it would certainly be their business if a client was laundering money
but even the tax office here in France does not ask what my monthly
outgoings are. It would be very obvious that my account was not being
used to launder funds....they only have to look at it.
just replied but can not see my post!!!!!
Yes...
Barclays in Bergerac.....AND I am unable to get through to them during
the course of a week. I can not get through to the Bordeaux Branch or
the Paris Branch and have been in touch with customer s services UK
THEY too can not get through.
John, my husband and I had similar situation with a Notaire In 2013. We had separated earlier that year, he didn’t want to move, so persuaded one of ours sons to put up half of the valuation he got, which was more than we paid to buy. So day of sale of my half to OH, the Notaire suddenly said sale could not proceed because son had tried to transfer his UK money in Euros, to Notaires bank account, not his fathers. Transfer was refused by Notaires bank. oh what fun while we then waited another couple of weeks
The money HAD to be seen to be going from OH’s French HSBC account to Notaires account. Exchange rates weren’t good then either sterling to euro, whether son or OH explained transfer of sums of money to/from their respective banks and tax authorities I have no idea. I didn’t have to declare it.
In OH’s case presumably would have been seen as ‘income’ but in my case, because it was sale of my main residence it was not treated as income, so not taxable. We both used the same bank and Changed from Joint to separate accounts So they knew what was happening anyway.
Same happens with sale of cars, boats, motor homes etc when sold, but makes sure all, that you have and keep copies of purchase invoices in the 1st place for e pensive items, in case necessary here with the way Rules are changing I had all that on good authority from a French accountant.
Well I’ll expect to hear from HSBC France and England sometime soon I suppose re my accounts now.
Notaire
Perhaps they wanted to be convinced she,Caroline, does still exist,if no apparent proof of income in her name on the Bank account.
Love the reference to the Fokkers and baby, that was such a funny film, especially the cat on or in? the loo in the Motorhome :-). They should make more films like that, my sort of humour. As for Barbara Streisands ‘profession’ - oh dear what a hoot!
Yes, it is a legal requirement and I have had one as well. Just fill it in, either version, they will file it away and if an illegal ten bob note arrives in your account they can produce the form to do their 'not me guv, 'e did it alone' number. I filled in the French version straight away and sent it back, now I can get on with my dispute on another matter.
If I had received such a letter I would contact the bank.
But also check details in the letter, such as logo, addresses, phone numbers, legal statements on the bottom and compare with bone fide communications you have received from you bank. Scammers often do make slight mistakes either in the details, spelling, syntax.
Since the Government will already have details of your earnings, any expenses against earnings and bank accounts and investments via your tax return... and French banks provide the Impôts with such information if in France; for foreign accounts and investments (pension funds too now) you must declare them on your tax form... it raises the question why your bank is asking for this information since it is unlikely to be for the Government as the Government would already have this.
I do know that in the event of making large cash transfers, the bank is obliged to report this above a certain value. I recently bought a property and the Notaire payment instructions said that if paid by bank transfer, my bank had to confirm the origins of the funds... this apparently did not apply to payment by cheque... how exactly my bank did this I do not know as they certainly did not contact me about it before making the payment.
Normally details of earnings and outgoings may be required by a bank considering a loan/overdraft.
If as the letter states this has something to do with money laundering, it seems unlikely it would be something peculiar to Barclays, every bank would be sending out these letters and everyone would be getting one.
Either your bank is 'doing its own thing' or it is the first and we all may expect such letters in due course. I think if this were happening large scale there would be reports in the media because it would make a lot of people unhappy.
My instinct is this is a scam designed to get your personal information: it is easy enough these days to produce stationary with the correct letter-heads and return addresses and since banks and businesses use PO Boxes or a variety of addresses, easy enough to have reply envelopes addressed to the scammers' PO Box/address not the bank's and scammers can be vey convincing - they need only a 2% to 4% success rate to be quids in.
Best therefore to check with the bank's fraud department. You could even call your bank HQ in the UK to see if they can shed some light... whether it is some corporate policy, something specific to France, or a con.
Bonne chance.
