HSBC Hong Kong Corporate Account with Residency in Thailand - Problems?

[SS1]

Hi,

 

Are there any HK company owners here with a HSBC corporate account? Since I opened my company a year ago, the employees at the incorporation advised me to use personal details / address from my home country (Europe) for residency. They advised me that with an address in Thailand, the bank account is much less likely to be approved. I also had some other friends with companies in HK recommend the same, that for some reason HK banks don't like Thailand. So I followed the advice and my account opening was successful. 

 

However, now after a year I would like to update my Thai address to the bank as my residential address, as I am tax resident here. With the new OECD information exchange etc. I figure it would be better to give the bank the correct tax residency details instead of my home country to avoid any confusion with the tax authorities. 

 

Has anyone here had experience with HSBC HK and residency in Thailand? Did you experience any issues? 

[ecline]

I had a corporate account with HSBC for many years, up until earlier this year. My partner and I had an HK company and our residences were listed with HSBC as being in Thailand. We had no problems up until late last year. At that point, as a condition to keeping the account open, they began requiring bi-annual updates to their information regarding our personal status and our company's standing in Hong Kong. It involved a few documents and a couple of forms, nothing too invasive or difficult to obtain and supply to them. But they require all that documentation to be certified by a notary acceptable to HSBC. They have a list of countries whose CPA's can be used to notarize the required documents. Of course, Thailand is not on that list.

 

To comply with their regulations we had to either fly to Hong Kong to hand in the documents in person, or go to HSBC in Bangkok to get the documents certified there (which they are supposed to do for free, but don't). Since we live in Chiang Mai, it wasn't worth it to us to comply so we closed the account after having it for 12 years. We were closing our company anyway so it didn't much matter. HSBC corporate accounts are a real pain these days compared to many years ago. Several people I know have closed theirs due to the onerous KYC compliance issues. If you live in Bangkok, then getting docs certified at HSBC there might be OK. As far as I know, that should be the only issue you face since it is not technically against their regulations for you to live somewhere other than Hong Kong. I understand also that HSBC Hong Kong is not opening corporate accounts for people resident in Thailand anymore, although there are probably special circumstances where they still would. They do seem to be biased against customers resident in Thailand for one reason or another. 

 

Even personal accounts there are getting to be a bit of a pain to keep open for residents in Thailand, but it is still doable. I have also heard that they will no longer open personal accounts for people living in Thailand, although I don't know if that is actually the case.

 

Cheers

[DGS1244]

Since HSBC closed their offices in Bangkok my friend has nothing but problems with them having to deal with either Hong Kong or the UK. Not worth the time.

[SS1]

2 hours ago, ecline said:

I had a corporate account with HSBC for many years, up until earlier this year.

...

Thanks for the valuable info. It sounds like it may be best for me to keep my European (parents') address as my residential address. However, not sure if it will cause trouble that I'm logging into my online bank regularly from a Thai ip. It could also cause problems if I'm transferring to Thai accounts, but I will probably use Transferwise in any case. 

 

I would prefer to keep my HSBC account in HK because it took me an incredible amount of time, effort and money to get it open. Perhaps could look into new online banks as alternatives e.g. Neat (https://business.neat.hk/)

 

According to the reply below, I assume it's no longer possible to certify the docs at HSBC in Thailand in case they no longer exist. 

 

57 minutes ago, DGS1244 said:

Since HSBC closed their offices in Bangkok my friend has nothing but problems with them having to deal with either Hong Kong or the UK. Not worth the time.

 

[yellowboat]

It is problematic. 

[ecline]

3 hours ago, SS1 said:

Thanks for the valuable info. It sounds like it may be best for me to keep my European (parents') address as my residential address. However, not sure if it will cause trouble that I'm logging into my online bank regularly from a Thai ip. It could also cause problems if I'm transferring to Thai accounts, but I will probably use Transferwise in any case. 

 

I would prefer to keep my HSBC account in HK because it took me an incredible amount of time, effort and money to get it open. Perhaps could look into new online banks as alternatives e.g. Neat (https://business.neat.hk/)

 

According to the reply below, I assume it's no longer possible to certify the docs at HSBC in Thailand in case they no longer exist. 

 

 

HSBC does exist in Bangkok. But only for corporate accounts. You can get docs notarized there. I did a signature verification there a couple of months back that I ended up not using. However, now that I think about it it could be that what I was told by HSBC customer service over the telephone does not actually match their rules. I seem to remember reading that they will actually only accept documents that have been notarized at a Hong Kong branch. I really can't remember, so you will have to check it out.

 

Keep in mind that even though you are using a European address, you will still be subject to the same KYC (Know Your Customer) regulations as someone resident in Thailand. If you have had your account for less than a year, you may not have yet had the displeasure of dealing with this. If you are willing to fly to Hong Kong once or twice per year, then you shouldn't have any trouble.

 

Good luck!

[dtaanic]

i live in Thailand and got my personal account in HSBC HK.
When i opened the account 1.5 years ago. I had to use my European address, using a Thai address was not possible any more. (it was possible some years ago, a european friend of mine living in thailand opened an account without any problem 5 years ago in HK)
Last month, in HK, i changed my address to the Thai one. I asked why it was now possible. They told me now i have the account it is not a problem to later change the address.

Actually i opened an account in HK because my European Bank gave me the option to change my residency address to Europe or leave and find a new bank if i wanted to keep my residency address in Thailand. They told me they would not have clients living in Thailand anymore. Thailand became blacklisted for some reason i never got. i suspect it had something to do with Thai Banks not complying on some exchange of information requirements.

Transfering funds to a Thai Bank via net banking is Fast (2 hours) Compared to the 3-4 days when using a European based bank.

[ecline]

On 11/18/2017 at 6:29 PM, dtaanic said:

i live in Thailand and got my personal account in HSBC HK.
When i opened the account 1.5 years ago. I had to use my European address, using a Thai address was not possible any more. (it was possible some years ago, a european friend of mine living in thailand opened an account without any problem 5 years ago in HK)
Last month, in HK, i changed my address to the Thai one. I asked why it was now possible. They told me now i have the account it is not a problem to later change the address.

Actually i opened an account in HK because my European Bank gave me the option to change my residency address to Europe or leave and find a new bank if i wanted to keep my residency address in Thailand. They told me they would not have clients living in Thailand anymore. Thailand became blacklisted for some reason i never got. i suspect it had something to do with Thai Banks not complying on some exchange of information requirements.

Transfering funds to a Thai Bank via net banking is Fast (2 hours) Compared to the 3-4 days when using a European based bank.

Transferring from Thailand to your personal account at HSBC Hong Kong is also very fast. Through BKK Bank anyway. Sometimes in under 30 minutes. The HK account is great if you can get it. I have had mine for 15 years, but they still make me jump through a few hoops to keep it. Could be the Thai address I suppose.