Has anyone found a bank in France that will allow them to open a Japanese yen account?
Thread poster: MelMacGregor
MelMacGregor
MelMacGregor
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:36
Jun 30, 2020

Hi everyone,

I am hoping someone out there might be able to help.

My translation clients are in Japan and I invoice them in Japanese yen.
Until now, I have been living in the UK and I have had an account with Barclays denominated in yen, so that my clients could pay my invoices directly into that account, in yen.

(Obviously this was an ideal setup as once the invoices were paid, I could convert the yen into pounds when I was ready, rather than having
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Hi everyone,

I am hoping someone out there might be able to help.

My translation clients are in Japan and I invoice them in Japanese yen.
Until now, I have been living in the UK and I have had an account with Barclays denominated in yen, so that my clients could pay my invoices directly into that account, in yen.

(Obviously this was an ideal setup as once the invoices were paid, I could convert the yen into pounds when I was ready, rather than having my clients pay in yen into a sterling account, and the bank exchanging the yen into sterling at the spot rate).

I have now moved to France, and I am looking for (but struggling to find) a bank here that will allow me to open a Japanese yen account.

I don't suppose there is anyone in a similar situation who has found a bank that will do this?

Many thanks.

Melanie MacGregor
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Thomas T. Frost
Thomas T. Frost  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 22:36
Danish to English
+ ...
Barclays Jun 30, 2020

Couldn't you just keep using the account you had already, or did Barclays close it? Is there any particular reason why you say the account has to be in France?

Kuochoe Nikoi-Kotei
 
MelMacGregor
MelMacGregor
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:36
TOPIC STARTER
I assume the account needs to be in France, now that I am a French taxpayer Jun 30, 2020

But it's a good question, thank you.
I hadn't even considered keeping that account - perhaps it's possible. I'll look into it.


 
Thomas T. Frost
Thomas T. Frost  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 22:36
Danish to English
+ ...
That's what I thought Jun 30, 2020

You are entitled to use bank accounts in any country you want.

Any income credited to such accounts is of course fully taxable in France. Use the ECB's reference rate published at https://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/policy_and_exchange_rates/euro_reference_exchange_rates/html/eurofxref-graph-usd.en.html to c
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You are entitled to use bank accounts in any country you want.

Any income credited to such accounts is of course fully taxable in France. Use the ECB's reference rate published at https://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/policy_and_exchange_rates/euro_reference_exchange_rates/html/eurofxref-graph-usd.en.html to convert foreign-currency income to euro on the date it was credited.

In the case of residency in France, the French Hecteur l'Inspecteur does require you to include a specific form with information about each foreign bank account together with your annual tax return, as the French seem to think that every foreign bank account is for tax evasion. But just follow this declaration rule to avoid any trouble. The Germans don't require this, but if you live in France, you'll get plenty of red tape anyway.

And, by the way, even a PayPal account qualifies as a foreign bank account, as PayPal is based in Luxembourg and registered as a bank.

So if you have a solution that works with respect to yen, it will probably be simpler to keep it as it is. If you need to transfer GBP to France, you can use TransferWise to avoid the UK banks' typical 3% commission, as TransferWise only charges 0.5%.

You do need to inform Barclays about your French address and they will probably require your French tax ID number. If they don't want to keep your account open because of this, it's their choice. Santander UK has let me keep my UK accounts as an expat for over 20 years (it was Alliance & Leicester back then). But it's difficult to open new UK accounts as an expat, so you may want to keep the ones you have.

You could also have a look at TransferWise to find out if they could provide an even better yen solution.

[Edited at 2020-06-30 15:42 GMT]
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MelMacGregor
 
Jean Lachaud
Jean Lachaud  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 18:36
English to French
+ ...
Déclaration obligatoire Jun 30, 2020

Regardless of this specific Yen account issue, you KNOW that French residents MUST report any and all bank accounts in foreign countries, don't you?
Penalties for failing to report are quite heavy, well above €20,000 if I remember correctly.

[Edited at 2020-06-30 15:44 GMT]

[Edited at 2020-06-30 15:44 GMT]

[Edited at 2020-06-30 15:45 GMT]


 
MelMacGregor
MelMacGregor
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:36
TOPIC STARTER
A huge thank you to Thomas T Frost Jul 1, 2020

Dear Thomas

I am so grateful for you taking the time to pass on this valuable information.
I am obviously very keen to keep things totally transparent and to declare as required, and it certainly sounds like keeping the Barclays account is the simplest way to proceed, but also a way that will keep me within the tax requirements.

I really appreciate the information - thank you again.
No doubt it will also be helpful to others in a similar situation (even if t
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Dear Thomas

I am so grateful for you taking the time to pass on this valuable information.
I am obviously very keen to keep things totally transparent and to declare as required, and it certainly sounds like keeping the Barclays account is the simplest way to proceed, but also a way that will keep me within the tax requirements.

I really appreciate the information - thank you again.
No doubt it will also be helpful to others in a similar situation (even if the countries involved are different).

