Euro Bank Account? Which one?

[Table 5]

So I'm thinking of transferring some of my (American) Dollars to Euros to hedge against the supposed devaluation of the Dollar, but it seems like none of the local banks offer bank accounts in Euro denominations. From what I've read it seems like this needs to be done via an offshore bank account through some banks like HSBC, Bank of Scotland, etc. Correct me if I'm wrong though!

Can any of the more financially astute CP members recommend which banks/accounts would be the best way to go in order to do this? Ideally it would be something as easy as ING Direct, with good interest rates, minimal fees and easy transfers via internet banking. I don't really want to use this account too much in terms of day to day transactions, I sort of just need to park some of my money there for a few months/years, and have access to it relatively easily if i need to.

[Suave]

If you have 100k in assets that you would be willing to transfer over to HSBC, then HSBC Premier would do the trick. You can then open up a Euro account and do transfers between your accounts online and you get cheap transfer rates. Though this may be a bit more then you are looking for since you would be opening up an account in another country.

Another way might be just to have an investment account that does forex trading.

[tripin_billie]

I too have a currency issue and that is why I have HSBC. Unfortunately, i am just starting off, so no premier for me, but the next level down allows me free money orders. So now I can pay my Canadian $ student loans.

Come on Edulinx and NSLSC, start accepting visa nad mastercard payments.

[Huntingwhale]

Give it to me and l will keep it safe...interest free!

[Table 5]

Any know of any other options out there that aren't HSBC? I've looked into HSBC, but without the Premier status, you pay $25 bucks a month fee just to maintain the account. Seems pretty nuts to pay $300/year for doing nothing.

[firebug]

If you are only looking to hedge your currency exposure, it would be much more efficient to do it via a futures contract of some sort.

Many brokerages, online or otherwise, could assist you in that type of maneuver for far less cost than transferring actual currency back and forth.

[Table 5]

Well, partly I'd like to hedge it, but also I go back and forth to Europe quite a bit (lots of family there, with some shared property) and would like to have some money to work with for potential investments/maintenance. So while it wouldn't be used that often, I would like it to be something that I can access relatively easily.

To be honest, I have no idea about future contracts. Need to look into that.....

[bizaro86]

You mentioned you're in the US, but HSBC has no-fee accounts in foreign currencies in Canada.

http://www.hsbc.ca/1/2/en/personal/c...reign-currency

I looked at them again though, and it looks like you can only make transactions in a branch, which is a PITA. Might still be an option if you could get a canadian address to set it up with, and you only need access to the money occassionally.

Michael