Expat Foreign Exchange News

26 Feb at 6 PM 2013

Expat currency trading is high risk for the inexperienced

With offshore and onshore banks cutting their interest rates seemingly on a weekly basis, many expats and offshore savers are giving up on chasing the best rates. Tracking currency movements via offshore banks offering accounts in US dollars, sterling and Euros with the option of switching currencies may seem to be the upcoming way to make money from savings. However, experts in currency trading are warning that it’s not for the faint-hearted or the inexperienced. It sounds simple – for example, if your savings are in Euros at...

15 Jun at 9 AM 2012

Expat health insurance may rise with Grexit

British expatriates in Greece may see their medical insurance doubling in cost if the country leaves the euro and medical institutions do not cut their charges. Even if Greece’s hospitals do reduce charges substantially, expatriates holding international cover would still collect claims beyond Greece’s borders, which would surely trigger premium hikes. Financial issues for expats in Greece – along with Spain – are making many Britons sell their properties and leave. HiFix, a leading foreign exchange broker, says that 33% of...

13 Feb at 3 PM 2012

Desperate Britons turn to the US dollar

As reported by The Telegraph, Lloyds TSB International has announced a marked rise in savers requesting dollar-denominated accounts. It has now almost doubled the rate it awards on one-year fixed-rate US dollar accounts—increasing from 1.5pc to 2.8pc. Nicholas Boys Smith at Lloyds TSB International says that many wealthy investors banking internationally have lost their risk appetite through 2011, adding that significant inflows of dollar fixed-term deposits are attractive since the currency often performed well during unsteady...