transferring one large lump sum of money from U.S.

[chasandre]

Hi,

I am an US citizen working in Finland. After 2 years of living in Helsinki and renting a flat, I am taking the plunge and buying a place. For the down payment, I now need to transfer a large amount of money (let's say about $100 thousand) all at once from a U.S. bank account. So, a few questions:
1. How can I do this and end up with the greatest # of Euros at the end (including fees, exchange rate, etc.)?
2. Are there restrictions, etc. for moving large amounts of cash (this money was earned in the U.S. and taxes were paid there).
3. Am I going to set off some kind of security alert with some sort of Finnish agency? (I already know my own government is spying on me

I did search through the Forum archives, but I haven't seen this exact question answered recently, so I thought I'd check and see if anybody knows the current situation.
I am paid in Euros by a Finnish company into a Finnish bank account, etc. so I really only need to do one big transfer.

TIA

Chas

[Pursuivant]

was it now over 10 000 euros the "money laundry" flags go off and you need to explain where the money is from... should be explained at your banks website or go ask them directly.

[meplusthree]

I can recommend HIFX, I used the UK branch recently to send some GBP here, better than using normal bank - better rates and no fees. There is N American branch as well. Whole process was easy to set up and you get good information about how the transaction is going eg full details about when GBP received by them and the EUR sent by them.

[Rosamunda]

We sold a house in France and transferred the money here. It was a euro transfer (2002) but we didn't want to get hit by bank fees. We had arranged a loan from Nordea here to buy a house in Espoo so we "negotiated" with them to take care of the incoming money. That way we minimised the cost as normally they would charge a handling fee. So yes, you need to discuss this with your bank as part of your home loan deal.

It will set of flashing lights. We got a letter from Vero several months after the transaction was made. We explained the situation and they were OK with it.

[sokser]

Since you will be sending over 10,000 Euros to Finland you will set off a flag from the Finnish government. The bank will call you in and you will have to fill out forms and provide proof on where the funds came from. I recommend having statements from your US Bank stating that the money is yours and has been in your account, certified copies of the transfer being made, copies of your tax returns from the years when the money was earned to prove that it came from lawful acts.

I find the best rate will come from transferring the money directly to a Finnish bank. I use OP and when I transfer money from the states I get extremely favorable rates (often within 1% of the actual exchange rate).

It's not always the easiest transaction to make but I recommend NOT using a middle man. You will wind up paying huge fees to several different people. For example one route people often use is HSBC Offshore accounts in the UK. However this will charge you a 3% fee to change your money into Euros. Just go directly to your bank and check on the exchange rate and compare it to XE.com to find out what they are actually charging you.

Best of luck!

[NanaM]

Since you will be sending over 10,000 Euros to Finland you will set off a flag from the Finnish government.

Moved 30k euros from France to Finland a year ago, hasn't seen any flag yet. Should I still expect it ?

[sokser]

I wouldn't think that you would get one. I was flagged when I sent money from the states recently but they made me fill out the forms for the government and for the government to approve them before they would credit the money to my account.

[Rosamunda]

Since you will be sending over 10,000 Euros to Finland you will set off a flag from the Finnish government.

Moved 30k euros from France to Finland a year ago, hasn't seen any flag yet. Should I still expect it ?

For us it was about a year after we made the bank transfer. I don't know who flagged it to Vero: Credit Agricole, Nordea, Tresor Public/Direction des Impots, Notaire???? There were so many people in the pipeline. It was more than 30K€ though.

[chasandre]

Hi all,

Thanks for all the great advice... I am looking into setting up an account with HiFX (doesn't cost anything, and might be useful for future transfers as well) but I will also talk to the banks and see what they have to say. I'll report back when I'm done.


Chas

[onkko]

Bit offtopic but when i deposited 13k+e on cash they asked where money came from.
No, russian mafia isnt valid answer regarding to bank
Neither was cosa nostra and they didnt believe either that aliens transferred that to my pocket. According to them i didnt got money from son of ex nigerian president either
I had to admit i sold my car
Yes i was wery wery drunk

Ps. If youre one who had deal with me im sorry