DF Capital

mills112

I recently opened a 24 months bond with DF capital following comments on here about them being a good bank.  I put in the maximum 120k which is protected by the FSCS.  Everything went well but today I received this questionnaire, which I am asked to complete and return to them.

It feels very invasive and I have never had to complete one of these before ever unless it was for a property purchase where the solicitors are carrying out an AML exercise as part of the conveyancing.

Anyone got one of these before?  I feel it is is a bit too much for a savings account, particularly the question,

"What is your estimated worth" and "Please provide details of how your net worth was originated"

If I had known I would have had to complete a long form like this and provide evidence of funds, I would not have bothered with this bank.  They sound like a right amateur.

They should have notified customers that they would have to complete this form before taking your money! (angy emoticon)








Here it is in word format

Page 1 of 4

Funds Details Questionnaire (Savings) Applicant

Full name 

Have you ever been known by a different name?

If yes, please state

What is your Nationality?

If you have more than one nationality, please list all the nationalities that you hold

Date of birth

How long have you been a resident in the UK? 

How did you amass the funds you wish to deposit with us? (select all that apply)

We will require documentary evidence of the source of your deposit. If you wish to make any comments on this, do so here.

Please refer to the Documentary Evidence Guidance section on the last page of this form.

Type of employment

Employer’s name

Total annual income before tax & deductions

What is your estimated net worth? 

The net value of your assets (e.g. cash, stocks, deposits, real estate, car, boat etc.) and should exclude any liabilities. 

To offer the product that you have requested, please complete this questionnaire. We may seek further information or documents from you to verify or explain information given in this form, if it appears necessary.

Funds Details Questionnaire

Additional information required for your account

Personal savings from

employment income Inheritance Investment income Business ownership interests Sale of an asset

Legal settlement Gift Winnings Other

Employed Retired Homemaker Student Self-employed Unemployed

<£250k £250k – £500k £500k - £1m £1m - £5m £5m - £10m

£10m - £15m £15m - £20m £20m - £25m >£20m

Page 2 of 4

Funds Details Questionnaire (Savings)

Please provide details of how your net worth was originated?  (e.g. personal savings, inheritance, sale of property/investment, divorce settlement, compensation payment, lottery etc.)

Please provide us further information on the purpose and frequency of the transactions you are making / expect to make into your account. 

For example: ‘The purpose is saving from my salary, I expect to transfer once per month.’

Important – Your Personal Information

DF Capital holds and uses personal information strictly in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018. DF Capital stores and uses your information to review your application, existing account and/or provide services that suit your needs. This includes validating the information provided in this questionnaire by conducting necessary due diligence checks.

The information you provide to us or we obtain about you as part of our due diligence process is kept for as long as is necessary to

administer any relationships that you hold with us, or for as long as regulation or the law says we have to, if that’s longer. You can find our full Privacy Notice, explaining how we use your personal information, what your rights are in relation to it, and how to contact us at http://www.dfcapital.co.uk/privacy-policy.

Declaration & Signature

-I declare that the information declared in this questionnaire are correct to the best of my knowledge.

-I understand that the information provided in this questionnaire will be validated by DF Capital by conducting necessary duediligence checks. Where necessary, DF Capital may share with or obtain additional information from various third parties/externalsources for this purpose.

Signature: 

Date: 

Please type your name in the signature box. This will be considered confirmation that the information you have provided is correct.

 

Page 3 of 4

Funds Details Questionnaire (Savings) Documentary Evidence Guidance

Income and/or savings from employment

Normal and/or bonus-Original or certified copy* of a payslips or

-Confirmation from employer of income or

-Copy of recent financial accounts if self employed or

-Bank statements clearly showing receipt of most recent salary payments from namedemployer

Sale of shares or other investments

-Investment/savings certificates, contract notes or statements or

-Confirmation from the relevant investment company or

-Bank statement showing receipt of funds by investment company name or

-Signed letter detailing funds from a regulated accountant

Property sale -Signed letter from solicitor or

-Signed letter from estate agent (if applicable) or

-Sale contract

Maturing investments or policy claim -Letter from previous investment company re notification of proceeds of claim or

-Chargeable Event Certificate

Individual owns policy/ company pays premium - A copy of trading details or an annual report from the company’s website (if applicable) or

-Hard copy of the latest annual report or

-Copy of the company’s certificate or incorporation (or equivalent)

Company sale -Signed letter from solicitor or

-Signed letter from regulated accountant or

-Copy of contract of sale and sight of investment monies on bank statement or

-Copies of media coverage (if applicable) as supporting evidence

Inheritance - Grant of probate (with a copy of the will) which must include the value of the estate or

-Solicitor’s letter or letter from Trustees of an estate

Loan -Loan agreement or -Recent loan statements

Gift -Letter from donor confirming details of gift

Lottery/betting/ casino win -Letter from relevant organisation (Lottery headquarters/betting shop/casino) or

-Bank statement showing funds deposited by company name or

-Copies of media coverage (if applicable) as supporting evidence

Compensation payment -Letter/court order from compensating body or

-Solicitor’s letter

Other monies -Appropriate supporting documentation or

-Signed letter detailing funds from a regulated accountant

We recognise that each case is unique and we will, therefore, be happy to consider other suitable documents as evidence of how you acquired the funds to be invested.

