Hello. My name is Asen Minkov and I am 29 years old. I am born in Bulgaria, but possess a Republic of South Africa passport as well, as that's where i was raised. I currently work and live in England, UK. I am contemplating a relocation to South East Asia in several years time, in regard to which I am willing to setup some financial foundations for myself for years to come. I have already contacted a few Hong Kong based banks, with inquiries for opening a personal account, which would later be used to purchase investment funds. I seem to be mostly interested in Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Hang Seng Bank. I have been told that the process is pretty straightforward - visit a branch, bring proof of ID and proof of a home address. However, is it really that simple? It seems way to good to be true. I have been told that visiting is a must, so I am planning a trip to HK, but would a few days do the job or would i need to spare more time? What are the odds that I might not get approved? I am looking forward to reading your thoughts and advise on the subject.
Personal account in HK based bank for non-resident EU and RSA citizen
Well, they can't reject you at this moment. However, when you actually walk in to the banks and they start going thru your document that required.... later they will have the most ridiculous reason to reject your case. As now HK banks are not very interest to open account for non resident, unless they are hire in HK or have big huge amount of deposit.... It will not be 1 or 2 weeks process.
It is always possible indeed. They will probably "encourage" you to start investing art opening (you can of course refuse to buy these additional banking products) and their conditions require that you pay high fees unless you have a lot of money on the account.
Please note that you will have to justify where the money comes from, as it is the bank's duty to make sure that you are not laundering money.
Also be aware that as Bulgaria, ZA and HK are all part of OECD, The bank will share information to the tax authorities of ZA and/or Bulgaria (depending which passport you use to open the account), who will be informed that you have an account in HK and the amount of income that you deposit there.
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