International Banking

It is increasingly harder to open bank accounts in a country if you are not a resident. Switzerland and Dubai are among the few countries that still accept applications for banking services to non-resident foreigners.

Caymen Islands, Monaco, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Singapore will take non-resident clients. Most are prohibitively expensive both to setup and to maintain. Singapore is one of the best and is least expensive.

In Singapore, United Overseas Bank Ltd. (aka UOB) is recommended as a good bank for non-residents to use. Beside savings and chequing accounts, clients can invest in Singapore government bonds, unit trusts (i.e., mutual funds), equity indexed income funds, and even physical gold. Also, Singapore is a good location to have a brokerage like DBS Vickers or Interactive Brokers.

Many banks in Switzerland will not open accounts for Canadians. One that will is Bank Cantonale Vaudoise (BCV) based in Lausanne, but they charge CHF30 (~$52) per month to maintain the account. Though you can also trade equities with an account there, and on many exchanges in Europe and North America. Find a list of the brokerages here.

Resource investor Rick Rule along with Doug Casey and others have started Battle Bank in the US. This is meant to be a well capitalized bank with a higher reserve than most banks. You can have savings and checking accounts, and hold funds in any of 20 currencies. You can also trade precious metals. Accounts are open to Canadians.

I have recently discovered that HSBC has an "expat" banking service. It is based in Jersey and accepts clients from around the world with many exceptions, but Canada is one that is included.

HSBC Expat
HSBC House
Esplanade (at Gloucester St.)
St Helier
Jersey
JE1 1HS

General info: +44 1534 616 055

HSBC Expat Premier customer call: +44 1534 616 313
HSBC Expat Advance customer call: +44 1534 616 212

The website MillionDollarJourney has a good article on the HSBC Expat account. By following the link on their website you can get the HSBC Expat Advanced account for less than the normal amount.