OK, this one’s a cheat because it´s not my blog but a reader brought it to my attention. Thanks to Hannah Beecham who’s excellent article can be seen here Expat Money Channel .
The lead-in goes like this. “British expatriates are finding themselves left out in the cold when it comes to opening or retaining a UK bank account. Despite the fact many Brits leave the country for work with every intention of returning back home at some point, the Know Your Customer (KYC) anti-money laundering regulations are leaving expats baffled and frustrated when it comes to establishing their rights to a UK bank account.”
Like many people here in Spain we maintain our links with our UK Bank and we have all our bank statements and mail addressed to our address at Citibox, 20 Bond Street, B70 7DQ, our UK Address in Spain. For more information see here Citibox UK Address for those living in Spain .
We certainly don't want to lose our UK bank account
“While the confusion on the rights to a UK bank account has been an issue for some time, matters have become much more urgent following the recent global financial crisis, which has left hundreds of thousands of Brits feeling insecure about their banking arrangements.”
I would say “Why risk it?” For what is really a very small sum of money a year you can retain a UK address and have all your mail forwarded to your local Citibox outlet by Courier to Spain every week.
Citibox’s service costs only €100 a year and for that you get your own unique personalised UK Address with all your mail sent by FedEx to Spain every week and couriered to your local office. All for less than €2 a week! You have been warned!