* A certified copy is a copy of the document, which has been certified by a lawyer, banker, notary, a serving police officer or a civil servant

working for a UK government department. The certification should confirm they have seen the original document and that it is a true copy.The certified copy should include the name, address, contact number, signature, date, formal stamp to confirm professional capacity. Ifyou are a non-UK national or a non-resident UK national, the copy can be certified by an embassy, consulate or high commission of thecountry of issue, a lawyer/attorney, or a regulated Financial Institution.

x44

I've never see that sort of form before from anyone in a personal capacity

That said I'm guessing that the sudden arrival of £120K into a new account might trigger all sorts of additional processes.

I have been asked or rather I pre declared to the bank for a Charity that i'm a Trustee and authorised signatory of.  In this case it was the well known charity bank CAF and they did indeed need letters/probate from the Solicitor handling the estate of the deceased who was donating the sum (around the same as your's) explaining how the Charity was correctly entitled to the money.

I recall some savings groups do ask an individuals net wealth on account opening but the spread of the bands in the boxes to tick was so wide that the infomation the acquired was essentially useless.

The snag from an individual in completing such a form is that in many cases the sums have been built up over many years from all sorts of sources which have in the meantime moved from savings account to savings account etc.

I note that while the net worth box options go up to >£20m, the various boxes to fill your emplyoment status do not include the famous "of independent means" reply which might correctly describe those of £20m+ wealth!

refluxer

I can't read the form due to the way you've embedded it in your post but from the questions you quoted, it does sound like anti-money laundering measures have been triggered by the large sum you've deposited, as suggested above. I've also never had to answer questions like that (from DF Capital or anywhere else) but it's possible you would get asked similar questions from other banks, too.

As £120k is the maximum the FSCS will pay out in the event of failure, did you not want to leave headroom for any interest due on your savings for full protection ? At the 2 year rate they were offering recently, the total interest on £120k would be nearly 11k after 2 years, which would lower the max deposit to around £109k to ensure full FSCS protection.

mills112

x44 said:

I've never see that sort of form before from anyone in a personal capacity

That said I'm guessing that the sudden arrival of £120K into a new account might trigger all sorts of additional processes.

I have been asked or rather I pre declared to the bank for a Charity that i'm a Trustee and authorised signatory of.  In this case it was the well known charity bank CAF and they did indeed need letters/probate from the Solicitor handling the estate of the deceased who was donating the sum (around the same as your's) explaining how the Charity was correctly entitled to the money.

I recall some savings groups do ask an individuals net wealth on account opening but the spread of the bands in the boxes to tick was so wide that the infomation the acquired was essentially useless.

The snag from an individual in completing such a form is that in many cases the sums have been built up over many years from all sorts of sources which have in the meantime moved from savings account to savings account etc.

I note that while the net worth box options go up to >£20m, the various boxes to fill your emplyoment status do not include the famous "of independent means" reply which might correctly describe those of £20m+ wealth!

i have opened many savings account in my time, and put in the maximum of 85k and i have never had to explain how much i am worth and how i got there.  this is astoninshing for a savings account.

some banks will ask you how much you are worth in the opening process so that they can use that to personalise offers to you but not to ask you to justify and explain how your worth has been built up.  and to send over payslips and solicitors letters.  this is just ridiculous.

masonic

I've been asked for general details from a few different financial institutions, but never for documents supporting my answers.

Unless the rate was considerably better than is available elsewhere I think I'd be invoking the cooling off process rather than posting original / certified documents (especially as it isn't clear how many bank statements they'd require as evidence of 20 years worth of earnings, for example). Sourcing the original documents would likely be quite costly given most things are paper-free these days, including my payslips.

I've used DF Capital in the past, but never for a sum of more than £5k per account.

mills112

refluxer said:

I can't read the form due to the way you've embedded it in your post but from the questions you quoted, it does sound like anti-money laundering measures have been triggered by the large sum you've deposited, as suggested above. I've also never had to answer questions like that (from DF Capital or anywhere else) but it's possible you would get asked similar questions from other banks, too.

