[can.politics] American fund bank accounts in Canadian banks

hcr@hcr.UUCP (HCR Clerical) (04/05/84)

[]
	Maybe someone out there in netland can shed some light on this
question.

	Recently I have noticed several banks promoting clients to deposit
their American funds in special American accounts.  Now I know that the
Canadian dollar has been droppping with respect to the American more or less
steadily for quite a long time.  If I had American dollars and I put them in a
savings account that paid the same interest as a regular Canadian account, I
would effectively be making more interest than the regular account because
the American dollar is increasing in value.

	Is this then a case of Canadian banks encouraging Canadians to exploit
the fact that our dollar is losing ground?


				Paul Bonneau
				{utzoo|watmath|decvax}!hcr!hcrvax!paulb

dave@utcsrgv.UUCP (Dave Sherman) (04/06/84)

I don't think it's a case of "Canadian banks encouraging Canadians
to exploit the fact that our dollar is losing ground". I think it's
a case of the banks competing for services, as they always do (note
that our banks generally compete on services rather than interest rates).
There are lots of people who prefer to hold American money for various
reasons. For one, they don't lose on the exchange from switching back
and forth every time they need some. And yes, some people want to speculate
against the Canadian dollar. Would you rather they took their money out of
the country and put it in a savings account in Buffalo?

Dave Sherman
-- 
 {allegra,cornell,decvax,ihnp4,linus,utzoo}!utcsrgv!dave

laura@utzoo.UUCP (Laura Creighton) (04/07/84)

There are other reasons besides speculation against the Canadian dollar
to have an account in American funds. A good many American firms want
a cheque or money order in US FUNDS ONLY and getting the bank to
give you a money order costs money, and if you send the appropriate
amount of Canadian funds you may get to play ``pass the cheque'' for
months. (Especially if the Canadian dollar has dropped by the time
they look at it and the cheque is for a significant amount of money.)

Laura Creighton
utzoo!laura
-- 
Laura Creighton
utzoo!laura

	"Not to perpetrate cowardice against one's own acts!
	 Not to leave them in the lurch afterward! The bite
	 of conscience is indecent"	-- Nietzsche
					The Twilight of the Idols (maxim 10)

julian@deepthot.UUCP (Julian Davies) (04/09/84)

Yup, I find it worth while maintaining the bank account I have had for
years in Scotland, for paying occasional bills in L sterling.  Though
I wouldn't bother if I hadn't had it from when I lived there.
Probably I have more bills in $US, so can imagine finding such an
account useful if I had any income in that currency.