Set up account when not living in HK yet

[Hoista]

Is it possible to create a standard current account in HK, when I'm not living there yet?
I'm moving over in the summer and would like to have cash handy to be able to get money. So would want to send money over from my current bank in Japan, and from my home account in the UK.
The main issue is that the account in Japan has to be closed when I leave, and I want to be able to move that money to Hong Kong. I don'e want to have to transfer it over to the UK and then over to HK, which would mean i would pay bank charges twice

[neha]

yes u can open with your passport as your primary identification. U have to check about the local address if u need one? we have friends who opened but gave our address as local address.

[KnowItAll]

If you want to open before you move, there is a small chance you might be able to do it with a bank that has locations in both Hong Kong and Japan (the japanese banks are the obvious choice).

So, open something in HK while you're in Japan and shut it down when you get here and set up something more permanent.

[haba]

You can open a standard account with HSBC, you need to bring your passport, and some proof of your permanent address (in your home country). This can be a utilities bill - bring several examples cos they can be quite fussy! And the proof of address must be dated within 6 months of the date you want to open the account.

[KnowItAll]

I think the question is "how can I set an account in HK up, BEFORE I arrive"

[PDLM]

If you have the resources to meet the criterion (not sure what the Japanese one is - in HK it is HK$1M of total relationship balance, in the UK GBP60K) then one obvious way is to have an HSBC Premier account in Japan, and then your relationship manager can handle the opening of accounts in other countries for you.

[Hoista]

Yes it is about setting up an account before i arrive. I took a look at the premier account however in the long run, i don't think i will be able to maintain the relationship value because I will not be working for about a year as the purpose of moving to Hong Kong is for education.