[lutherquick]

Anyone know of a US bank that will allow deposits denominated in Ruble?

If you travel to Belarus, Russia or the EU, you are given the option of having your deposits held in almost any currency.

Yet, I have never found one US bank that would allow me to denominate my deposits in for example Ruble or Yuan... Heck, they can't even do Euro or Canadian dollars.

What's up with this?
Is the US gov so hegemonic that it takes away the right to convert bank accounts from it's won citizens?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like if you want to save in something other than dollars, you need to make many trips out of the country.

[beechdriver]

checkout www.everbank.com
They have options for a lot of currencies.

[skateari]

Its all part of the same game: propping the dollar. You know how anal the US is about keeping the dollar in power, and keeping the dollar as the worlds main currency. So of course it makes sense to force the american people to hold dollars as well. The harder it is to get rid of your dollars, the better it is for the US government.

I dont know if theres an actual federal law that says no banks can hold in other currencies, but I have not seen a single bank that allows it. Im living in Costa Rica, and my bank allows me to have my account in Yuan, Euros, or dollars.

[ekaggata]

Neither the Yuan Renminbi (CNY) nor the Russian rouble are "convertible" currencies. I have never been sure of the exact legal/technical meaning of this, but one cannot just buy them in a bureau de change in other countries, generally. I've lived in both those countries and one shouldn't give the impression that everything is easy with banking there, far from it!

It is, I agree, very strange if few American banks allow deposits or accounts denominated in Euros, for example. I remember when I lived in Europe it was easy to do the reverse; but then it was Luxembourg, which is a banking centre.

I also wanted to make a practical suggestion - by opening a forex trading account at www.oanda.com (just one possible company, there are others, I just happen to be a happy customer of theirs) you can ask your account to be denominated in your home currency, or dollars, or euros, and you can express your opinion by holding positions in other countries' currencies. Leverage is available if you actually want to trade, but of course you don't have to use it; you can just use it to hedge risks.

However this practical suggestion will not allow you to buy roubles or RMB (the latter is not even tradeable in any normal way on the forex market yet) .. as I say not convertible and so on. Roubles can be traded somewhere, though ..

[Doly]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ekaggata', 'I') remember when I lived in Europe it was easy to do the reverse; but then it was Luxembourg, which is a banking centre.

[DesertBear2]

Watch out for Everbank foreign CDs.

I think the CDs are probably OK but the Everbank recommendations are suspect. Do your own research.

Also, they have a gold-linked CD. I'm not sure what this all about but would guess it is a paper gold type of product. And what happens during an international financial crisis when all the hedging and cross-hedging suddenly implodes?

[ForeignObserver]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ekaggata', 'N')either the Yuan Renminbi (CNY) nor the Russian rouble are "convertible" currencies. I have never been sure of the exact legal/technical meaning of this, but one cannot just buy them in a bureau de change in other countries, generally. I've lived in both those countries and one shouldn't give the impression that everything is easy with banking there, far from it!

[ekaggata]

Yes, and RMB are freely convertible in Hong Kong forex bureaux too (to/from HKD, to/from USD etc).

That's what I meant when I said "I'm not sure what not convertible really means "

Oh and the reference to "banking isn't easy there" certainly didn't refer to ATMs, which indeed are convenient in the cities of both countries. I was talking about over the counter business, accounts etc.

[pedalling_faster]

if you want to open an account, i suggest travelling to the country whose currency you want to diversify into.

i also suggest "testing the market". e.g., if you buy gold, go to another store and sell it. see what the spread is. make sure the market is real - for you.

in the case of a bank account, it means calling them up and having them send you a check in, for example, US dollars. to make sure you can get your hands on the money.

[JBinKC]

I agree with your philosophy I have read the Ruble is undervalued by 43% against the dollar. My best suggestion is put your money into the Russian oils like Lukoil, Gazprom or Tatneft which also pay a dividend (similar to receiving interest) and wait. The enterprise value of these companies' reserves are still very very low in comparison to the US majors.