As always, there’s plenty happening

Euro hits 6-month highs as Dollar hits 2-month lows

Some pretty big moves of late…

The Euro has been a winner recently.

EUR/GBP briefly hit 6-month highs late last week before some profit taking kicked in.

Why? Well, that’s less clear.

You could say the Euro is the ‘least worst’ of the majors at the moment.

The UK is struggling with soft economic data and has the highest inflation of the major, developed economies. A bit of political instability isn’t helping the Pound either.

The US Dollar has lost some sparkle too.

It’s sitting around 2-month lows against the Pound.

With lower job creation and inflation in the US, markets now think the Fed will sit tight for a while.

We also note that there is a US election next year and the Fed won’t want to cause a recession (and lose their jobs).

As always, there’s plenty happening.

It’s why exchange rates rarely sit still for long.

So what next, what should you do?

Get ahead of the game and read our Guide to Foreign Currency Exchange.

Download the Guide Here - with no obligation of course.

We can assist you with your currency requirements, please do get in touch.

You can call us on 01872 487 500.

To learn more or find out our latest rates, click below.

Benefits of using Key Currency:

1. Great exchange rates
2. Quick and easy transfers
3. No transfer fees
4. Expert help and guidance
5. Authorised by the FCA

Current rates: 

Wednesday 15th November 2023 at 10:30

£1.00 GBP = 1.1486 EURO

£1.00 GBP = 1.2470 USD

£1.00 GBP = 1.9150 AUD

£1.00 GBP = 2.0648 NZD

£1.00 GBP = 1.707 CAD

£1.00 GBP = 1.1082 CHF

• Want to Learn More?

• We have created a selection of Free PDF Guides for you to download covering many aspects of buying property abroad, visit our PDF Guides Page today or download our "Buying A Property in France" Guide PDF document.

• Want to Live in France Post-Brexit? download our "PDF Guide to Living in France Post-Brexit" document.

  

• Need to Send Money Abroad?

  • At Clé France / Key Currency, many of our customers have a need for currency exchange.
  • We are pleased to offer our customers favourable exchange rates on international currency transfers.
  • As a Clé France website visitor, you qualify for preferential exchange rates when you transact through Key Currency.

How to Save Money on your foreign currency transfers

• Key Currency can save you money by offering more competitive rates of exchange than your bank.
• Clients can typically save you 3-4% of the total transaction value, which can result in significant cost savings.
• All client funds are held in segregated accounts with top-tier banks keeping your money safe and secure.

For everything you need to know about French property visit www.clefrance.co.uk

New Automatic Visa for Second Home Owners

Or at least the possibility of one!

France’s upper house of parliament has decided to approve a bill giving British second-home owners an automatic long-stay visa right without any formalities.

The bill will be debated by députés (similar to British MPs), at the Assemblée Nationale in December. It can only be finalised and approved after that process.

The idea is that British second home owners will be able to spend more than 90 days out of 180 days (currently the maximum time allowed following Brexit), in France without making a formal application for a ‘temporary long-stay visa’.

British second home owners would then be able to travel freely to and from their second home without having to complete costly and complicated forms for long stay visas.

Until the new bill is debated and finalised we don’t currently know exactly what will be required in terms of proof of ownership, or other documentations to qualify, but it is starting to sound like some good news for those with second homes in France! Watch this space…

You can download our guide by clicking the button below.

Kind regards, 
David Evans 
Co-Founder of Cle France.

For everything you need to know about French property visit www.clefrance.co.uk

Like Wine? You Gotta Try the Beaujolais Nouveau!

It’s November, and for those of us in the know, the 3rd Thursday of the month is a big deal. This day marks the release of the Beaujolais Nouveau wine!

South of Burgundy is a wine region known as Beaujolais. The climate is a bit warmer than Burgundy, so the Pinot Noir grapes popular in Burgundy don’t thrive so well in Beaujolais. That’s ok, though – there’s another grape described as a cousin to Pinot that grows very well in the area: the Gamay grape.

The Beaujolais region had always produced a wine celebrating the end of the harvest – basically, they’d make a wine, and it would be aged only a few weeks before being consumed. It wasn’t until World War II that this young wine could be purchased outside of the region. Marketers saw the potential in selling this wine elsewhere, and in the 1970s, the release of the wine had attracted a lot of media coverage. By the 1980s, the wine could be purchased in other countries in Europe, and in 1990s, it made its way to North America and Asia.

Fun fact: La récolte (the harvest) of these grapes is all done by hand! This can take up to 35,000 people working 15-20 days!

I know what you’re thinking – wine gets better with age, so why bother having some that’s only sat for a few weeks? The shorter the wine’s fermentation process, the fruitier it will be. Plus, this quick process means the wine will be less tannin. Qu’est-ce que c’est ? (What’s that?) You know how sometimes when you drink wine, your mouth tastes a bit dry afterward? That’s tannin.

These two characteristics combined produce a drinkable wine that pairs with almost anything. I was in Whole Foods the other day with my friend, and in the wine section, they were passing out samples of this year’s Beaujolais Nouveau. Another customer tried it and commented on how well it went down and how normally he doesn’t like wine. This makes a very nice intro wine!

