HSBC Safeguard closed my account

Eyeful

The  less knowledgeable among us, also think it strange that a criminal defense lawyer would  not have contacts in the legal profession that do know about  financial or corporation law.

sheramber

Have they closed the account or have they just withdrawn   online and card access? a Safeguarding move to protect your money as  you have not provided them with what they needed.

You ,may need to visit the branch with ID to access the money

pbartlett

I would just reiterate my previous post - there are only 2 ways you're going to get the money - either they give it to you (which you seem to be implying they are not doing) you go to the small claims court.

FB13

Eyeful said:

The  less knowledgeable among us, also think it strange that a criminal defense lawyer would  not have contacts in the legal profession that do know about  financial or corporation law.

Anyone can call themselves a “lawyer” in the UK. I know someone who failed the LPC (and therefore is not a solicitor) who calls himself a lawyer in an attempt to mislead people who don’t know that only professional titles like solicitor and barrister are regulated. If someone repeatedly calls themself a lawyer, you have reason to be suspicious. 

If the OP is a “criminal defence lawyer”, he should realise that this isn’t a financial or corporate law issue. This is most likely a money laundering issue, which a criminal defence solicitor would be well versed in. 

NickTarn

HSBC just contacted us about our UK Co account which we have had for 23 years. The email looked like spam with very poor English. We had a lot of problems confirming that it was real as the Business banking arm of HSBC do not seem to talk to the Safeguard Review team.

Once  confirmed  we sent off the required documents, we then received a call one Saturday from a gentleman with poor English (I think in India) basically telling us we had to comply or our account would be suspended. We asked for a copy of the Safeguard Review as we needed to see what questions they still wanted answering and were told they could not send us a copy and the department that could would charge us!

It turns out that they had managed to loose some of the documents we originally sent, so we have sent them again and are now waiting to see what happens.

We are not impressed with a Bank that deals with longstanding customers like this, it is just not necessary.

sunflowerseeds

I was subjected to a safeguarding review last year with Hsbc and it was very stressful. There isn’t much that happens with our bank account as it’s a trust account from when my dad died and it’s usually only used if my ageing mum needs something or we have to pay the inland revenue something. The review took about six months to complete from start to finish but the communication was incredibly poor and it was very stressful.

We were finally given the use of the account again at the beginning of August last year and now I get a letter through the post today saying that another review is due. Is ludicrous and certainly no way to treat us as customers. I have had a personal bank account with HSBC for 30 years and my mum for over 50 years. 

Do they really have to do this every year? It’s nuts! 

sheramber

Loyalty counts for nothing these days.  You are just a number.

Thrugelmir

sheramber said:

Loyalty counts for nothing these days.  You are just a number.

Customers have no loyalty either. Business is a temporary relationship not a marriage. 

HobgoblinBT

sunflowerseeds said:

I was subjected to a safeguarding review last year with Hsbc and it was very stressful. There isn’t much that happens with our bank account as it’s a trust account from when my dad died and it’s usually only used if my ageing mum needs something or we have to pay the inland revenue something. The review took about six months to complete from start to finish but the communication was incredibly poor and it was very stressful.

We were finally given the use of the account again at the beginning of August last year and now I get a letter through the post today saying that another review is due. Is ludicrous and certainly no way to treat us as customers. I have had a personal bank account with HSBC for 30 years and my mum for over 50 years. 

Do they really have to do this every year? It’s nuts! 

To answer your questions, yes and yes.   

Trusts are deemed higher risk by banks because ownership and control of the trust assets are not as simple as for an individual or a business, and some are used to hide the ownership of assets. Think money launderers, politicians (and/or their wives) or Russian Oligarchs.    Therefore some banks carry out “safeguard” reviews more frequently for their higher risk customers and less frequently for their lower risk customers.   

This is also probably also the reason that banks recently introducing charges for small society and trust accounts.

Nebulous2

There have been a lot of posts in the last few years about this. I think HSBC historically didn't gather all the information they needed to and have been playing catch-up. A lot of people seem to find the questions intrusive and are reluctant to provide them, so you get the bank running out of patience and closing the account. 

A recent consumer article about small clubs. 

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/experts/article-10702541/TONY-HETHERINGTON-HSBC-treats-bowls-club-like-run-mafia.html