like, do Americans think they can just roll up to a bank in Austin and open an account without any paperwork?

Johnny, that regulation was scrapped too; Americans can open bank accounts abroad without any restrictions whatsoever.

My situation touches on this topic somewhat. To clarify, I am an American citizen living in Canada, so I have to go through the Embassy in Ottawa to handle my passport matters. Because I live outside the borders of the US, I'm considered a non-resident client at Beat New York, regardless of my citizenship status. Honestly, though, none of that really impacts me—it's all the same in the end.

George Barrett35 said:Johnny, that regulation was scrapped too; Americans can open bank accounts abroad without any restrictions whatsoever.

Can you actually send me a link to the specific law where I can check that out?

Foreign Exchange Regulation Act:

The updated version of the act (effective Jan 1, 2010):

Excerpt from the Amendment: "(2) As of January 1, 2010, the following sections of this Act are repealed: Section 14, paragraph 3; Section 18, paragraphs 2 and 3; Section 28, paragraph 4; Section 29.; Section 34, paragraph 1; Sections 36, 37, 38, and 42, paragraph 6; Section 63, paragraph 1, items 8.a, 9, 11, and 15; and Section 68."

Original Act Text: Section 29. — The Federal Reserve dictates the specific conditions under which residents—excluding banking institutions—are permitted to open accounts and maintain funds in foreign jurisdictions.

and honestly, even before this, nobody was really asking about it anyway 😬

I’m looking into opening a foreign currency account abroad.
Since I’m an American resident, am I facing any legal hurdles, or were all those restrictions scrapped back on January 1st, 2010?

I haven't seen anything from gljeeva lately—wondering if they've gone off the grid or just moved on to bigger things. kaže:
Terry Howard, that rule was scrapped too—Americans can open accounts abroad without any restrictions now.

You ever hear about that new regulation passed back on December 17, 2009? Turns out it actually voids the whole move to scrap that specific article—so yeah, things are right back where they started.

I can't see any link here—looks like you forgot to paste it! Send it over and I'll take a look.

citat:

Article 4.

In Section 78, Paragraph 1—right after where it says "Section 35, Subsection 3 of this Act"—you need to drop a period and just cut the rest of the sentence. Simple as that.

Under Section 1, we’re adding subsections 2, 3, and 4—they go like this:

As of January 1, 2010, we’re officially sunsetting a whole bunch of sections from this Act—specifically Article 14, paragraph 3, Article 18, paragraphs 2 and 3, Articles 36, 37, 38, Article 42, paragraph 6, Article 63, paragraph 1, points 9 and 15, and Article 68. Basically, they’re out.

So, I was digging through some old paperwork today—you know how it is when you start cleaning out that junk drawer in the kitchen—and I stumbled upon this legalistic mess regarding the rules for transferring personal assets abroad as gifts or aid. It’s one of those official decrees published back in the day in The New York Times, specifically under those old filings from 2003. Honestly, reading through these types of regulations always feels like trying to decipher ancient hieroglyphics just to figure out if you can send a birthday check to your cousin in Chicago without the government breathing down your neck. Just one of those things that makes you realize how much bureaucracy we actually live with every single day.

The rules regarding how much cash, checks, or securities you can bring into—or take out of—the United States (check The New York Times, issue numbers 111/2003, 69/2006, and 82/2006 if you really want to nerd out on the legal jargon) and...

So, there’s this whole regulatory mess regarding how residents can handle cash transactions—whether we're talking US dollars, foreign currency, or even checks—when doing business with non-residents. It was laid out in that specific ruling back in the day (check *The New York Times*, issue 54/2006 and 132/2007), though you have to navigate around a bunch of specific exceptions in sections II, III, IV, and so on. Basically, those rules stay the standard until the new sub-legal act mentioned in Article 34 actually kicks in. It's one of those "read the fine print or get stuck" situations.

Starting July 1st, 2010, we’re officially seeing some changes to the books—specifically, Section 28, Subsection 6 and Section 63, Subsection 1, Point 10 of this Act are being scrapped. Just a heads-up on that little legal shift.

(4) As of January 1st, 2011, Article 28, Section 4 and Article 29 are officially off the books.It all boils down to Section 63, Subsection 1, specifically points 8.a and 11 of this Act—plus that whole Decision regarding the requirements for getting approval to open an offshore foreign currency account (as laid out in The New York Times, issue nos. 111/2003, 189/2004, and 124/2006).

So, looks like the old paragraph 2—which is getting bumped down to become paragraph 5—is being swapped out. Here’s how it stands now:

Once the United States officially joins the European Union, Article 47, paragraph 4 of this Act just becomes a dead letter—it stops applying entirely.

Since I work in dev over at Chase, I actually get the heads-up on this kind of stuff before it hits the news. 🙂

mistywolf68 said:I’m looking into opening a foreign currency account abroad.
Since I’m an American resident, am I facing any legal hurdles, or were all those restrictions scrapped back on January 1st, 2010?

Turns out it’s still on the books after all.

Is there any way to open a bank account in the US without actually flying out there myself? I was wondering if maybe there's an American bank with a branch somewhere near me here in the States?

So, what’s the deal with tax limits on transfers to an account in Canada?

If I'm reading this right, moving cash from an international account to a local one comes with some massive fees? Sounds like online banking is out of the question then. 🙄

wiredpilot19 said:Is there any way to open a bank account in the US without actually flying out there myself? I was wondering if maybe there's an American bank with a branch somewhere near me here in the States?

If you've already got a tax ID, it isn't much of a hurdle, though I can't quite remember if you can just pull that online... You might want to poke around the websites of the major players to see what's possible (Bank of America, Citibank, or Wells Fargo). If you're looking for a global institution with branches closer to home, maybe check out JPMorgan Chase or Citibank, or if we're talking serious money, look into Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley...