JPY to GBP, large sum - currency broker?

[guriguri]

I am planning to transfer a large sum of JPY (~3,000,000 JPY) to GBP to put down as a deposit on a house in the UK.

Will I be met with paperwork and bureaucracy if trying to transfer a large amount of Yen out of Japan?

For such a large transfer, is it better to go through a currency broker, rather than trying this through Wise?

Anything else I should be aware of?

[TokyoWart]

My experience is with sending money from Japan to the US (change from yen to dollars in Japan and then wire to the US) and has included a lot of transfers of that amount or more. I use Prestia and their limit for one transfer is 3 million yen equivalent but they allow two such transfers every day. That did not require any special paperwork (previously registered recipient bank account) and the exchange rate from Prestia is not unreasonable. Prestia always asks me to check a box that I am not planning on funding North Korea or terrorists and I am required to report the source of funds (e.g. "salary/bonus") and intended use (e.g. "taxes" or "purchase of real estate overseas") from drop down menus but this is a simple enough transaction that I can do it on the subway on the way to work.

[sutebayashi]

I am planning to transfer a large sum of JPY (~3,000,000 JPY) to GBP to put down as a deposit on a house in the UK.

GBP has been stronger in recent weeks.

That FX rate will bounce around a bit and you’ll probably get a rate worse than you might have, just due to the timing. But that’s just bad luck so try not to worry about that part, although it’s probably the biggest factor in the “cost” you will pay.

For such a large transfer, is it better to go through a currency broker, rather than trying this through Wise?

Could be. I have never used wise, but I have used currency brokers, together with Prestia. (I closed my Prestia account recently though, due to lack of use. Other banks can do international transfers though, for a fee. Make sure you pick one that does it for a flat fee like 2,000 yen etc)

Central Tanshi FX has a q and an about their exchange service. You might compare
1) the cost of the forex exchange and transfer via Wise, versus
2) the cost of forex exchange with Central Tanshi FX + plus the cost of transferring the converted GBP funds from Central Tanshi FX to your Japanese bank, and from the bank via SWIFT message to your UK account. Including the hassles of doing it this way versus a simpler solution like Wise! It’s a fun exercise to try to get a better exchange rate and bask in any cheaper fees, for me at least.

https://www.central-tanshifx.com/suppor ... nge01.html

Other currency brokers with similar offerings are Money Partners, and “Gaika ex by GMO”. Each has a slightly
different pricing structure, to make it non obvious which is best.

Edit: I see central Tanshi fx does exchanges for 0.1 extra on the standard forex spread, whereas Money Partners is at 0.2, so I would thus exclude MP from consideration. Gaika Ex has a flat fee of 1,500 for withdrawing foreign currency, which seems better than central Tanshi fx which does 1,000 per 10,000 foreign currency units…
For reference:
https://www.gaikaex.com/gaikaex/informa ... y/#service

[captainspoke]

Some reading over at japanFinance.

[Wales4rugbyWC23]

Shinsei allow you to go over 1 million yen, but you have to submit 'more' evidence of funds for example your most recent Japanese tax return.

[goodandbadjapan]

I am planning to transfer a large sum of JPY (~3,000,000 JPY) to GBP to put down as a deposit on a house in the UK.

Will I be met with paperwork and bureaucracy if trying to transfer a large amount of Yen out of Japan?

For such a large transfer, is it better to go through a currency broker, rather than trying this through Wise?

Anything else I should be aware of?

About ten years ago I sent about ¥6,000,000 from a regular bank to UK. It took the bank a couple of hours to do it and about a day to arrive (as transfers always seemed to before I discovered WISE) but it was no more difficult than sending a smaller amount. I had to say what the money was for but wasn't asked for any proof etc. when sending. I did have to show where the money had come from when I used that money in a flat purchase in the UK, but as far as I remember it was really just a case of supplying a copy of my bank book. Things seem to have got a lot stricter more recently, though, so bureaucracy might well be more.

[captainspoke]

Wise is a good enough deal up to about ¥500,000 -- but for a million, or esp three million, wiring it will be better. Get your yen into either Sony or SBI Shinsei, and with that much you will probably get (eg) platinum status if you initially change some of it into a foreign currency. And those two have the best f/x rates (see the link above).

With preferred status, an outgoing wire transfer will be free. After that, it depends on how well connected your receiving bank is the the SWIFT system. My transfers using shinsei to a custodial citibank acct in NYC were always free all the way, no charge here, no intermediaries, and no receiving bank fee.