Personal bank account in Europe for Dubai resident

[KScyprus]

Hello everybody.

Since 2021 I have become a tax resident in Dubai. I don't really live there and only spend a couple of months a year.

I would like to open a "real" personal bank account (No EMI) in some jurisdiction with a good reputation (UK, Switzerland, Netherlands, Ireland) by declaring my residence in Dubai. I am an EU citizen.

I tried to open an account with HSBC Expat and everything went fine, they invited me to deposit at least 50k but after I funded the account they went back and started asking ridiculous questions about my income, starting with when I started mine first business years ago.
I communicated with them for months, provided them with more than 60 different documents, then made it clear that I was no longer willing to continue onboarding because it was getting too tiring to continue providing impossible documents.
In hindsight I think he didn't like that I funded the account from a company that was sending me dividends.

If anyone can recommend any solid bank with a not too complicated onboarding process, thank you.

 

[Sols]

KScyprus said:
I would like to open a "real" personal bank account (No EMI) in some jurisdiction with a good reputation (UK, Switzerland, Netherlands, Ireland) by declaring my residence in Dubai. I am an EU citizen.
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Swissquote, Flow Bank, SEBA, and Sygnum are banks in Switzerland that could be worth taking a look at. @Fred has mentioned some of their clients bank with CIM Banque in Switzerland in addition to banking in UAE.

If you can deposit 100,000 GBP or equivalent in other currencies, you can try Barclays and Lloyds international branches. Some Dutch/Benelux banks will accept non-residents for around similarly sized deposits (ABN Amro, ING). Bank of Ireland and AIB will sometimes take non-residents but it can be difficult if you have no ties at all to Ireland.

If we step up to around 250”“500,000, Banque Internationale à Luxembourg, Bank Frick, Union Bank, Trusted Novus (formerly Jyske Bank, Gibraltar), Banque de Luxembourg, and Andorran banks (Andbank, Morabanc, Credit Andorra) could also work.

KScyprus said:
In hindsight I think he didn't like that I funded the account from a company that was sending me dividends.
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Yes, that is most likely the problem. If that is your intended usage, be upfront about it. Source of wealth and source of funds will be checked by any financial institution. HSBC might've gone overboard, though.

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This is the probably the answer to your question.

 

[KScyprus]

Sols said:
Swissquote, Flow Bank, SEBA, and Sygnum are banks in Switzerland that could be worth taking a look at. @Fred has mentioned some of their clients bank with CIM Banque in Switzerland in addition to banking in UAE.

If you can deposit 100,000 GBP or equivalent in other currencies, you can try Barclays and Lloyds international branches. Some Dutch/Benelux banks will accept non-residents for around similarly sized deposits (ABN Amro, ING). Bank of Ireland and AIB will sometimes take non-residents but it can be difficult if you have no ties at all to Ireland.

If we step up to around 250”“500,000, Banque Internationale à Luxembourg, Bank Frick, Union Bank, Trusted Novus (formerly Jyske Bank, Gibraltar), Banque de Luxembourg, and Andorran banks (Andbank, Morabanc, Credit Andorra) could also work.


Yes, that is most likely the problem. If that is your intended usage, be upfront about it. Source of wealth and source of funds will be checked by any financial institution. HSBC might've gone overboard, though.
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Thanks very much.

I'll try some of the banks you recommended to me soon and let you know.

 

[discussionor]

Sols said:
Swissquote, Flow Bank, SEBA, and Sygnum are banks in Switzerland that could be worth taking a look at. @Fred has mentioned some of their clients bank with CIM Banque in Switzerland in addition to banking in UAE.

If you can deposit 100,000 GBP or equivalent in other currencies, you can try Barclays and Lloyds international branches. Some Dutch/Benelux banks will accept non-residents for around similarly sized deposits (ABN Amro, ING). Bank of Ireland and AIB will sometimes take non-residents but it can be difficult if you have no ties at all to Ireland.

If we step up to around 250”“500,000, Banque Internationale à Luxembourg, Bank Frick, Union Bank, Trusted Novus (formerly Jyske Bank, Gibraltar), Banque de Luxembourg, and Andorran banks (Andbank, Morabanc, Credit Andorra) could also work.


Yes, that is most likely the problem. If that is your intended usage, be upfront about it. Source of wealth and source of funds will be checked by any financial institution. HSBC might've gone overboard, though.
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Have a similar question and found this reading through old threads. Do you think anything has changed from when you wrote this @Sols? Also do you know if any of these are OK with video verification only (not in-person)?

 

[EliasIT]

Nothing in what sols wrote has changed since. If you have 100K + you will easily find a bank in Switzerland, Germany or UK and if you have proof of source from a legal business.

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