POWER OF ATTORNEY - UK

[PETERTHEEATER]

I have created Power of Attorney under UK jurisdiction but am required to enter a 'Certificate Provider' this being the individual who would certify the POA. Since I live in Thailand I plan to use a local branch of a legal company approved by the British Consulate, BKK.

The POA is for a trusted relative to manage a Building Society account.

Two questions:

1. Has anyone had a problem with a UK bank accepting a POA certified by a Thai based notary?

2. Is there an alternative certifier which you, the reader, has used and been accepted; for example a Thai bank branch manager?

Advice welcomed.

[jimmybkk]

Not exactly the same situation as yours but here was my experience recently - HSBC closed an offshore account i had with them and to get my funds released from the "holding account" that HSBC had placed them in I was instructed to send them a letter accompanied by a copy of my passport certified as being a true copy by my local Thai bank. None of the banks I bank with here wanted anything to do with it and refused point-blank to certify the passport copy.

HSBC then advised that as an alternative I could get the passport copy certified as being true by a local lawyer and they would accept it. I assumed this would be bread & butter stuff for any lawyer and so didn't ask too many questions nor give any detailed instructions when I went to see my lawyer here in Pattaya - I told him what I needed and why and he took care of the rest. Except that when I sent it to HSBC they rejected it because the lawyer had printed on a separate piece of paper words to the effect of: "I hereby certify that the attached copy of Mr. jimmybkk's passport is a true copy of the original document and blah... blah... blah..." This he had stamped, signed and sealed and attached to the copy of the passport. HSBC said it was unacceptable and that they needed the lawyer to certify, sign, stamp etc. the actual photocopy itself...

No need for a post mortem of that situation, but based on what happened to me I would suggest you ask the UK bank to provide exact details of what they require from you in writing (or at least point you to some printed matter explaining their policies and requirements in situations such as this) before you expend any effort/cash investment on this. It's easily overlooked, but whenever you call the bank (or their call centre), when the person you speak to greets you and mumbles their name at you by way of an unintelligible introduction be sure to ask them to give you their full name (ask them to spell it too - it helps to get their attention knowing that they may be held accountable for whatever they are about to say) and make a note of it along with the time and date that you made the call. It may not be a bad idea to record any calls to the bank as well, if only for your own reference.

[Pib]

The Notarial and Documentary Services at the British Embassy Bangkok should be able to help....see the Notarial and Documentary Services link at their below website....but of course this means a visit to them which may not be anywhere close to your current location.

https://www.gov.uk/government/world/organisations/british-embassy-bangkok