Proof of funds/Source of funds - How far back?

alwaysquestioning

I understand that when buying a home you need to provide proof of funds, and source of funds, to prove that you have the money, and to satisfy anti-money laundering checks.

How far back in time do these checks go?

The mortgage advisor only requested the last three months’ statements, but I’m concerned that the solicitor or the bank lender might investigate further back.

I have nothing to hide, but I am stressed because back in August 2023, I closed my bank account in Italy and transferred my savings (money I earned while working in Italy until 2013, I don't remember the exact amount, I reckon around 25-30k) to the UK using Wise and Starling bank. The transfers were made in several tranches. Since September 2023, the funds have been sitting in my UK bank account, meaning they’ve been there for over a year now.

Unfortunately, I stupidly didn’t think to download a statement before closing the Italian account, so I don’t have any documents that prove the source of my savings from over 10 years ago. Of course, I could try reaching out to my old Italian bank to request a statement, but I know it’s unlikely to be a quick process—and I can already imagine it being a challenging and time-consuming journey. Ideally, I hope this won’t be necessary.

Do you know if the bank’s checks on the source of funds extend to transactions older than one year? Or do they primarily focus on more recent activity?

thanks

MattMattMattUK

alwaysquestioning said:

I understand that when buying a home you need to provide proof of funds, and source of funds, to prove that you have the money, and to satisfy anti-money laundering checks.

How far back in time do these checks go?

The mortgage advisor only requested the last three months’ statements, but I’m concerned that the solicitor or the bank lender might investigate further back.

I have nothing to hide, but I am stressed because back in August 2023, I closed my bank account in Italy and transferred my savings (money I earned while working in Italy until 2013, I don't remember the exact amount, I reckon around 25-30k) to the UK using Wise and Starling bank. The transfers were made in several tranches. Since September 2023, the funds have been sitting in my UK bank account, meaning they’ve been there for over a year now.

Unfortunately, I stupidly didn’t think to download a statement before closing the Italian account, so I don’t have any documents that prove the source of my savings from over 10 years ago. Of course, I could try reaching out to my old Italian bank to request a statement, but I know it’s unlikely to be a quick process—and I can already imagine it being a challenging and time-consuming journey. Ideally, I hope this won’t be necessary.

Do you know if the bank’s checks on the source of funds extend to transactions older than one year? Or do they primarily focus on more recent activity?

thanks

The mortgage lender only cares about your ability to repay, so likely they do not care about more than a year. The solicitor is required to conduct the AML and KYC checks to make sure the source of funds is legitimate, as such they will go back as far as they feel necessary. Sometimes they only go back six months or a year, other times a lot more, I had to provide five years bank statements to prove source of funds for my deposit. 

km1500

contact your Italian bank and ask them to provide a statement of your closed account

user1977

If you want to know “how far back”, you’ll need to ask your solicitor etc. There are no standard answers.

theartfullodger

Strange to relate but different mortgage lenders have different requirements for "proof of funds" etc etc etc...

Who'dave thought, eh??

DullGreyGuy

theartfullodger said:

Strange to relate but different mortgage lenders have different requirements for "proof of funds" etc etc etc...

Who'dave thought, eh??

Joys of how UK legislation and regulation is drafted with vague wording like "reasonable checks" and leave it to companies and the courts to interpret what is reasonable. As a consequence we have divergence of opinion. Even look to regulators and they seem to change their opinion each time they talk to a new company but still only give considerations and not strict does and donts. 

ReadingTim

When I was buying a house back in 2021 I was asked by my solicitor for proof of funds for an account I'd opened back in 2016 which had a tranche of my savings in it.  This was requested literally the day before I planned to exchange contracts and could have massively delayed things had I not been able to download statements from my internet banking - and even then they were the earliest documents I was able to access.  

Suggest you proactively get onto your former bank in Italy and see what they can do now - the worst that can happen is that you're not asked for them, but if you don't, you could massively delay your purchase.  

Maahes

I provided three months statements for one of my current accounts (the one my salary goes into) and three months for my savings account. I wasn't asked to provide any evidence of how I had obtained the money in my savings account.