Finance transfer from UK

Do any ex pats in bulgaria have experience of transferring money and pension from UK to Bulgaria? What is the best way to do it and are the Bulgarian banks safe? Should I use an overseas currency exchange company?

Ron

Hi Ron,
Great question, i'm surprised no one has responded yet.
HSBC have banks in BG, I don't know if you have one in Scotland, they also do off-shore banking, take a look at their website it could be useful.

Alison

Cheers Alison. I have an account in Bulgaria with First Investment Bank just not sure whether to transfer regular sums or transfer all FIB is state owned but don't know if they are underwritten by government. Then again look at what happened with RBS!!

Ron

In BG ll banks deposits up to 100 000 Euros are safe and guaranteed

moreto62 wrote:

In BG ll banks deposits up to 100 000 Euros are safe and guaranteed


First of all, they`re in BG, so not safe by any means :)

Guarantee is up to 196, 000 leva and is paid in full plus any interest accrued since the plan`s commencement date ( max amount to receive is 196k ). Problem is, this is guaranteed by an insurance, so the fund may be willing to compensate all holders, but if the insurance company fails to do so, things go to the re-insurer and so on. Not 100% safe by any means ( there`s nothing safe in the world ). In the event of a bank filing for bankrupcy, you will get your money back when:
- its license has been officially taken by the National Bank, how long this would take - depends on too many factors
- 20 to 30 days since the license has been called back officially
If the deposit is for a larger amount of money, best is to use several banks and not to exceed the limit of 196k. If you use different banks, each deposit is protected up to that amount.

This is if a bank files for bankrupcy, which won`t happen soon in this world again ;)