letter from Santander asking for a lots of information
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I declare all the rental income on tax return and the rental income goes into the account for quite a few years now.
I am not sure why I have been sent the letter, was told it is to comply with FCA regulations. But I found the questions are very intrusive and they are asking for too much information.
Just want to find out whether anyone else had the same letter lately from Santanders or other banks?0 -
This has been on the go for a few years now, stemming from EU regulations. Although the UK have implemented their own versions and guidelines. It has been stepped up more and more recently.
It's called a "Source Of Funds" or "Source Of Wealth" check, and is basically enhanced KYC. In the past it has been saved for large transactions, such as buying a property with cash but regulators are insisting on it now for when there is a high total volume of transactions among other things.
It's not really Santanders fault, they are being made to do it by the regulator. If, for example, an account was found to have criminal money in it and they hadn't carried out the SOW check then they would be in hot water. So they have to play it safe.
As the OP said you don't have to fill out every part of the form (or provide documentation for every part). Just the parts that apply to you. If you said you had rental income you would be expected to be provide proof of that for example. Inheritance is quite tricky as if you put that they will require to see wills etc.
As usual it is being done under the pretence of preventing money laundering and terrorism. It does no doubt help stop all that, but it is also an intrusive data gathering exercise.
The financial organisations who have to do this (all of them) dislike it as well.0 -
Out of interest,what happens if you decide not to provide the information? Do they close your accounts?
Kev0 -
johnsmith1890 wrote: »I would suggest it does nothing of the sort. Banks and other organisations will quote terrorism and money laundering (I'm surprised they haven't also quoted p a e do philia) as an excuse for personal data harvesting, when there's little or no evidence that their actions have any effect whatsoever. In fact, when it comes to money laundering, the banks themselves are the biggest culprits.
Except it's not the banks who want this data collected, it's the government. The banks don't like collecting it because it's expensive to put in place and gains them nothing in return (other than avoiding a fine).0 -
Yes eventually they will close your accounts0
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Except it's not the banks who want this data collected, it's the government. The banks don't like collecting it because it's expensive to put in place and gains them nothing in return (other than avoiding a fine).
And it also puts customers off. Reality is it's just big brother monitoring with companies dealing in financial transactions being made to do the dirty work.0 -
Think it is incredibly intrusive – and dodgy – for financial institutions or anyone else to harvest data in this way. It would make it accessible to many, many people. Very big-brotherish. Most such details should remain private, unless there is evidence of criminal activity.0
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Think it is incredibly intrusive – and dodgy – for financial institutions or anyone else to harvest data in this way. It would make it accessible to many, many people. Very big-brotherish. Most such details should remain private, unless there is evidence of criminal activity.
From the list of questions posted by the OP, I would say this refers to a business account. I've opened several personal accounts in recent times and there's been nothing like that. All they wanted was basic information.0 -
johnsmith1890 wrote: »From the list of questions posted by the OP, I would say this refers to a business account. I've opened several personal accounts in recent times and there's been nothing like that. All they wanted was basic information.
I really hope that is the case. It would be a definite invasion of privacy and dangerous for banks to require so much information on existing private accounts (including things like data on customers' savings and income, which are none of a bank's business).
The only time I'd say it would be legit to query personal information is if a bank detects sudden large transactions (withdrawals/deposits). But it can then just request sources of deposits, with proofs provided, to ensure that money laundering is not taking place, and check with a customer with regard to withdrawals, in case they are related to scams, etc.0
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