CHAPS Payment held up by "Compliance Team"

colsten

grumbler wrote: »

The problem is that the rules allow banks to hold any payment forever and banks have no reasons to stop dragging their feet.

Stop being such a drama queen. Tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of payments go through very fast each and every day, most with checks we don't even notice. So accusing banks of 'dragging their feet' is as hilariously far-fetched as accusing their fraud teams of watching !!!!!! instead of doing their job.

grumbler

colsten wrote: »

Stop being such a drama queen. Tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of payments go through very fast each and every day, most with checks we don't even notice.

Hardly a consolation for the OP. And for many other innocent victims complaining here about being left without any money for indefinite time.

So accusing banks of 'dragging their feet' is as hilariously far-fetched as accusing their fraud teams of watching !!!!!! instead of doing their job.

Come on.... Job can be done differently. !!!!!! was just a guess, a small exaggeration. They do relax and drag their feet - like the majority of people would do if left without any strict deadlines. This is just human nature - that's why it's our lawmakers that I blame in the first place.

I can only repeat once again: if, like you say, it's all far-fetched and in fact they are doing their job properly, it makes no sense to ask FOS for 'assistance'.

xylophone

I find this very strange - the solicitor is a customer of HSBC and must make numerous high value transactions whether in connection with house purchase/sales/ bequests/court settlements every month of the year.

Presumably the solicitor is able to confirm the source of funds to his bank - why on earth should there be any holdup?

Ben8282

The problem here is that you have no justifiable complaint to make to any bank. The solicitors bank has acted to block a transaction from the solicitors account. Your only complaint is against the solicitor for failure to make on time payment you. The rest is not relevant. I find it strange that a solicitors bankers would block their payments and equally strange that the solicitor should have admitted this to you. Have you actually seen any real evidence that the solicitor has actually made this payment?

Ballard

There could be any reason why the payment has been blocked and we could speculate almost endlessly and not get to the reason. Unfortunately legislation means that banks have to be completely content with a transaction passing through their books. The bank and the MLRO are liable to very large fines and/or imprisonment if they miss something.

Just because the payment has originated from a solicitor doesn't mean that it's kosher. It could, for example, be something in the reference that's caught their eye. It could also technically be that the property is being sold way out of the expected price range. Out of self protection the bank has to be cautious. The bank won't be gaining financially from this delay, incidentally. They would love to be able to process payments without a second thought but the law makes them policemen.

Assuming that the solicitor has made the payment then I'd expect them to advise the other parties that it's been held up by the bank. The fact that it's been held doesn't infer any wrongdoing on their part.

minorsqueeze

I guess the only advice I was seeking was any reasons why they might just decide to hold up any payments they like for whatever reason, which is the gist I'm now getting.

I guess it's case of grinning and bearing it, and just waiting for them to finish what they are doing. The sale of my house was nothing out of the normal, but random checks are random checks. I just hope they finish what they are doing before Thursday, or this will drag into next week

Ballard

minorsqueeze wrote: »

I guess the only advice I was seeking was any reasons why they might just decide to hold up any payments they like for whatever reason, which is the gist I'm now getting.

I guess it's case of grinning and bearing it, and just waiting for them to finish what they are doing. The sale of my house was nothing out of the normal, but random checks are random checks. I just hope they finish what they are doing before Thursday, or this will drag into next week

I hope that it gets sorted for you soon too.

I've only spoken from the point of view of a banker (I'm not in compliance!) but others have mentioned making an official complaint and I guess that it's worth doing that.

agrinnall

Ballard wrote: »

I hope that it gets sorted for you soon too.

I've only spoken from the point of view of a banker (I'm not in compliance!) but others have mentioned making an official complaint and I guess that it's worth doing that.

But the OP cannot make a complaint to HSBC as they are not a customer and it is not (yet!) their money that is being held up. They could encourage the solicitor to make a complaint but the solicitor may not wish to rock the boat with their banker.

Stevie_Palimo

I had this ages ago to with a Solicitor who assured me that they had not been paid and this went on for a few days so I then rang the bank concerned with all the paperwork and asked if they could help me by letting me know if the payments were in progress and or made, They didn't give actual specific details but did answer yes as to it going through so my Solicitor had it in his account for around a week or so.

I then called him again and he said nothing in as yet and I explained that I had spoke to the bank and want payment made to myself by cop that day and he duly did this after realising I knew he had it, Sometimes they are very crafty and I believe they like to sit there and look at large bank balances.

Ballard

agrinnall wrote: »

But the OP cannot make a complaint to HSBC as they are not a customer and it is not (yet!) their money that is being held up. They could encourage the solicitor to make a complaint but the solicitor may not wish to rock the boat with their banker.

Yes. You're right. I blame the fact that I'm jet lagged for missing that point.