HSBC Offshore

[Baerboxer]

I received the same request last year. I provided the information at a meeting with them in HK. My relationship manager, previous relationship manager (they were just changing over) and one of their investment managers were at the meeting. Copies were taken and some originals provided. I thought that was it. I even received an email confirming all docs received and thanking me.

I received more standard emails saying I had missed the deadline and giving me a new deadline with the threat of suspending transactions on the accounts. I spoke to someone senior at their Premier call center who confirmed in writing the accounts would not be suspended whilst my relationship manager sorted it. My relationship manager eventually confirmed this was sorted internally with the usual apologies. Dragged on till early September though.

Guess what - I received a new request, for all the same info, on the 24th December, asking for completion by the 20th Feb. Yesterday I received another email asking for completion by the 10th March with the threat of suspension paragraph inserted.

I spoke to the Jersey call center last night and after some while discussing they said the Relationship Manager in HK has got to sort it out and they would send her an email to contact me. I didn't hear from her so tried to call her. Left 2 voice mails and sent a strong email. No response yet. See what tomorrow rings.

It is only HSBC International or Expat that I have this crap from. I've been a Premier customer since 2001 with them, and have attended meetings at Canary Wharf with them. I don't have any such issues with HSBC UK or HSBC Middle East where I have accounts. I've been a customer since 1974 (originally Midland Bank) and still maintain the original current account number and sort code.

All the issues I've had with incorrect postings on accounts, credit and debit, data theft and requests for copious information have been with Jersey.

I really don't want this repeated nonsense, and unless I get a very satisfactory answer will take them out my banking equation.

PM me if I can be of help or if you want to know the outcome.

Thanks for the info provided. Its very strange for me as my main account is at Jersey but my relationship manager is based in Hong Kong and I have no account in Hong Kong. I also provided all this information last year and now again they are asking for the same information. I called Jersey yesterday and informed them I have just fired my relationship manager as she is useless, and will not reply to any of my mails and is impossible to locate.

HSBC Jersey is defiantly on a downward slope and it appears they have employed a lot of clowns who know nothing. Yesterday Jersey branch told me they would have someone call me at 10.00 GMT, and you guessed it no one called. You will never get any satisfactory answer from them, they will tell you they are very sorry and it will all be sorted out. These issues are never ending and you just get passed around the system.

I know Jersey have a lot of customers based in Thailand, and if they do not get there act together many will get fed up with the crap service and move to Singapore.

Regarding your Relationship Manager in HK would her initials be RF ?

My accounts are based in Jersey too. I had 3 of 4 RM's based in Jersey, all reasonable. Then they made changes which meant they offered me a Dubai based RM presumably as I had spoken with her whilst living in UAE, or a man in HK. The Dubai lady didn't seem keen so I plumbed for HK. My initial RM was very good. I happened to be in HK last May, so went to see him with a few docs. He then introduced me to his replacement as he's been promoted and moved to a different job.

Yes my new RM there is RF. She joined HSBC early 2014 and was previously a Financial Advisor - she has a LinkedIn profile.

I sent another email yesterday morning and left another voice mail. I tried a couple of other people there too, and again all voice mail. I finally spoke with her late afternoon and she told me everyone had been in meetings Thursday and Friday. Maybe a OOO on email or vm message would have been good idea.

She told me the Jersey regulations had changed in the details they have to keep on file for their customers. The information collected last year satisfied most of it but there were some new requirements. So their brilliant idea was to send new forms out and get all the customers to do all the work all over again! She said she had most of my information already and I have a call arranged next week to go through it.

One twist is that if you want to make an investment with them, a bond, investment fund, etc then they now require that you prove the source of those funds, even if they are coming from your account unless they already have all this detailed.

I will see how the call goes, but really fed up with them now. Although to be fair RF has been reasonably responsive last year. She always came back quickly on currency exchanges when I was taking advantage of the high pound, and working early evening because of time differences. However, she's knew to HSBC and doesn't know all the short cuts yet.

