Identity Verification Problems for Business Bank Account

moneyfox

I'm having problems in setting up a business bank account for my newly registered UK limited company with Companies Made Simple with office forwarding, business bank account etc. Im a UK citizen living at present in another EU country.

In the process of setting up my company with Companies Made Simple, I find myself being asked for all manner of odd items - benefit books, P45, utility bills, the list is endless. Ive supplied them with passport, national id card (as I said I live in another EU country at the moment) and my driving license.

To my surprise apparently all that is not enough. They also wanted bank statements. So I sent them bank statements. These were rejected!

It then turns out the reason Companies Made Simple wanted the bank statement was to see the address at the top. However, bank statements here do not carry your address - people print them out themselves in the branches and have done for the last 20 years. Or as people increasingly do, simply print them out online at home. Again - with no address on them.

They then want a "utility bill". Electricity etc bills here (and in the other country I lived in - both in Northern Europe by the way) are sent out once a year at the end of the year. The address id apparently has to be dated no later than 3 months old! So also no use to them. And so on.

Ive never anywhere else encountered this sort of bizzare nonsense. In other EU countries, proof of identity and address is done through passport and ID card. Thats all you need. None of this utility bill nonsense. And I can't see how a water or gas bill can possibly be considered reliable proof of name and address, I' ve never come across a private business who accept that sort of thing as evidence. And certainly not acceptable to a government authority or a bank - unlike what appears to be the case in the UK.

I do not have landline phones anymore and I do not intend to get one again either. So I sent them my internet connection statement - which was only a couple of weeks old - yet apparently this is not good enough!!

Now I know why it is called Companies Made Simple!

I've now sent them 8 different items. I no longer have anything left from their list to send them that would satisify their odd requirements.

Frankly Im now despairing of this silly nonsense and am seriously considering giving up completely on the idea of registering a company in the UK and may choose another EU country instead if it means going through this charade at every stage of your business dealings. This is just for the registered office!

I also have the business bank account with HSBC to arrange. And it appears that they also have a similar quaint list of odd items you are supposed to "identify" yourself with.

Ive never ever come across any organization anywhere else, be it public or private, that requires you to identify yourself through "water bills" or "benefit books" in this way. And all this is supposed to counter money laundering??? That's a laugh.

I find it quite extraordinary and also an extremely amateur way of performing an identity check. Nor does it inspire confidence if these are the sorts of means they resort to to try and "prove" identity and to counter money laundering.

If they are so obsessed with "security" why dont they just take the fingerprints of the whole population once and for all and be done with this nonsense.

If HSBC also tries this benefit book and utility bill nonsense on me at my upcoming business appointment then they will be getting an earful!

opinions4u

They do need to comply with a number of laws around money laundering, know your customer, sanctions etc.

If HSBC also tries this benefit book and utility bill nonsense on me at my upcoming business appointment then they will be getting an earful!

I'm sure the individual who benefits from this will change the rules to suit you as a result.

savagej

I take it you had to supply a UK address or have they assigned an accountant as the company secretary and also using this address as the company address. I beleive a notice has to be put on the outside of a building a limited company resides at, by law, althought that might have changed.

My point is, if your company's address is in the UK and with an accountant, I would imagine as certified professionals they should be able to vouch for you in some manner. That should work with opening the bank account anyway along with your passport.

If you gave another address can you open a bank account at that address with your passport and use that banks statements to prove your address.

I know it is complicated and often seems totally illogical, but it is enshired in law and banks would be heavily fined if they did not follow it. I never knew that ID was required to set-up a limited company though. Have you checked with companies house other than their paperwork what ID they expect to see?

James

moneyfox

They have registered the company ok. It's the issue with the forwarding address - which is the same as the registered office address in this case(an additional service CMS offer).

I tried sending them bank statements from my current bank but they didnt accept these. The address isnt on the statements here - bank statements dont carry addresses, they are printed out in the branches by customers themselves, or increasingly the case now, printed out at home - again, with no address.

I sent them a piece of correspondence from my bank with my address on it, but they didnt accept this!

I'm aware that all these measures are in an attempt to counter money laundering. But they also stem from the UK's lack of identity cards. It's very simple in other EU countries - passport and id card is all you need. No utility bills or any of the rest of it.

It's all very long-winded and inefficient. And also in any case, not very watertight as far as proving id properly in order to counter money laundering.

They at least seem to have agreed to provide the service, on the understanding that I send them some more id that satisfies their requirements as soon as I have some available.

WhiteHorse

opinions4u wrote: »

They do need to comply with a number of laws around money laundering, know your customer, sanctions etc.

Why, when some rude, sneering jobsworth tells me 'it's the law', are they invariably unable to tell me the details?

Why, when the requirements are supposedly fixed by law, do they vary from bank to bank?

Yes, there are requirements with regard to money laundering, but most of the people charged with day to day compliance don't actually know what they are doing. They also seem to feel that it gives them carte blanche to be obnoxious.

jonesMUFCforever

It appears that some 'customers' know better as well don't they and they don't half scream amd scream when they don't get their way LOL.