Euro Pacific Bank Ltd

[zohoman]

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.​

For how long have you hold an account with them? Did you need to provide all the documents that @thegazelle is listing?

 

[JohnLocke]

They have always been very complicated to open an account with. Some may consider if it is worth the entire process! If you have sufficient time and maybe need a second ot third bank account AND you are able to get all the documents they require it may be worth it.

 

[lastchance]

That's too complicated for me, sorry need to find a bank where it's easier to get an account.

 

[thegazelle]

Well, you can look at it from this perspective. They are following compliance procedures and doing their due diligence, weeding out potentially illegal or unscrupulous customers. I would rather subject myself to this rather than have a process which lends itself friendly to potential illegal activity and then later the bank is subsequently investigated or shut down. At least with Euro Pacific, the rigorous application process indicates that they are abiding by AML compliance processes and I have no problems with that.

In lieu of an employment letter, I believe they will also accept recent paystubs showing your name and address on it along with obviously the employer. I don't think it unreasonable for the bank to want to ensure that all funds going in are legitimate. I actually would prefer that.

One thing I forgot to mention is that all the notorized documents, the reference letter, bank statements, application, etc., can be scanned and emailed to them, thereby saving your postage costs. The interview over the phone was about 15-20 minutes and for me anyway, they asked a lot about what exactly I did for my employer, down to the specific industry roles, etc. Again, I see them just doing their due diligence, rather than viewing it as overly intrusive.

The monthly maintenance fee is quite reasonable, and you are assigned a private banker who will call you and be there for any subsequent questions or concerns.

I do like the fact that they do not lend out their client's money but instead make their revenue off fees and such.

I have demoed their brokerage platform, and it is pretty nice.

 

[negon]

I have demoed their brokerage platform, and it is pretty nice.

Can you trade stocks there from all countries or at least the major European countries?

I don't know a bank can also be insane about the documents they require and ask too many question which mean that even the most regular business man with an 100% legit and transperant business model will refuse to open an account there.

 

[thegazelle]

You can trade stocks from all the global exchanges.

 

[negon]

Thank you. Do you still have problems with the USD currency using the bank in Portugal as an intermediate bank ?

 

[thegazelle]

I personally haven't, since I don't have a USD account - but when I talked with my EPB personal banker last week I did ask him about that out of curiosity and he said at this point everything is processing well with the Portuguese bank

 

[negon]

WoW from US$ 320 they transfered to my Cyprus account, they charged USD 30 for bank transfer already, and today I received the amount US$ 232,62 thats an f... $87,32 wire transfer fee.

I'm so happy that I closed my account with the them!!

 

[thegazelle]

WoW from US$ 320 they transfered to my Cyprus account, they charged USD 30 for bank transfer already, and today I received the amount US$ 232,62 thats an f... $87,32 wire transfer fee.

I'm so happy that I closed my account with the them!!

Hmmm..that's weird...I have never sent a wire OUT OF EPB, but the incoming wires INTO EPB incurs similar fees...

45.00 is my bank's wire fee
23.00 is the intermediary fee (goes through the UK bank)
18.00 is the EPB incoming wire fee

Total fees is 86.00, 68.00 of which is outside EPB.

 

[negon]

WoW huge fees for a simple transfer.. I closed the account because it's just not profittable to have incoming transfers there which you have to pay for as well as outgoing transfers, the amount paid each time is just too much.

Do you use the account for day to day banking or?

 

[thegazelle]

Agree but these rates are pretty common when using an offshore bank, so it is always best to not transfer a bunch of small amounts. With regards to your question - no, I don't use the account for day to day banking, just parking the money there as an emergency fund.

 

[Emirates]

Hmmm..that's weird...I have never sent a wire OUT OF EPB, but the incoming wires INTO EPB incurs similar fees...

45.00 is my bank's wire fee
23.00 is the intermediary fee (goes through the UK bank)
18.00 is the EPB incoming wire fee

Total fees is 86.00, 68.00 of which is outside EPB.

WoW this is lot's of money for a wire transfer

 

[Emirates]

Agree but these rates are pretty common when using an offshore bank, so it is always best to not transfer a bunch of small amounts. With regards to your question - no, I don't use the account for day to day banking, just parking the money there as an emergency fund.

What you suggest is only to use this bank to save up money for later use and only take big chunks of money out at a time... I will apply for account opening with them. They are the bank with the banners here on the forum true?

 

[negon]

with the banners here on the forum true?

yes that's the bank!

 

[negon]

Agree but these rates are pretty common when using an offshore bank, so it is always best to not transfer a bunch of small amounts. With regards to your question - no, I don't use the account for day to day banking, just parking the money there as an emergency fund.

Do you only park your money there or also in other banks?

 

[moneymaster]

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!

Complicated to work with how? just because they require a reference letter from your current bank?

 

[Zoxin Development]

I have account with them and its a bit of a headache to recive money, need to fill in partnerform and details for each partner that you will recive money from and if more then 10k per year some more document like a contract or something to show relation with that partner. And latest now is that 3 party that send money to me now need to send true a a new payment processor they set up. For USD only. Not sure my payment processor will or can send to theirs so will close it down later if I cant find a use for it.

 

[myoffshoreliving]

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).

Thank you for clarification

 

[myoffshoreliving]

And latest now is that 3 party that send money to me now need to send true a a new payment processor they set up.

They are total paranoia - I will only use them for saving account.