I’ll drink to that.

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

Risk event for the Pound next week

Are we there yet?

Yes, is the likely answer.

We may well have reached peak interest rates after the Bank of England hit ‘pause’ last week.

The US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank did the same (safety in numbers).

So what now?

The coming week will be less about central bank meetings and more about central banker speeches.

The question everyone is asking is whether inflation will keep falling.

The signs are good.

Andrew Bailey, the Guv at the Bank of England, expects inflation to “fall dramatically” when the next month of inflation data is released next Tuesday.

That’s a big call, he sounds mighty confident, I suspect he knows something we don’t.

Watch out for that one.

If he’s right, the Pound could cop a hammering.

The US Dollar got hit late last week on a soft jobs number because it will mean the US Fed can pause for a while.

That’s why I am nervous about the Pound.

We still see range-bound trading as the most likely scenario for now because the central banks are acting in unison.

On that basis, there will still be plenty of opportunities to take advantage of the inevitable ups and downs that occur in currency markets.

So what next, what should you do?

Get ahead of the game and read our Guide to Foreign Currency Exchange.

Download the Guide Here - with no obligation of course.

We can assist you with your currency requirements, please do get in touch.

You can call us on 01872 487 500.

To learn more or find out our latest rates, click below.

Benefits of using Key Currency:

1. Great exchange rates
2. Quick and easy transfers
3. No transfer fees
4. Expert help and guidance
5. Authorised by the FCA

Current rates: 

Wednesday 8th November 2023 at 10:00

£1.00 GBP = 1.1482 EURO

£1.00 GBP = 1.2250 USD

£1.00 GBP = 1.9066 AUD

£1.00 GBP = 2.0679 NZD

£1.00 GBP = 1.6889 CAD

£1.00 GBP = 1.1049 CHF

• Want to Learn More?

• We have created a selection of Free PDF Guides for you to download covering many aspects of buying property abroad, visit our PDF Guides Page today or download our "Buying A Property in France" Guide PDF document.

• Want to Live in France Post-Brexit? download our "PDF Guide to Living in France Post-Brexit" document.

  

• Need to Send Money Abroad?

  • At Clé France / Key Currency, many of our customers have a need for currency exchange.
  • We are pleased to offer our customers favourable exchange rates on international currency transfers.
  • As a Clé France website visitor, you qualify for preferential exchange rates when you transact through Key Currency.

How to Save Money on your foreign currency transfers

• Key Currency can save you money by offering more competitive rates of exchange than your bank.
• Clients can typically save you 3-4% of the total transaction value, which can result in significant cost savings.
• All client funds are held in segregated accounts with top-tier banks keeping your money safe and secure.

For everything you need to know about French property visit www.clefrance.co.uk

Critical Week for Pound & Dollar

A big week ahead for the US Dollar and UK Pound.

Later today we have the latest US Fed meeting. No change in interest rates is expected but as always, the wise words that follow will offer up critical clues.

The US economy is pumping, so we see the Fed talking aggressively about rates.

On Thursday, attention will turn to the Bank of England.

Same as above, no change in rates is expected this month.

Last month the committee was almost split on their decision, so expect intellectual fireworks.

I know some economists think there might even be some talk about rate cuts next year given the fragile state of the British economy.

If so, it would create what is known as ‘policy divergence’. It matters a lot for the Pound.

With the Fed still tightening, it could well weaken GBP/USD from here.

We also see the ECB as firmly in pause mode, which will keep the Euro solid.

So what next, what should you do?

Get ahead of the game and read our Guide to Foreign Currency Exchange.

Download the Guide Here - with no obligation of course.

A testing week, so please get in touch to discuss your currency requirements.

You can call us on 01872 487 500.

To find out our latest rates, click below.

Benefits of using Key Currency:

1. Great exchange rates
2. Quick and easy transfers
3. No transfer fees
4. Expert help and guidance
5. Authorised by the FCA

Current rates: 

Wednesday 1st November 2023 at 11:30

£1.00 GBP = 1.1505 EURO

£1.00 GBP = 1.2130 USD

£1.00 GBP = 1.9134 AUD

£1.00 GBP = 2.0841 NZD

£1.00 GBP = 1.6838 CAD

• Want to Learn More?

• We have created a selection of Free PDF Guides for you to download covering many aspects of buying property abroad, visit our PDF Guides Page today or download our "Buying A Property in France" Guide PDF document.

• Want to Live in France Post-Brexit? download our "PDF Guide to Living in France Post-Brexit" document.

  

• Need to Send Money Abroad?

  • At Clé France / Key Currency, many of our customers have a need for currency exchange.
  • We are pleased to offer our customers favourable exchange rates on international currency transfers.
  • As a Clé France website visitor, you qualify for preferential exchange rates when you transact through Key Currency.

How to Save Money on your foreign currency transfers

• Key Currency can save you money by offering more competitive rates of exchange than your bank.
• Clients can typically save you 3-4% of the total transaction value, which can result in significant cost savings.
• All client funds are held in segregated accounts with top-tier banks keeping your money safe and secure.

For everything you need to know about French property visit www.clefrance.co.uk