I have been with IB for over 19 years now and have never had a case where they asked me for supporting documents. Almost all my transactions cash flow wise were between either Shinsei Bank and Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi (while in Japan) or between IB HK and HSBC. Never even once have they asked for any proof. It surprises me to hear stories like this from multiple people. Did you fund the account from obscure offshore banks or small banks perhaps?
It seems to be limited to customers of IB US, not the Japanese or HK subsidiary. And it seems to be done in response to IB getting fined in the US for insufficient oversight in the sources of wealth of their customers. What I didn't know was that also customers in Europe got the same inquiry from their IB subsidiary.
That makes very little sense to me. The whole concept of money laundering is to get money reintroduced into the banking system. Once its in the job is done. So why would IB need to ask where the money is from if it came from a US bank account, such as a stink normal JPM account? The only issue I see is with IB US or IB Canada when money is wired into those accounts from a foreign entity.
No. Very large Nordic bank with good rep. It seems to be related to residing in a different country than the citizenship or account funding but can't be sure.
Definitely. Cross border funding will draw attention. But can't speak for the quality of the handling of such. If the stories are true then IB has a lot of opportunities to improve its services.
I got a request in 2021 from IB when I sent money from a Non US escrow account into my US account, in non US dollars. On a side note, non IB related, had a buddy not file his FBAR forms. IRS hit him for 60K fines and penalties. He learned 2 things He should have filed late. They give you one free pass, evidently. The fine on a Columbian LLC, was calculated at a base rate and then additional amounts (5K) for each employee.
Securities regulations require broker/dealers "know your customer"... whatever support and detail that requires to satisfy the regulations. (I regularly get inquiries from banks to "update my income". I have it listed as "zero". While that keeps my credit card limits with them small, I'd rather it be that way than make myself a juicy target should the bank's customer base get hacked.)
I was (and still is) a client of IB for about 20 years. Suddenly they wanted my SOW in 2020. I needed to get bank statements, tax statements etc from 2003 until 2010, when I made most of my money. It's insanity. I probably spent 5-6 days trying to sort this out and we exchanged multiple mails and uploads. So, when they transferred me out of IB UK, they asked me the same questions all over again..... No one to ask, no one to help, it was a complete nightmare. This KYC and AML are bordering complete insanity. Imagine how much productivity is lost controlling 100% of the customers when perhaps 0.05% is laundering.