Bank Charges for selling our property

[emmafudge]

Hi
We are currently in the process of selling our apartment in Cyprus.
We have been informed by our Bank, Bank of Cyprus that if the funds for the purchase are from a BOC customer there is no charge, however if they are paid in from another Cypriot bank they will charge 0.5% investigation fee.
Is this normal practice?
We want to transfer the funds back to the UK. We can transfer direct to Currencies direct and they have suggested getting our Lawyer to do this so we don't have to pay the bank of Cyprus fee (and 0.2% on SEPA transfers over 50K euros) but our lawyer is reluctant. Is there any legal reason why we would not be able to send the funds directly from our Lawyer to the Currencies Direct account in Paris?
Thanks for any help
Karen

[Nigel Howarth]

Hi Emma

Unfortunately, the banks in Cyprus have taken it upon themselves to charge like wounded bulls!

A friend recently transferred €20.00 from her BoC account to a Hellenic account online. The BoC charged her €12.00 !!

Set up a Currencies direct account in Cyprus and have your lawyer transfer the funds into it. Then transfer the money from your account in Cyprus to the one in Paris.

The banks here charge a ridiculous amount to send money overseas.

Regards,