Hi,
Does anyone know what is the qualification criteria for opening a RBS Coutts banking account in Switzerland? Interested in them because they have a UK branch (unlike most other Swiss banks i think)

Tried their website but wasnt much helpful.

Thanks!!

lot of money, if you need to ask "how much" it's probably not for you

hmm not sure if its so bad - suppose its worth trying

anyways my main intention here is to find a swiss bank with uk operations, but havent found a single one

HSBC premier said they will find me a subsidiary but dont want to land up paying extra fees and added nonsense

Why go with a natiotionalised bust bank? You will find that most "private banks" that are here have branches in the UK too. But I suspect you are looking for a retail bank of some kind.

I believe minimum $1 million of assets

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coutts

What!?!? RBS Coutts, the former Scottish bank Coutts, and now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland (itself a three-quarters-owned subsidiary of the UK taxpayer) has a UK branch! Blimey!

Almost wot he said.
.

Haha, i knew this question would be controversial, LOL

yes, first 3 letters of Coutts will make anyone nervous - R B S !! Infact is it even a good option to consider!?

As someone rightly said, my goal is to find a retail bank where i can smoothly manage my uk, eur and chf funds - simple...

I bank with Credit Suisse here and HSBC in the UK. HSBC know I am in Switzerland and are happy for me to continue to have a UK current and savings account, as well as a loan and credit card. They have even increased the limit on the credit card whilst I've been here.

If I want to transfer money to the UK, CS charge me CHF5 per transaction and HSBC have the cheek to charge me £6 to receive it. I've no idea about charges going the other way though. CS also allow you to open non-interest paying foreign currency accounts in EUR, GBP, USD, JPY and CAD.

I certainly don't feel like I am missing out by not having everything under one roof and I suspect that going with HSBC or Coutts or whoever for everything would still incur a similar amount of charges.

O/T last I heard the criteria for opening a UK Coutts account was investible assets of £250k or annual income of £100k with the strong probability of having the £250k assets in the near future.

Thanks, perfect - everything answered...you are a star!

Similar arrangement using Credit Suisse (CHF and EUR accounts) here and RBS in the UK, with xetrade.com for the regular transfers in between (saving the fees and providing better rates than I've found any bank to offer).

Honestly can't see a huge advantage of having a single bank do it all - indeed in the current climate the phrase "all your eggs in one basket" springs to mind... I definitely wouldn't consider a genuine private bank unless you have significant assets and haven't found a better way of managing them already.