Hi Marie-Claire.
Yes I ma sure you are right. The Money Laundering regulations are used as an excuse by banks to pry but what the regulations actually say is quite simple. The bank must be satisfied (not certain) that the person is who he/she claims to be (a certified copy of a passport is adequate) and the source of the funds (in this case transferred from our bank, a major multinational, via Barclays in London which they know from their own computer records)
And I am about to write to the MD seeking an explanation, but stating quite clearly that I will be entirely cooperative after I have an explanation.
I suspect that the whole thing may be of benefit to their marketing department - know what assets a client has and then sell them additional services such as Assurance Vie, wrap it up in some official sounding language and most people will roll over.
As I say I have nothing to hide but ....
I am a huge fan of Barclays. When I was a student at Stellenbosch University in South Africa they gave me a Student Loan when I was 18 - and I bought a hang glider. Best bank ever!
I thought the same Peter, but if they can ask for all your "patrimoine", it means that they can request information concerning other accounts. The letter you received probably went out to thousands of people, hence the threatening tone, I wouldn't take it too seriously, however, I would get in touch and ask exactly what they want and why. Refusing point blank could cause them to close your accounts as any refusal is interpreted as suspicious.
Hi Marie-Claire
My French isn't that good but it seems to me the bank has the right to identify specific transactions and ask for proof of source and etc. I went thru that when I paid off the mortgage, 6 months early. That I think is OK.
But Barclays are seeking to apply that to all our bank accounts, savings, investments in all countries so that they know exactly how much we have in any one accounts and/or investment, which I think is quiet different and not even what the Impots demand.
Apparently they can ask, look here, page 13 http://credit.gemoneybank.fr/fr/PDF/lutte_contre_le_blanchiment_dargent.pdf
They would need to justify the request, but if you have a nice, tidy amount on your account, I can imagine that would be quite easy for them. No that it's fair, of course.
I wish I could remember- it's all a bit of a haze! I do though remember having countless lectures from bank managers over the years about "How to run a business!". Ha ha ha!
Don't want to know about all this, David...just tell us if you pulled!
Hi
Well I eventually got thru and this young man could not explain why they had done what they had done, nor why they were asking for the information, nor offer any comment when I said the information required I could only get from the bank statement which of course he already had.
He was only sorry I was upset. He said I could respond as a household despite the document explicitly saying that each individual member of the household had to complete the form.
He said that all banks were doing or going to do the same thing, so be happy when it arrives, if it does of course.
Anyway he very happily gave me the name of the MD so a letter is on its way, not that it will make any difference but one has to try.
PS No explanation as to why the civilité has changed other than stupidity so at least that is normal.
Thank you for all your help, it is as always much appreciated and is the great joy of SFN.
Oh well just give them a ring & ask why the civilité has changed, I expect there's some boring & undramatic reason for it!
Hi Dani
The Money Laundering regulations are quite specific, the bank has to know who has transferred the money and have they known them for some time and the source of the funds.
Obviously they know me/us for about 9 years, (have copies of our passports, marriage and birth certificates, etc taken when we opened the account) and from where my/our money is transferred from, well what a surprise, Barclays Bank in London!!
I am being asked to supply information that the Impots do not request and somewhat sillier all the information they need to know can be obtained from our bank accounts which is how I will answer the questionnaire!!!
Hi, I was contacted by my bank some months ago, the BNP. They had apparently been required by the American Government to request signature of a particular form for any foreign account suspected to be held by an American. I beleive this falls under the Patriot Act to track any movements of currency that could help terrorist groups. At least that is what I surmised, but I do also find it quite invasive and the information may be then potentially utilised for other taxation purposes. I don't know if the British government has passed a similar type of requirement or if this is entirely different.
Cheers,
Dani
Veronique, you make a good point but our account is:
Mr ou MME PETER SCAWEN
All previous correspondence has been addressed as above, not least a reason why I am querying what is taking place.
But thank you, I had to go and check.
If it is a joint account just make your declaration for the pair of you, I expect it is addressed to her because C comes before P in the alphabet.