Banking Help Needed for Online Gamer

[nongice626]

Hello,

I am an American citizen. I make a living as a professional high stakes online poker player. The American government has recently changed its laws to prevent its banks from handling online gaming transactions (however, it is not illegal for the individual to play).

I would like to come to Singapore or Hong Kong, open a bank account, transfer several tens of thousands of dollars, and to then transfer those funds to an online gaming site's bank ASAP.

Is this possible? Can an American who is not a resident of Singapore or Hong Kong open a bank account with only a tourist Visa? What information will I need to give them? How long will it take for my funds coming from my American bank to clear my Singapore or Hong Kong account and be available for transfer once again?

Any and all advice is appreciated.

[Plavt]

Is this possible? Can an American who is not a resident of Singapore or Hong Kong open a bank account with only a tourist Visa?

Definetely not, you have to be either PR or a Singaporean national, not sure about expats on contract but a tourist no way!

[keinicke]

sure you can someone on another post noted he opened an account with the HSBSC on tourist visa i.e. by showing his passport as ID.
He then possibly provided a local address e.g. hotel or friends whatever?

Officially it may not be possible, but sure in practive it is just ask around & try various banks while you're in town

[Plavt]

sure you can someone on another post noted he opened an account with the HSBSC on tourist visa i.e. by showing his passport as ID.
He then possibly provided a local address e.g. hotel or friends whatever?

Officially it may not be possible, but sure in practive it is just ask around & try various banks while you're in town

Should you care to do some checking he would also have to show a letter from his employer and his Singapore ID registration. Either you did not hear the full details or are inclined to listen to stories.

[Strong Eagle]

You should be able to open an account at Citibank with only a passport with no problems. They have an international account but it has fairly steep fees.

UOB will open an account for you if a current account holder writes a letter of recommendation.

In both cases you will need a Singapore address so you will want to engage a secretarial service to act as your address.

[Strong Eagle]

Is this possible? Can an American who is not a resident of Singapore or Hong Kong open a bank account with only a tourist Visa?

Definetely not, you have to be either PR or a Singaporean national, not sure about expats on contract but a tourist no way!

Wrong, Plavt. I hired an American who came to Singapore on a tourist visa, opened an account at UOB with a passport, then proceeded to work for me in Malaysia, coming back to Singapore every few weeks.

[Plavt]

Is this possible? Can an American who is not a resident of Singapore or Hong Kong open a bank account with only a tourist Visa?

Definetely not, you have to be either PR or a Singaporean national, not sure about expats on contract but a tourist no way!

Wrong, Plavt. I hired an American who came to Singapore on a tourist visa, opened an account at UOB with a passport, then proceeded to work for me in Malaysia, coming back to Singapore every few weeks.

To nongice626,
My apologies for the error, having asked the same thing myself, that was what I was told and a brief look around the web search engines appeared to confirm the same thing. However, the criteria might or might differ between banks. Strong Eagle can perhaps enlighten us here since my last visit to Singapore was in 2004. Hope this claries things.

[Strong Eagle]

Plavt,

I think that Citibank will open an account virtually no questions asked if you have the passport and the money. But they have a minimum balance requirement (should not be a problem for a high roller) and quite high monthly charges (agan no problem for a high roller). You can open an account in one of several denominations.

For the only other bank I have had experience with, UOB, a letter of introduction is required from a current account holder. Plus a passport and a local address. The local address was to mail statements; it may be possible to mail overseas; a phone call would reveal this. In any event you can also ask for electronic statements so nothing is mailed anyway.

[keinicke]

So which bank would be the better of the 2, citibank or UOB?

For me what counts is hasslefree & (free) access to my money when I need it i.e. free ATM use in SG & preferably overseas as well?
That could either be via ATM, debit, vredit or a combination there of?
Also I would not want to have a heavy surcharge if any levied on purchases/withdrawels in non S$ countries & of course prefer to bank without monthly fee's?

Any particular advantages/disadvantages by choosing local against foreign banks?

Being with citibank in germany I'm kinda feed up with them, but yeah they did open my account & gold credit card immediately at walkin as opposed to the very bourocratic practices of most other banks towards relocaters/foreigners

Other's might be Maybank, ABNAmro, Standard chartered etc.?

I might even need a corporate account as well???

Thanks for any recommendations

[AdamC]

Plavt,

I think that Citibank will open an account virtually no questions asked if you have the passport and the money. But they have a minimum balance requirement (should not be a problem for a high roller) and quite high monthly charges (agan no problem for a high roller). You can open an account in one of several denominations.

For the only other bank I have had experience with, UOB, a letter of introduction is required from a current account holder. Plus a passport and a local address. The local address was to mail statements; it may be possible to mail overseas; a phone call would reveal this. In any event you can also ask for electronic statements so nothing is mailed anyway.

hi, may i ask, when was that? how long ago? i heard that government had taken some measure to prevent laundering business. hmm.. jus curious

[nongice626]

I spoke on the phone to citibank, they said your passport and another form of identifcation is enough to the US $ account, but you must maintain a balance of $20,000 or will recieve a $30/month fee.
I did not remember to ask about interest rates or anyother associated fees. One good thing is that when depositing with US $, they do not make the two conversions to Sing $ and back again to US $.

[huggybear]

what you are doing smells like money laundering (transferring large sums of cash) to an account...and then quickly xferring them elsewhere.

[nongice626]

Well, I dont think there is anything illegal in what I am doing.

US laws do not make it illegal to play poker on the internet, they only make it illegal for US banks to transfer money to these websites - and these laws arent even in place yet, various banks have just decided own their own to stop doing business with US banks.

I am transfering money into an offshore account, Singapore, and then taking that money and transfering it somewhere else.

Do you feel that the Singapore Citibank will have a problem with this sort of thing or give me problems/delays?

OT: Does anyone know a good place to get a Post Office Box in Singapore?

[AdamC]

Jus becareful.. they might take it as a laundering business from unknown source & might even carry out investigate to gain source.

Especially after N.Korea laundering news last yr..

US has work with alot of banks to investigate..

Somemore.. wonder why You would wanna use Singapore as such source, as.. Singapore government set strict rules on it

[nongice626]

I wasnt aware of these new rules. Singapore always seemed to be portrayed as a center of liberal banking. Maybe I should try Hong Kong?

Also, does anyone know if online gambling is legal in Singapore?