Euro Pacific Bank Ltd

[Client]

I am thinking hard to open a bank account with Euro Pacific Bank Ltd. Can anyone please advise whether they are trustworthy and if payments pass on without any problem with correspondent bank?

 

[Zqq]

It's a young bank based in a jurisdiction which does not publish financial statements of banks. The bank does not yet have a credit rating by any of the major credit rating firms. It is as such difficult to gauge how trustworthy and reliable it is.


With that said - it's a perfectly adequate bank. It has rightfully earned a good reputation. It operates in a rather low-risk manner, compared to many other banks, in that they do not issue loans and act mostly as an investment and trading bank. However, much of the bank's funds is held with the German bank Commerzbank, which is currently not very stable. It is unlikely that the bank will collapse, but it is nonetheless a risk to consider.


Transfers to and from accounts are reasonably fast. You can find older complaints about funds being lost and wire transfers taking a long time to reach accounts. The bank has since then improved.

 

[Client]

Many thanks Zqq..Do you think it will be safe to transfer fund in USD. Because from what I read, they are in the black book of USA

 

[Zqq]

Safe, how?

 

[Client]

If I transfer USD xxx from Bank XYZ to Euro Pacific Bank Ltd or vice versa. Do you think that the correspondent bank of Bank XYZ can reject payment or worst temporary block the fund for compliance reason.

 

[Zqq]

No, that is not likely to happen.

 

[lavel]

I found this old thread, sorry to open it again, but I have seen lot's of good reviews about Euro Pacific Bank and they have been around for some years it seems to be a young bank but still interesting.

Does someone with personal experience mind to share their opinions if this is a bank worth to work with or not?

 

[happyjohn]

They are cool but very complicated to apply with. They require 2 bank reference letters from your current banks. So they require a professional reference letter from a Law firm, accountant or any other trusted firm. All in all very complicated to apply for. Once you have the account you may feel comfortable with them.. I don't know I didn't used my account for years.​

 

[doxs]

If they are cool why are you don't using them? Are they expensive to use for your day to day banking?

 

[Aaalister]

How long it takes to open an account with them? What are the costs please?

 

[Aaalister]

They are cool but very complicated to apply with. They require 2 bank reference letters from your current banks. So they require a professional reference letter from a Law firm, accountant or any other trusted firm. All in all very complicated to apply for. Once you have the account you may feel comfortable with them.. I don't know I didn't used my account for years.​

How long do you have opened account with them?

 

[JohnLocke]

They have been around for a very long time after all. It seems they take the checkups required by law serious and just do what they are suposed to do.

 

[yuseff]

Which OSP provides account opening service with Euro Pacific Bank?

 

[JohnLocke]

If you look for account opening with this bank, you can check mig SIG they can help you. Just be prepared that a bankers reference letter is mandatory and required. They also require a professional reference letter from an lawyer, accountant or similar. They are cracy in their approval process!

 

[yuseff]

Then which other bank do you recommend?

 

[hukal]

There are two banks here What other offshore accounts are there in the Caribbean?

 

[allan]

Their requirements are almost the same as the one from other banks, almost!

 

[lastchance]

Do you know if they are good for simple business? What is the fees they charge for caching out with debit card?

 

[thegazelle]

Hi Everyone, I can tell you as a recent new customer how the process was. You need a notorized passport and notorized utility bill. You need an employment reference letter from your employer with details such as your start date, how you are employed, salary, etc. For banks, you need a statement from the last month and then another statement from the past 6 months, showing balances, etc., with your address on it. There are some other paperwork - contracts and how you fund the account, etc. A phone interview will be required and they will focus on your employment and where the funds are coming from. Once it is all done, you will get notified a few days later of your account opening. You can then fund the account via transfer wire - they have all the instructions including SWIFT code, etc. They do use intermediary banks, and right now the USD intermediary bank is in Portugal and not in the greatest shape. I don't hold my funds in USD so I used my local currency and since the currency of my new account matches, I didn't even need an intermediary. The wire went through in under 24 hours. A banker than will make contact with you post-account opening. For brokerage accounts, be aware that they pass along the FATCA compliance fees, and as such, you will get charged $200.00 a year if you own any US securities (if not that $200 rolls to the following year). No interest is paid on savings accounts and the monthly fees are reasonable. Login is easy and customer service is excellent.

Keep in mind the bank is founded by Peter Schiff, a respected economist and founder of Euro Pacific Capital and many economic books. I actually met Peter in 2013 and 2014 in Toronto and he is a very bright guy - knows economic theory well and is a huge proponent of gold and opponent of paper money. Schiff's reputation is on the line with the bank and so it is in the bank's best interest to meet all regulatory guidelines and comply with all AML laws, FATCA, etc.

One more thing to add is that what I described above is for a personal account. For a company account I imagine that the requirements will involve even more steps (ie. there are partner agreement forms that need to be filled out and reviewed by their compliance department).

 

[negon]

You need an employment reference letter from your employer with details such as your start date, how you are employed, salary, etc. For banks, you need a statement from the last month and then another statement from the past 6 months, showing balances, etc., with your address on it.

What a mess? There are no other offshore banks that require these details!

Thank you very much for the clear information about the steps.