All my HSBC Thailand accounts were transferred to BOA/Krungsri, which is now Japanese owned. I am Exclusive which is their equivalent of Premier. The service has been very good so far and I will meet them next week too and may increase my use of them.

I notice Milliband is writing to all British Overseas Territories, and Crown dependencies saying what information Labor will demand off them regarding company beneficial ownership etc should they win the next election. I'm sure they will expect the same on all personal account holders too. Governments are skint and will squeeze what the can from where they can. Unless you are employed and PAYE, expect more and more bureaucracy and more and more intrusions on your private business. All the big Banks have been hit with fines for one thing and another. They will give governments whatever they ask for.

Edited February 7, 2015 by Baerboxer

[gandalf12]

Try HSBC in Singapore they tend to be a little different

[pumpuy]

Yes I received the same. Most of it really is none of their business!

HSBC = Horrible Selfish Bankster Corporation !

I was a client once , will NEVER be again ...

[mjakob007]

I received the same request last year. I provided the information at a meeting with them in HK. My relationship manager, previous relationship manager (they were just changing over) and one of their investment managers were at the meeting. Copies were taken and some originals provided. I thought that was it. I even received an email confirming all docs received and thanking me.

I received more standard emails saying I had missed the deadline and giving me a new deadline with the threat of suspending transactions on the accounts. I spoke to someone senior at their Premier call center who confirmed in writing the accounts would not be suspended whilst my relationship manager sorted it. My relationship manager eventually confirmed this was sorted internally with the usual apologies. Dragged on till early September though.

Guess what - I received a new request, for all the same info, on the 24th December, asking for completion by the 20th Feb. Yesterday I received another email asking for completion by the 10th March with the threat of suspension paragraph inserted.

I spoke to the Jersey call center last night and after some while discussing they said the Relationship Manager in HK has got to sort it out and they would send her an email to contact me. I didn't hear from her so tried to call her. Left 2 voice mails and sent a strong email. No response yet. See what tomorrow rings.

It is only HSBC International or Expat that I have this crap from. I've been a Premier customer since 2001 with them, and have attended meetings at Canary Wharf with them. I don't have any such issues with HSBC UK or HSBC Middle East where I have accounts. I've been a customer since 1974 (originally Midland Bank) and still maintain the original current account number and sort code.

All the issues I've had with incorrect postings on accounts, credit and debit, data theft and requests for copious information have been with Jersey.

I really don't want this repeated nonsense, and unless I get a very satisfactory answer will take them out my banking equation.

PM me if I can be of help or if you want to know the outcome.

Thanks for the info provided. Its very strange for me as my main account is at Jersey but my relationship manager is based in Hong Kong and I have no account in Hong Kong. I also provided all this information last year and now again they are asking for the same information. I called Jersey yesterday and informed them I have just fired my relationship manager as she is useless, and will not reply to any of my mails and is impossible to locate.

I have the same situation, bank in Jersey , relationship manager in HK, but since I have been with them I have had many RM's some based in Singapore others in HK and even Jersey itself.

I sent back all the answers to their very intrusive questioning only to get another letter saying that if I did not respond it could lead to the eventual CLOSURE of my account !!!.

This prompted me to phone Jersey and after a 10 minute wait they told me that they now had it.

I don't like being threatened by banks, they have my money, they pay not a penny in interest....time to consider alternatives

Most big banks treast us just a number, although they call us premier customers and such.

I happen to work in africa and bank with HSBC jersey for some 20 years. couple of years back, thier demand for docuemntation got to the height, where they would even ask for your grandfather's resume!.

I found that we could still domicile the account in jersey, with nedbank or standard bank etc

being a niche customer, they are more attentive to our needs and we get better attention. they also give usd/debit cards.

zero interest on cash help though.

[Jonmarleesco]

Undoubtedly down to the UK's version of FATCA, to which the offshore centres are signed up.

[rodroy]

I have HSBC a premier accounts in Manila and KLM. The RM in Manila is useless and I hardly ever use the accounts there. The RM in KL is very good and I have made a lot of money from investments there over the years.

