Banque asking for ID etc

[idun]

Recently we were asked for ID etc from our banque in France and I kicked up a bit and wanted to know why.

Today we received a proper letter from La Direction de la Banque with a foot note stating the following:

1 Article L. 561-8 du Code monetaire et financier, qui dispose (Lorsque'une personne mentionnee a l'article L. 561-2 n'est pas en mesure d'identifier son client ou d'obtenir des informations sur l'objet et la nature de la relation d'affaires , elle n'execute aucune operation, quelles qu'en soient les modalities, et n'etablit ni ne poursuit aucune relation d'affaires. Lorsqu'elle n'a pas ete en mesure d'identifier son client out d'obtenir des informations sur l'objet et la nature de la relation d;affiares et aue celle-ci a neamoins ete etablie en application du II de article L. 561-5, elle y met un terme.

and boy did that take some typing on this new qwerty key board, hate it!

So it looks as though, IF one won't play the game, then the account can be blocked, in fact would be blocked......... but knowing french banques, would they? Ours probably would be, because they know I have been too inquisitive.

[Chancer]

Yes they can and will, I got fed up with playing the game with CL, long story but they suddenly decided that I didnt live in France and then sent my statements to the UK, then I got all this "know your Customer" crap asking for the ins and outs of a ducks ar5ehole every 12 months, photocopies of the same passport, the same UK tax return from 8 years before they even claimed that I had never lived in France (informatiquement) that they had no address for me in France but were unable to explain why my cheques all had my French address written on them.

 

Anyway when I got fed up with playing the game they froze and closed my account and declared me interdit bancaire with the Banque de France, typical spite, well for all the problems that shuld have caused me luckily the CA were too lax to do their job properly and I opened an account with them without problem the day that I learned of my misfortune which of course they did not communicate to me either in France or the UK.

[tinabee]

One of the more recent problems French (and other European) banks have is the requirement to comply with FATCA (US tax reporting). They have to report anyone who may have a link to the US tax authorities or face potentially severe penalties.

[Pickles]

[quote user="tinabee"]One of the more recent problems French (and other European) banks have is the requirement to comply with FATCA (US tax reporting). They have to report anyone who may have a link to the US tax authorities or face potentially severe penalties.[/quote]

I came across a couple of articles recently where it was said that some US citizens resident in France have now been essentially forced to renounce their US citizenship in order to continue to have accounts with French banks. The reporting requirements are onerous and costly, and if any mistake is made the repercussions on the bank's US operations are apparently out of all proportion.

Our bank in France became increasingly demanding of proofs of this and that, and we have now ditched them. We were already with their online subsidiary, which still occasionally asks for some ID proof (but nothing like to the extent demanded by their parent) but is happy to receive the documentation online as well.