Dubious practice by Fidelty..?

C_Mababejive

Earlier this year i signed up for a funds account via Cavendish on line for Fidelty.

I invested £1000 in funds. I recently submitted a requested to sell the funds which were now worth a little bit more than the original amount.

They have now written to me quoting their obligations under money laundering regs and stating that they have frozen my account and will not return my money until i supply originals or countersigned photocopies of various documents !

I have accounts with HL and TDW and have never had this trouble before.

I can only think that they are deliberately blocking my withdrawl to retain the money i.e MY money and putting me through unwarranted inconvenience.

Perhaps if they were so concerned then they should have initiated this process at sign up?

thoughts please??

ChesterDog

Certain actions count as 'trigger events' whereby the FCA regulations requires them to recheck legitimacy for anti-money laundering purposes. Some companies (search for SelfTrade threads, for example) seem to be ridiculously stringent on these lately. The rumour is that they have had problems identified by the FCA and must be extra-scrupulous in this regard, even to the point of complete alienation of their customers.

Rollinghome

The thread about Selftrade and their very peeved clients is here . I wouldn't expect the typical drugs baron to launder his money by investing £1000 in unit trusts.

You don't say what the required documents are but if they're documents that will involve you in costs, either for obtaining copies or for sending by an insured service, and they now require them because they failed to carry out adequate checks previously rather than any action on your part, then I would expect them to reimburse those costs.

C_Mababejive

The documents they ask for are proof of identity and proof of address i.e original driving licence(photocard) or passport and then a bank statement/council tax bill or similar. Clearly one would not wish to send a driving licence or passport via post and so they suggest certified copies and list those apparently qualified to certify !!

If i had known i was going to have these problems i would never have opened the account. Surely if they are/were so concerned, they should have initiated such checks at sign up and not now that i choose to withdraw MY money?


Having read the selftrade threads and others relating to HSBC,more and more i am coming to the conclusion that banks and other simialr institutions are taking the view that MY money is actuallt their money and they can hold on to it and maybe steal it in a Cyprus type scam.

I will never never deal with Fidelity again or any similar organisation which seeks to deny me access to MY money after they have previously accepted my business.

ChesterDog

You may have no choice - they might all be at it soon.

Along with the investment advice of "Don't invest money you cannot afford to lose", we'll have another along the lines of "Don't invest or save money that you might one day want back".

dunstonh

Many frauds and money laundering events start with small amounts and build to larger ones.

Surely if they are/were so concerned, they should have initiated such checks at sign up and not now that i choose to withdraw MY money?

Something has been going on recently as quite a few platforms have been going back to accounts opened in the past asking for information. Many of them use the electronic method of verification and you wont know it has been done. However, if you fail that, they have to revert to the old fashioned way.

Uxb

I've been asked for this sort of stuff for years - every time.
certified copies of everything
I've got all the docs ready to go on file so to speak.....ready to supply by return.
Welcome to my world.

I tend put in a complaint afterwards asking why it was necessary to supply these details when I've just sent the same credit card bill as can be readily obtainable from my credit report.
Strange to report all have great difficulty in answering that specific point.

Well its fun to tie them up and waste their time isn't it.

I'll bet if they got umpteen 1000 complaints which are then rejected and forwarded onto the FO service then they would be a rapid 'adjustment of attitude'

dunstonh

I'll bet if they got umpteen 1000 complaints which are then rejected and forwarded onto the FO service then they would be a rapid 'adjustment of attitude'

FOS won't rule on anti money laundering requirements set by the company.

grey_gym_sock

dunstonh wrote: »

FOS won't rule on anti money laundering requirements set by the company.

wouldn't (for instance) a failure to follow instructions to pay out your money within a reasonable time be something FOS would consider?

or do you mean that they'd stop considering it when they established that it was due to AML procedures, without considering whether the procedures were OTT?

C_Mababejive

Well it seems that i will have to play ball with these people. I consider their treatment of me to be unfair and unreasonable. If an organisation wishes to undertake checks, they should do it on initial application. I will submit a letter of complaint ,send them what they want then never deal with them again. If there are other avenues i can explore then i'd be glad to hear them.

I fear this kind of thing is the thin end of the wedge in which your money suddenly isnt yours and can be sequestrated /with held on a whim.

I wouldnt mind if i could simply photocopy what they want and send it but no. I have to go to a lot of trouble getting idiots to countersign my identity document as if they were someone more worthy or a higher authority. It costs me money..and that isnt right.

Edit

According to the HMRC website which gives guidance as to when due diligence checks are appropriate,

You must apply customer due diligence measures:
when you establish a business relationship
when you carry out an 'occasional transaction' worth 15,000 Euros or more
when you suspect money laundering or terrorist financing
when you have doubts about a customer's identification information that you obtained previously
and when it's necessary for existing customers - for example if their circumstances change

ChesterDog

HMRC regs will be different from FCA probably.