Not sure what you mean by "de-risk" daily forex fluctuation. If you mean lock in forex rate by the time your foreign FD mature, then you can consider using derivatives like FX swap to hedge against FX fluctuations. But that's not available to the retail public (and the contracts usually are of large minimum denominations).

To avoid all these, you must be clear about your aim of FD deposits. Is it for retirement in Malaysia, or for foreign investment short-term parking? For the former, you can just stick to MYR FD in local banks in Malaysia. For the later, you can consider foreign FD.

You are correct. In the end it depends on your usage. The best hedging policy is to park your funds according to your needs. That way, your financial goals are not subject to currency risks.

E.g., Malaysia retirement fund in MY -> park in MYR FD. For foreign investments -> park in foreign FD as needed.

I am starting to like your posts.

Yes, you are right. 1% kind of too high a premium. No CDS data to support also.

Do you have info on this: Also, the corresponding bank (Alliance bank's SGD account bank in Singapore) is a MAS regulated bank?

But for this Alliance bank SGD offshore FD to work, you need to factor in the inward remittance cost for those without access to DBS remit. That's something to consider (i.e., even though Alliance doesn't charge anything, other SG banks will charge outward remittance fee to allow you to move SGD out of their bank in the first place). You have any solutions for that?

That's not necessary the case. Any currency can be held outside of its "home country", and thus not subject to the monetary laws and regulations of the "home country". This is what I mean by "offshore".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurocurrency

E.g. Eurodollar in London not subject to Fed's regulation (though still affected by Fed policy like interest rate etc.).

The same thing is applied to SGD FD held with institutions outside Singapore. In this case, your SGD money is deposited in Malaysia and thus subject to BNM regulations instead. https://www.bnm.gov.my/documents/20124/6036...rency+Asset.pdf (look for the term "Foreign Currency Asset Onshore").

Don't have Alliance bank account. Will try that when I return to MY.

Exactly! BNM has the final call on your euro-SGD.

From BT 061222, for (onshore) SGD depositors:

Standard Chartered Priority Singapore Wealth Saver Account advertisement:



Source: BT 071222

I found it to be about 2% from market rate. See my earlier reply.

If amount is big can negotiate with bank to ask for a more favourable FX rate.

That is correct. To be more accurate, you should be looking at the economic opportunity cost.

Like it or not, other service providers will charge fees and/or quote rates with spreads anyway. So, for example, using the next best option for comparison, i.e. fintech, all-in spread is about 0.5% per leg or 1% overall (to and from USD), assuming that you can find other avenues to deposit USD.

Also, using brokers like IBKR to move money will incur far less fees (fixed 2 USD and you get market rate) but be mindful of withdrawal limits.

I have done USD transfers from IBKR to USD FCA in SG (directly to USD FD account) this month. 10 USD charged by JP Morgan (correspondent bank) for the wire process.

But not sure for Malaysia's case. You may want to contact Alliance bank to ask if they accept inward remittance directly to USD FCA/FD account. Be mindful of correspondent bank charges.

For those interested in onshore SGD FD:

https://financialhorse.com/best-fixed-depos...-december-2022/

The SGD A class fund yields around 3.4% p.a. now, so it arouses my interests. (3.2% if bought via FSM, inclusive of 0.05%/quarter * 4 quarters platform fee).

Here's the relevant counterparty risk info needed:



*Take note Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg bank's CDS data is quoted over its senior EUR bonds (not USD). Can't find USD data for this bank in Bloomberg.

I studied the product highlight sheets. There is potential liquidity risk if a few sharks want to move their money out. Just to be mindful.



*(25% for SGD class A fund).

Source: https://secure.fundsupermart.com/fsm/admin/...lightFUL041.pdf

This post has been edited by TOS: Dec 27 2022, 02:39 PM

Info on eurodollar transfers within Singapore via DBS Remit.

https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/...#post-145559047

Onshore SGD FD rates:

CNY EXCLUSIVE TIME DEPOSIT RATES FOR 360 CUSTOMERS
Lock in your fortune for extra abundance. Enjoy promotional rates on SGD and USD Time Deposits when you sign up online. Cheque accepted too.

Currency	Tenure (months)	Rates for 360 customers	Rates for non-360 customers
SGD	8	4.08%	3.88%
USD	8	5.08%	4.88%

Source: https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/...#post-145586832

----------------------------------------

HSBC updates offers for until 31 January

Promotional SGD Time Deposit	New and existing HSBC Customers
3-month	3.85% p.a.
7-month	4.00% p.a.
12-month	3.20% p.a.

Source: https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/...#post-145577139

-------------------------------------------

CIMB FD promo for Dec 2022 remain same for Jan 2023

Source: https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/...#post-145584294

-------------------------------------------

UOB maintains its offer rates up to 31 January (or until further notice)

Deposit Amount (Fresh Funds)	Promotional interest rate (p.a.) (For 6, 10, 12-month tenors)
S$10,000 – S$49,999	3.55%
S$50,000 – S$999,999	3.85%
S$1,000,000 and above	3.95%

Source: https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/...#post-145586601

This post has been edited by TOS: Jan 1 2023, 12:37 PM

Foreign sourced income received outside of Malaysia is not subject to tax. So as long as you don't bring those money back into Malaysia you are fine. If you bring them back, it's tax-exempt through 31 Dec 2026.

The guidelines for FSI received in MY had been published a few days ago: https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopi...ost&p=106257411



This post has been edited by TOS: Jan 3 2023, 02:14 PM

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/f...motions-3184626

Onshore HKD FD rates:

Just received onshore DBS SG FD promo. https://www.dbs.com.sg/personal/deposits/pr...Mar10Jan23L3Gp5

3 month 3.6% p.a.

Place a minimum amount of S$20,000 or more. Maximum capped at S$1,000,000 per placement. No cap on number of placements.

Mox offers FD service too starting from today. They quietly offer this service... (no big announcement).

Minimum placement is 1 HKD. No penalty for early withdrawal though all interests will be forefeited.

Rates are horrible nevertheless. 3 month 2.5% p.a., 6 month 3.4% p.a. and 12 month 3.9% p.a.

1k SGD



50k SGD



Do not forget about incoming remittance charges for receiving banks (Malaysia side may have charges too). Time when screenshots are taken is around 12:18 pm.

This post has been edited by TOS: Jan 18 2023, 01:04 PM

If you mean RHB MCA in Malaysia, then you need to be aware of FX spread charged by RHB. There are 2 options I recall. One is without debit card, and the spread is somewhere around 5% and you don't need to pay any annual card fee. The second option comes with debit card, annual fee RM 20, but spread from interbank rate is lower at 0.5-0.6%.

As for potenial risks. The 2 biggest risks are FX risk and regulatory risk. FX risk is obvious as USD may depreciate against MYR during your deposit tenure, even though the rates paid are higher. (The forward currency market already shows this is the case). The second risk is less obvious because we aren't close to depleting FX reserve anytime soon. But your USD FD is considered part of BNM's foreign reserve and is at the mercy of BNM's foreign exchange rules. If Malaysia runs out of USD to pay importers, your USD FD is obviously the first in line to be "sacrificed". Singaporeans learnt that the hard way during the CLOB saga which happened in the midst of the Asian Financial Crisis. https://www.singaporememory.sg/contents/SMA...98-35b268e0ab4d

The only funny thing about foreign currency FD in Malaysia is that is it protected under PIDM, which is very unusual for Eurocurrency markets. In Singapore, USD, CHF etc deposits at Singapore banks are not insured as is the case in London and New York etc.

Surely have to be higher since it's riskier.

This post has been edited by TOS: Jan 25 2023, 07:55 PM