large sterling sum to convert to euro

hi there
I have come into a large sum of Sterling from my father( > £100k. But it appears that the sterling / euro exchange rate is getting worse at the moment. (at 0.75 now, was at 0.68 some months ago). Does anybody know if this downturn in the exchange rate is likely to reverse and if so, how long before it might happen.
If I do not convert the money (I was going to use it to pay towards my mortgage) what are my best options. I've heard about opening a sterling account here in ireland. Is this a good option?

Thanks guys. any advice appreciated

Nobody can predict the future. You need to decide if you want to get into currency speculation or convert the money now if you need it.

I've heard about opening a sterling account here in ireland. Is this a good option?

Thanks guys. any advice appreciated

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Hi,

I've just joined this forum and funnily enough your post I hit on straight away. We have just done an exchange from stirling to euro in the sum of £140,000 (in Ireland). You don't mention which bank it is or who your adviser is. We have had a nightmare of a situation, and if I can help or give advice to anyone to save them the problems we have been through then I gladly will.

If you could give a little more info, I may be able to help.

Kurly, I read your post and wondered why you had such problems converting Sterling to Euro. I did this some time ago now when I also converted a large sum over £150,000.This was from the sale of a house in London and was paid into the EBS building society. I was given a good exchange rate at the time, which I was happy with, and also happy with the service received. It was a smooth transaction from start to finish.

Swallows, sorry I didn't make myself very clear, there was no problem transferring the stirling to euro. We did exactly the same as you sold our home in Manchester and with the proceeds we were moving to France. We did the transfer last January, and requested our money to purchase a house in France on 29 May 2007. We still haven't received our money.

Kurly, Crikey am I reading this correct ??? To convert from one currency to another and to transfer to one's Bank account takes seconds. Have you contacted your Bank ?? I have seen mistakes made by Banks and whilst I am one of their biggest critics, if they have made a mistake they do go out of their way to fix it. Have you been to your solicitor ???

Yes you read it correctly, it's been a nightmare, we've been everywhere keep hitting brick walls. Now got a solicitor and FOS on to it, but it's very complicated as the original conversion was carried out by a "friend" or so we thought, whom we trusted. However our "friend" is causing the problems. Very tricky situation. Signed up to couple of forums to try to get some info or to see if anyone had been put in the same position.

Thanks for your last reply.

Sorry, never saw your past Posts. However, and I accept it is none of my business, but if your friend transfered the money and the bank acted on their instructions, you could have a case against them. And reading between the lines why don't you issue proceedings against the ex friend ??

That's exactly what we are trying to do, unfortunately because he keeps telling us that our money will be returned (but won't give us a date or tell us exactly where it is), it isn't an actual crime (the police told us this). Crazy, he could keep it up forever. But he hasn't committed a crime by lying. We have been conned big style and have contacted everyone who we think can assist us. It's unbelievable what we have discovered, and we now know that our 5 years friendship with this man has been a total scam. I think people like my "friend" are known as confidence tricksters??

I know somebody like this who has a major Gambling Habit. Lives in Dublin but no assets. Get a Solicitor onto this on Monday morning. He owes you money, interest will owe legal fees but probably hasn't got a penny. What age group is your friend. Send me a PM if you like. Regardless do something about it. Please.

I don't understand your (Kurly's) problem. Did you do this conversion/transfer through a reputable financial institution or through some other individual (?) financial intermediary? It sounds dodgy and, no offence intended, not necessarily relevant to the original poster's query.

Maybe Clubman. But it does appear that Kurly is in a spot of bother and he requires some kind of opinion in order that his problem may be sorted before thyeb money is gone, if not already.

Thank you mercman, you have it exactly right. To Clubman - as I previously mentioned I am totally new to forum's. If I get it wrong once or twice it is only because I am human, and at this minute in time a very distressed human. We cannot be held responsible for trusting people we thought we knew well. As for dodgy, I do take offence to this, as for all our lives, my wife and myself have lived by the rules. Yes I may have underpaid the tax man by a couple of quid and not mentioned it to my employees to rectify, but does this make me a bad person?

To mercman - I'm signing off now, but will send a pm tomorrow. Thanks for your support.

Kurly said:

Yes I may have underpaid the tax man by a couple of quid and not mentioned it to my employees to rectify, but does this make me a bad person?

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Independent view would be yes.

Bluetonic - Let he without sin cast the first stone. As things stand, it appears to me that Kurly is a fairly straight up guy that has come into contact with Bad company. Kurly - any chance the initials of the chancer are 'TM'. Send me a PM whenever you wish but I will be offline for the next few hours.

Kurly, It's none of my business either but, I'm sure you yourself know what has happened regarding your money, I have every sympathy with your predicament and would love to be able to offer some solid advice but dont know the ends and outs of how the transaction was conducted. I can only hope and pray that your money turns up soon.