Best wishes,
Melanie
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dkfmmuc
dkfmmuc  Identity Verified
Local time: 23:36
Member (2009)
German to English
+ ...
Officially convertible currency / no need to worry Jul 2, 2020

Dear Melanie,

thank you for raising this question. With fundamental knowledge of banking and recent developments I would like to step up and to reassure you. 😊

The first and valuable hint is that you are receiving an officially convertible/exchangeable currency. JPY is not a currency of an "embargoed" country.

So nearly every bank can receive transfers/payments and convert it.
Normally you won't need an extra JPY account for that.

S
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Dear Melanie,

thank you for raising this question. With fundamental knowledge of banking and recent developments I would like to step up and to reassure you. 😊

The first and valuable hint is that you are receiving an officially convertible/exchangeable currency. JPY is not a currency of an "embargoed" country.

So nearly every bank can receive transfers/payments and convert it.
Normally you won't need an extra JPY account for that.

So your account in UK is as fine as your new account in France.

Additionally and honestly communicated it has to be said that banking is one
of the hobbies of the civil "servants" in Brussels. Regularly new
regulation and "know your customer" obligations are unveiled.

That said the best combination would be not cancelling the UK account and step by step using the "French" account. Two solid pillars of banking.

Like in former socialistic countries the government even tries to establish
EU wide identical rates for exchanging currencies. That said all banks should use one reference exchange rates in the future. As a first step for payments made by credit cards. It is positively communicated as more transparency.

To shorten this: The decision for opening your current account should be made on how convenient it is for daily business and/or price of the transactions itself.

Given that the best combination may be the two accounts approach.

Just as a cordial hint, not advice.

And don't be astonished if the new bank sometimes asks why you get
Money from Japan. This is to follow the regulation and additionally to build up trust for a long term business relationship (know your customer principle again).

Best regards

Gerd


[Edited at 2020-07-02 05:59 GMT]

[Edited at 2020-07-02 06:00 GMT]
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Thomas T. Frost
Thomas T. Frost  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 22:36
Danish to English
+ ...
Choosing when to exchange foreign currency Jul 2, 2020

dkfmmuc wrote:

So nearly every bank can receive transfers/payments and convert it.
Normally you won't need an extra JPY account for that.



Indeed. But there are two things to consider:

1. How much they charge for it. The forex commission for converting a currency is typically in the range of 0.5% to 3%. In the high end, we find most UK banks and PayPal, but a few UK banks do offer much better rates. In the low end, we find specialised companies such as TransferWise and Danish banks. To find out how much they really charge (they don't always tell you), you can compare with the reference rate at the ECB's website.

There may also be an intermediary bank fee in addition to your own bank’s flat fee.

French banks tend to offer a vast catalogue of fees for services that are included at no cost in many other countries, which is another reason I didn't propose a French bank. If you need a French bank to provide an account in yen, they'll probably offer the 'executive fee package'. But you could have a look at online banks such as Boursorama Banque and ING Direct that don't use fees as their raison d'être. If you choose a high-street bank, you're likely to be taken to the cleaners.

2. Receiving foreign currency into an account denominated in the same foreign currency gives you the freedom to choose the best moment to convert your foreign currency to local currency. If you let your bank do it automatically when they receive it, you could lose money if the foreign currency rate has just temporarily plummeted.

At sites such as Oanda, you can follow the live exchange rates and try to choose the best moment to convert your currency. TransferWise mirrors these live rates and converts your currency exactly when you ask it to.

---

For modest amounts, it doesn't matter that much, but if you convert the equivalent of e.g. EUR 3,000, you could save perhaps €50 or €100 by choosing the right time.


 
MelMacGregor
MelMacGregor
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:36
TOPIC STARTER
Allowing the bank to convert FX on your behalf is the worst-case scenario Jul 3, 2020

dkfmmuc wrote:

So nearly every bank can receive transfers/payments and convert it.
Normally you won't need an extra JPY account for that.

My response:

If you ever receive an international transfer (for example in JPY) into your bank account that is denominated in another currency (eg a GBP account), try calculating the rate the bank uses to convert the currency -- you will be shocked.

At least, that is the case with any British bank I h
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dkfmmuc wrote:

So nearly every bank can receive transfers/payments and convert it.
Normally you won't need an extra JPY account for that.

My response:

If you ever receive an international transfer (for example in JPY) into your bank account that is denominated in another currency (eg a GBP account), try calculating the rate the bank uses to convert the currency -- you will be shocked.

At least, that is the case with any British bank I have dealt with.

It is for that very reason that I have the JPY account.

That way, I choose when to convert the JPY into GBP and I don't let the bank convert it.
I use a service like OzForex to convert it (or Transferwise). You end up saving literally hundreds and sometimes thousands of pounds over one year by converting the currency through a non-bank service provider.
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Thomas T. Frost
 


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Has anyone found a bank in France that will allow them to open a Japanese yen account?







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