Dear All This is a message of warning to other posters from the Middle East (and possibly other regions) regarding the account opening procedures and attitude by IB. I'm a British citizen of Iraqi origin (left in 1981). I live in Dubai and tried opening an account with IB (due to the commissions and variety of securities on offer). I sent them all the required documentation including: My british passport UAE driving licence My Bank details Apartment lease agreement. They came back and asked me the following questions (which I answered): In reviewing your account application and documents we have noticed that the place of birth on your passport indicates Baghdad. Due to this, there are some additional questions we will need before we can continue processing your account application. Please review and provide responses to the below questions: 1) Do you currently hold a passport from Iraq? NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS. I APPLIED WITH MY BRITISH PASSPORT. 2) Do you hold Iraq citizenship? NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS. YOU KNOW IâM A BRITISH CITIZEN. YOU NEED TO KNOW WHERE MY GREAT GRANDMOTHER WAS BORN TOO??? 3) Do you have business dealings in Iraq? NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS 4) Do you hold any financial accounts in Iraq? NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS 5) Do you have plans ever to back/settle in Iraq? IF AND WHEN I PLAN TO MOVE ANYWHERE I WILL INFORM MY BROKER AND BANK IN GOOD TIME. IâM LIVING IN DUBAI NOW. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO ASK ME WHAT MY LIFE PLANS ARE AND WHAT UNDERWEAR I PLAN TO WEAR TOMORROW. Please review and provide responses to these questions and we will review and finish processing your account application for final review and approval. . Regards, Michael New Accounts Department Interactive Brokers, LLC-US
Why don't you choose a new broker there Einstein?? Don't blame IB for following up and requiring additional information on you. For all they know, you are an international terrorist wanting to launder dirty money through them. If I ran a brokerage, I'd think the same thing!
I doubt that IB holds something personal against you or Iraqi's. I've worked in compliance departments before and they usually have a list of countries that raises a red flag [most of the time it's not even made by them but provided by e-security firms] As soon as a keyword pops up [in your case Baghdad] the system generates a red flag and requires additional information. This would've been the same if your passport said Colombia or Vietnam, so you can't say it's a racism problem.
I guess the Caves at Tora Bora ain't a condo complex golf resort community. Its called the Patriot Act. Deal with it.
do not be so rough on this man. being born in baghdad is not a sin. for all you know he could be a persecuted kurd or christen from iraq. even being a moslem is not an excuse for this treatment. the questions are intrusive and the answers will reveal nothing of value.
I know the questions seem intrusive, but I don't think IB intentionally makes the account opening process any more complicated than they have to. They have to follow industry guidelines which have developed because of the Patriot Act. I'm sure IB wants your money as much anyone else's but, again, they have to follow the regulations and laws of the US. and the futures /securities industry. Think about it: they aren't asking you those questions because they want to. They have to. Try opening an account elsewhere and see if you get the same hassles. I do sympathize with you though.
It's not IB's fault, it's the US KYC/AML know-your-costumer/anti-money-laundering regulations, as well as regulations regarding who can and who can't open accounts in the US. In this case, I suspect they are investigating whether you have dual citizenship Iraq-UK. So according to US regulations UK citizenship doesn't matter you're still an Iraq citizen. I suggest opening an account in another country, or opening an account through a 3rd person or an entity. If it's any consolation, american citizens face similar discrimination when opening non-US accounts. When some banks see place of birth "USA" they want to see the american passport, even if you are legally a citizen of another country in the relevant jurisdiction, i.e. not a US citizen. I agree with zdreg, it's a terrible injustice to limit economic freedoms to people just because of place of birth.
These were some of the measures included in the Patriot Act for the explicit purpose of keeping terrorist from laundering money through the US. Try another US broker. You'll get the same result.
It's unfortunate that anyone is treated this way. I have worked in the banking business and one of the reasons I left was the compliance requirements. The banks and brokers are being forced by their governments to ask these questions and obtain every identification document known to man. All of these requirements used to be a little "grey" as far as actual compliance. Now the banks have been forced to put it point blank to their employees, if you do not comply 100% with all the compliance requirements for your clients, YOU ARE FIRED. As previously stated it is all about money laundering. So you as a client are treated like a criminal until you prove yourself innocent.