Online banking customers in the Czech Republic are now being questioned about their source of income before they can access their accounts. The banks say this is to comply with new legislation and guidelines issued by the Czech National Bank (CNB) to combat money laundering. Organized crime groups are “a continuous and serious risk” to the Czech economy according to a Council of Europe assessment. The same assessment also found that money laundering cases were rarely pursued.
The questionnaire is not specifically required by law. It is that, as a bank public relations manager explained,
..”.every bank is required to continuously improve its approach and not get stuck in the existing status quo.”
Like the status quo of respecting your depositors privacy?
A few banks are making it mandatory to answer the questions before accessing your accounts. Others let you skip the questionnaire and proceed with your banking. There have been complaints, but it seems many customers are perfectly willing to supply the requested information. Others are merely skeptical of the efficacy of this tactic.
“I saw the questionnaire when I logged into my account, but I was given the option to skip it,” he said. “From what I could tell, it seemed like there wasn’t much point to it. If the plan was to prevent illegal transactions, then surely a criminal would just create a cover story anyway. I wonder whether the banks are hoping to catch money launderers with a ticky box.”
Or as we call it, a check box.
A financial analyst said it would be preferable if banks did a better job identifying potential criminals before signing them up with the banks. Note whom he considers suspicious.
“Banks should focus on a strategy known as ‘Know Your Client,’ ” he said. “It means to correctly identify the client. Stricter rules must be applied for a politically exposed person, for example, because this person has a higher risk of being connected with bribery and money laundering.”
Oh yeah.
I don’t know what questions are being asked, but it seems quite unlikely a questionnaire will snag any criminals. Maybe it’s a clever ruse. A spokesman for one of the banks suggests not answering the questionnaire could result in even greater scrutiny of the customer’s transactions.
So either you answer the questionnaire or you are placed under even greater scrutiny. Avoiding online banking altogether isn’t going to get you off the hook. Some banks are considering implementing telephone interviews of their clients to obtain this information.
Let’s hope this check bounces and bounces hard smacking the arrogant bureaucrats in the face. No one should put up with this sort of snooping.
Sounds like something the Obama Regime would love to do… as an excuse to snoop on everyone.
This is partly due to the EU and the euro. If, for example, mobsters had to exchange francs for marks then somewhere there would be a trace of that. But with everything in euros, much harder to trace. Mexico druglords already launder some of their money in the U.S., but it would be extremely difficult to find that if Mexico and U.S. economies were both based in U.S. dollars.
Regardless, your point is correct Pat S. This should go away.
“Let’s hope this check bounces and bounces hard smacking the arrogant bureaucrats in the face. No one should put up with this sort of snooping.”
I guess this means that the Czech is in the mail. 😉
Does the Dodd-Frank bill provide for the same type of theft that occurs in Cyprus?
Speaking of money laundering; “..Federal prosecutors charged seven people on Tuesday with running a currency transfer and payment processing company that helped criminals around the world launder more than $6 billion (4.6 billion euros) in illegal funds. The case is aimed at Costa Rica-based online bank Liberty Reserve, which authorities say processed 55 million illicit transactions worldwide for 1 million users over the last seven years, with practically all of its business related to suspected criminal activity….”
http://www.dw.de/us-accuses-currency-exchange-liberty-reserve-of-laundering-billions/a-16844119
I wonder if the Czechs are prone to push back against this type of intrusion into their privacy. Surely they aren’t falling for this bogus excuse about new policies and procedures. Like Tammy said in the DTB last night, this is *conditioning*, pure and simple.
You’d think after what happened with the Cyprus banking crisis, everyone’s ears and eyes would be opened to this kind of stuff. Thanks for keeping us informed, Pat_S.