Has anyone talked to Banco Atlantico Europa about depository services?
Back in October, my lawyer contacted them, but they declined to open the bank account for US citizens.
Interesting. There’s AmCits in the Am&Friends group on Facebook who report opening accounts now/recently, using videochat etc. They might not be doing depository though and therefore might not be useful for GV-fund purposes.
Ah, yes, I meant they declined to open account to hold participation units for Americans. My lawyer didn’t ask about normal account opening because we were going for a fund subscription.
True. The folks in FB are just using them for banking.
The limitations around account opening (if you are a US citizen) seems to depend on a couple of things. First they have to be FATCA compliant. Second what you plan to do with the money. If it is a depositary account then you’re limited to a few of them. Then there is how long it takes to open, online convenience etc. Ultimately I ended up going with Bison
I have been lurking on the Americans & Friends in PT Facebook group. Most are getting visas through the D7 route. Many have been able to open an account with Atlantico remotely but it can be a long process - up to 4 weeks. A live video interview is required.
Others have used the service of Bordr to get a combined NIF and opened account with Millenium. It is run by an American couple now living in Portugal. For $150, they can get both accomplished in about 2 weeks.
Banco Atlantico opened an account for me remotely in late 2020, and registered my participation units. They’ve been really great to work with. I considered Bison as well, but preferred the size of Atlantico.
Seeing other folks get different answers on GV fund depository offering is understandably frustrating. My fund contact made the initial bank introduction/recommendation… I suspect it’s a pretty small world in finance over there and that relationship facilitated things substantially.
Can you introduce me to the person that helped you open the account at Banco Atlantico? And did I understand you correctly, that as a US citizen investing in a fund in Portugal, they are able to “store” your shares in the fund at the bank?
From what I understood from other posts, Millennium will let you open bank accounts but will not let you keep shares in the account.
I believe atlantico is the same, they do not have FACTA-reporting depository side. It’s Bison or BiG.
I downloaded the My Atlantico (Bank Atlantico) app, I put in US Resident (I’m a US Resident not a Citizen, but it means the same in terms of FACTA, etc.)
I’m at the very last step, and they asked about US Residency and still didn’t stop the process, so I assume it all works.
What I don’t yet know is if I could use it to hold the Investment Units and if that would be FACTA compliant. I probably need to reach out and see.
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AFAIK Citi does not have a retail bank in Portugal - only an institutional business.