Currencies Direct: Getting Started
Once you have realised the benefits of using a Foreign Exchange (FX) Broker to move your money to/from France what are the steps involved to get started? Well, any reputable broker will ask you to register as a client before you can make a transfer, or even get a live trading quote. !
“Why do I need to register?”
Simple, to protect you, your money and our company! Moving money is a very strictly regulated process and most brokers will be regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority, we certainly are – and we are also regulated in France by the ACPR. What this effectively means is that the FCA tells us what we need to do, what procedures and processes must be in place and strictly complied with, in order for us to be allowed to carry out our business. It is absolutely essential that we follow the rules laid out in order to do all we can to protect against money laundering and fraud…
So what does registration with Currencies Direct entail?
It’s a two stage process; registering and compliance. To begin with you can register a number of ways – by going via the website to register online, completing a paper form provided by your local rep or you can register over the phone by speaking to one of the Customer Account team in our French office.
While registering you will be asked the usual sort of questions (i.e. full names, date of birth, contact details, reason for and amount of transfer required). Once this has been done (and it usually takes no more than a couple of minutes online) your account will then be passed through Compliance. If you are normally resident in the UK this can be often done as a background process using online methods – such as the Electoral Roll. What Compliance need to do is verify your address and ID – confirming that you are who you say are etc…
If you live in France we will ask you to supply a couple of documents for this process; a copy of your passport/ID card and a copy of a recent bill/bank statement/tax document that has been posted to your home address and is dated within the last 3 months (we will accept online tax documents only, everything else must be something received in the post). You can scan these and attach to an email, post copies directly to the office or to your local rep or ask your Immobilier to help with this.
Once you have passed Compliance your account will be fully open.
You’ll then be put in contact with your assigned Currency Dealer who will be your account manager from then on.. You can speak with your Dealer at any time to discuss rates, service and the various options available to you. But here’s the really important point to be aware of…you are NOT obligated to use us if you do register. So if you ever need to make transfers, large or small, don’t be afraid to set up an account – once completed it’s over to you as and when you get in touch to make a transfer but at least the facility is in place for you to get a quote whenever you need it and to make a transfer if you so wish…
Next time… How to make a transfer!
