Transferring money between countries

[Spider1]

Hi,

I'll shortly need to transfer a large 7 figure amount of money from one European country to the UK.

Any idea how much will be lost by the banks currency exchange rate? Is it usually better to have a multi-currency bank account?

Sorry for vague question. My bank isn't being overly helpful...

S.

[egomeister]

Transferwise or similar will do it far more cheaply than your bank

[The Moose]

Transferring significant sums of money either the banks will negotiate with you or check with a forex broker what their rates would be.

[egomeister]

The Moose said:

Transferring significant sums of money either the banks will negotiate with you or check with a forex broker what their rates would be.

I hadn't clocked quite how significant the sum was, lol. I'd imagine that a dedicated forex broker might be better than transferwise in that case (although I they may deal with larger sums).

Maybe your accountant can give some pointers?

[Mr Overheads]

We have a fine margin deal with a broker for our clients (we're in cost management). Ping me a pm I'll set you up an account and split the commission with you which effectively halves your transaction cost.

edit: obviously you'll know the rate before you press send, so no obligation to ultimately use it.

Remember on a 7 figure sum, the movement in exchange rate over just a few minutes can be a reasonable sum, so if comparing rates make sure you compare live rates or rates that are at least held for say 15 minutes to allow you to compare.

[Marcellus]

You'll be able to get a deal with a broker whereby they charge a percentage over interbank, for a 7 figure sum you'll probably get sub 0.125% from it.

The key thing will be timing!

[Dicky Knee]

As an aside, have you spoken to an accountant?

I don't know your circumstances but it may attract interest from HMRC. In my circumstances I was advised that I would need to prove that all relevant taxes had been paid should I be asked.

[Spider1]

Thanks guys, really helpful.

Any idea how much a bank would charge over inter rate roughly?

S.

[The Moose]

Spider1 said:

Thanks guys, really helpful.

Any idea how much a bank would charge over inter rate roughly?

S.

It'll vary from bank to bank. Call and ask. If this is not a hugely unusual amount of cash for you to have, I suspect you'll have a private banker anyway - give them a call.

[Mr Overheads]

The Moose said:

Spider1 said:

Thanks guys, really helpful.

Any idea how much a bank would charge over inter rate roughly?

S.

It'll vary from bank to bank. Call and ask. If this is not a hugely unusual amount of cash for you to have, I suspect you'll have a private banker anyway - give them a call.

Just checked with our specialist and for a 7 figure one off sum they'll be able to offer around 12 basis points (i.e. +0.12 over interbank), if it's going to be regular then they'll be able to improve on that too. Or on a given day if they've had quite a lot of large transactions come through their system that day they'll be able to improve it significantly because currency pricing works on a volume basis.