HK HSBC frooze my account

sinsin

Hi all,
Last March (6 months ago) we made a business deal in Hongkong. We received money on our personal HSBC account because we did not registrer a businessacount yet.

Once we tried to wire the funds abroad, it was never received. We tried contacting the bank, asking the manager ect but they all would not say anything due to ongoing investigation.

I did some research online and we might we suspected of ML. This is the only thing i can think of. We have all the papers proving its all legit, invoices to buyers and from suppliers. My question is, what other actions can we take? And up to how long can this investigation take? Is there a possibility we wont see the money back at all?

Any others came across this problem? Thank you for your time and input

grumbler

If the money was legit you won't lose it.
Re the time, they like relaxing in their armchairs and taking as much time as they want. Unfortunately, our clever lawmakers allowed this abuse of discretion and failed to set any time limits.

Don't wait until they finish their so called 'investigation' and shut your account down without any explanations. Be proactive. Complain and try supplying them with all the information/proofs you have.

That said, it's always a very bad idea to use a personal account for business transactions.

And, BTW, you are on the wrong board.

sinsin

Thank you for your reply.
I didnt know exactly where to post this, apologies for that.

I was stupid to use a personal account and to transfer a big amount all at once. For how long are they entitled to freeze the account?

grumbler

I thought I made it clear that they are 'entitled' to freeze it for as long as they want.
And the longer they take, the more likely they are to shut the account down even if they don't find anything. After all, they have to justify somehow their existence and the time taken.

zerog

Are you talking about HK HSBC or UK HSBC? Because if it's HK HSBC, nobody here (except me) will be able to help you, and I won't help you on this board. Go to geoexpat for HK problem

grumbler

You seem to be right.
"Wire abroad" and "never received" - the OP could have made it more clear.

sinsin

i will do that!