As £120k is the maximum the FSCS will pay out in the event of failure, did you not want to leave headroom for any interest due on your savings for full protection ? At the 2 year rate they were offering recently, the total interest on £120k would be nearly 11k after 2 years, which would lower the max deposit to around £109k to ensure full FSCS protection.

thanks for letting me know that you could not read the photo of the questionnaire.  I have pasted in the word version of it so you can read the actual questions.

I am happy to take the risk of losing my interest if this company goes under.  From the comments when I asked about this bank on here, they sounded solid enough.

mills112

masonic said:

I've been asked for general details from a few different financial institutions, but never for documents supporting my answers.

Unless the rate was considerably better than is available elsewhere I think I'd be invoking the cooling off process rather than posting original / certified documents (especially as it isn't clear how many bank statements they'd require as evidence of 20 years worth of earnings, for example). Sourcing the original documents would likely be quite costly given most things are paper-free these days, including my payslips.

I've used DF Capital in the past, but never for a sum of more than £5k per account.

do you think i can ask them to return my money?

eskbanker

mills112 said:

masonic said:

I've been asked for general details from a few different financial institutions, but never for documents supporting my answers.

Unless the rate was considerably better than is available elsewhere I think I'd be invoking the cooling off process rather than posting original / certified documents (especially as it isn't clear how many bank statements they'd require as evidence of 20 years worth of earnings, for example). Sourcing the original documents would likely be quite costly given most things are paper-free these days, including my payslips.

I've used DF Capital in the past, but never for a sum of more than £5k per account.

do you think i can ask them to return my money?

How recently did you open the account?

• Can I cancel my account if I change my mind?

  Yes but only within the first 14 calendar days of opening the account. Please instruct us to close the account by sending a secure message through your online account or by calling us on 0330 094 0162.

https://www.dfcapital.bank/help/

Alternatively, if you simply refuse to answer their questions, what are they going to do about it?

masonic

mills112 said:

masonic said:

I've been asked for general details from a few different financial institutions, but never for documents supporting my answers.

Unless the rate was considerably better than is available elsewhere I think I'd be invoking the cooling off process rather than posting original / certified documents (especially as it isn't clear how many bank statements they'd require as evidence of 20 years worth of earnings, for example). Sourcing the original documents would likely be quite costly given most things are paper-free these days, including my payslips.

I've used DF Capital in the past, but never for a sum of more than £5k per account.

do you think i can ask them to return my money?

Yes, that's what they have to do if you change your mind within the first 14 days. You can either secure message or phone them.

poseidon1

mills112 said:

masonic said:

I've been asked for general details from a few different financial institutions, but never for documents supporting my answers.

Unless the rate was considerably better than is available elsewhere I think I'd be invoking the cooling off process rather than posting original / certified documents (especially as it isn't clear how many bank statements they'd require as evidence of 20 years worth of earnings, for example). Sourcing the original documents would likely be quite costly given most things are paper-free these days, including my payslips.

I've used DF Capital in the past, but never for a sum of more than £5k per account.

do you think i can ask them to return my money?

I certainly would. Those questions are extremely invasive.

I deposited  significantly higher amount than £120k with Chase bank this year with absolutely no questions asked.

When I moved part of this to Oxbury Bank, that bank did ask me where the monies came from, but were happy to accept a copy of the Chase Bank statement withdrawal as verification of source.  

Generally I would not proceed with any bank whose AML were as ridiculous as DF Capital, I suspect neither would you had you known in advance what to expect.

mills112

eskbanker said:

mills112 said:

masonic said:

I've been asked for general details from a few different financial institutions, but never for documents supporting my answers.

Unless the rate was considerably better than is available elsewhere I think I'd be invoking the cooling off process rather than posting original / certified documents (especially as it isn't clear how many bank statements they'd require as evidence of 20 years worth of earnings, for example). Sourcing the original documents would likely be quite costly given most things are paper-free these days, including my payslips.

I've used DF Capital in the past, but never for a sum of more than £5k per account.

do you think i can ask them to return my money?

How recently did you open the account?

• Can I cancel my account if I change my mind?

  Yes but only within the first 14 calendar days of opening the account. Please instruct us to close the account by sending a secure message through your online account or by calling us on 0330 094 0162.

https://www.dfcapital.bank/help/

Alternatively, if you simply refuse to answer their questions, what are they going to do about it?

it was opened on 12 December so still within the 14 days.  I have asked them to close my account and return my money.  I am not happy with this laughable invasion where not only have I got to justify where I got the 120k from but the rest of my wealth! (angry emoticon).  what has the rest of my wealth got to do with it? and why do i need to disclose my annual salary?

can they refuse to return my money until they are satisfied with the AML checks that they believe they need to carry out?

this is why i always ask people about banks before investing with them as you can get mickey mouse banks like these who will not be worth the hassle.