Date   : Wed, 29 Jun 2005 14:48:12 +0200
From   : John Kortink <kortink@...>
Subject: Re: Off Topic trader warning

On Wed, 29 Jun 2005 13:17:14 +0100, "Colin" wrote:

>Yup that's right. You can't issue a cheque in Euros from a UK sterling
bank
>account. It will almost certainly "bounce" in the sense that the UK bank
>would not honour it (if the clerk knows what he/she is doing). Cheques
drawn
>on normal UK banks (ie normal cheque accounts) have to be expressed in
>sterling only. This comes from 24 years of me working in the banking
sector
>and I have had to do the same with dozens of cheques that had,
>half-heartedly, been accepted by banks in Europe and elsewhere. This was
 the
>tip of the iceberg as most of them were refused when trying to be
deposited
>abroad. I don't think that applies to the Euro countries now (that was
one
>of the reasons for the standardised currency)but don't take my word for
that
>as I retired a few years before the Euro came in and it may not be in
force
>yet. Certainly the Euro is still regarded as a foreign currency in the
UK
>though.

In the olden days, when we had Eurocheques here in the
Netherlands, we could simply specify the currency. Dollars,
pounds, whatever. Dutch banks would eventually simply convert
to Dutch guilders at the then current exchange rate, and charge
that to the account.

Much the same, I presume, in all other European countries.
Except, obviously, the eternal island-hugging UK and a number
of other foreign countries.

In any way, cheques have always been a pain in the proverbial
to cash, charge-wise, time-wise. If you buy globally, think
globally ! Use PayPal. And forget about your little local
chequebooks full of little paper flaps with kiwis, statue
of liberty, tower of pisa or otherwise on them.


John Kortink

-- 

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