For those commenting on the costs of transferring between HSBC accounts I suggest you use Global View, it is free and instant.

I am pretty sure it is less the bank and more the RM that makes the difference in people's good or bad experiences so changing to City Bank for example would still be a gamble.

As for the Monet laundering / terrorism claims - we all know it about taxation.

Rather tend to believe this is all related to the nearly 2 billion USD fine levied against HSBC money laundering!

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/11/us-hsbc-probe-idUSBRE8BA05M20121211

[gandalf12]

I bank in Singapore and not with the HSBC for the last 30 years and never once been asked like many of you here have been

[Jaggg88]

All the jersey banks have been doing this, has to comply with new regulations, for tracking money laundering/terrorism ect....

Lets not kid ourselves or anyone else - this has less to do with money laundering than tax evasion. All major countries are using these rules to track down tax evaders.

[kwonitoy]

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I have HSBC a premier accounts in Manila and KLM. The RM in Manila is useless and I hardly ever use the accounts there. The RM in KL is very good and I have made a lot of money from investments there over the years.
For those commenting on the costs of transferring between HSBC accounts I suggest you use Global View, it is free and instant.
I am pretty sure it is less the bank and more the RM that makes the difference in people's good or bad experiences so changing to City Bank for example would still be a gamble.
As for the Monet laundering / terrorism claims - we all know it about taxation.

Rather tend to believe this is all related to the nearly 2 billion USD fine levied against HSBC money laundering!

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/11/us-hsbc-probe-idUSBRE8BA05M20121211

I've gotten the same BS from HSBC.

Last June or July fill out more paperwork than I need for a passport application, found their attitude to be horrible.

Dec 24 receive the paperwork mentioned in the OP, sent an e-mail asking why do you need basically the same information again, and why do you send me this stuff on Christmas Eve???? got a standard form e reply

Phoned and said if you a##holes hadn't been caught laundering dirty money you wouldn't have to hassle innocent people, got a lot of yes we're sorry but you MUST fill out the new paperwork.

I said I don't work for you, you supposed to be a service provider to me

As I also have a offshore company account with Standard Bank I just transfered everything over to them.

[jacko45k]

Is this just peculiar to HSBC or will other Jersey banks be following the lead?

My Relation Manager said the form was a requirement of the Jersey bank regulators so I guess it appies to all banks based there - although I haven't heard about other banks.

Haven't had one from Standard Chartered yet.

[paz]

I bank in Singapore and not with the HSBC for the last 30 years and never once been asked like many of you here have been

How surprising! Check thread title, I'm sure next time you can find a way to post in "chicken soup prices"

[Simon1985]

If you are a UK Citizen and work Offshore and are a Non resident of the UK for Tax purposes and then send some of your salary to the UK to pay off some bills, say 1000 Pounds a month, what do you get taxed on the money you send home.

[manarak]

It's normal nowadays for banks to push the "know your customer" - the form is a standard information gathering form to fight money laundering.

The questions can indeed seem indiscrete.

Theoretically, all information on that form should not leave the bank and be protected by banking secrecy.

I wish a law would force the banks to add a "data protection information sheet" detailing which information can be made available to which thrid parties under which circumstances.

[Soutpeel]

If you are a UK Citizen and work Offshore and are a Non resident of the UK for Tax purposes and then send some of your salary to the UK to pay off some bills, say 1000 Pounds a month, what do you get taxed on the money you send home.

you should not be taxed on anything, but if the 1000 pound a month is being paid in your bank account in the UK, and say the 1000 month is being used to pay a mortgage on a house your own in the UK, the old chestnut of are you really non-resident in the UK comes up ?

Currently the rules say yes, but as i am sure you are aware, the HM tax man has been trying to get these rules changed for years, in that if you own a house in the UK, have a UK bank account etc, you have a "prescence" in the UK and are not a Non-resident and as such you should be taxed in the UK