All banks should by now have been in touch with their clients, either by email, text or through a notice placed on internet banking accounts, the purpose of the notice being that accounts may be blocked if proof of identification is not provided by 30 April.
In accordance with Spanish legislation the banks are required to collect and digitalize up-to-date identification documents for all account holders. For Spaniards, this means the DNI national identity card; for foreign residents, you are required to produce either your residency card or passport.
Whilst, in the majority of cased the residency card or passport will be enough, some customers may also be required to provide additional information regarding their economic activities, said to be part of new requirements to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
The obligation to keep digital records of clients’ personal data was first introduced in 2010, but the law gave lenders a five-year deadline to complete the task. That deadline expires this coming Thursday so be warned as accounts that do not meet the requirements will be blocked on 1 May.
There will be some clients who have not yet been contacted by their bank and can assume that no further action is necessary as their ID is already in the bank’s possession, but it might be worth checking as the sudden withdrawal of your funds could have a catastrophic effect.
However, when the client produces their ID, the account will be re activated again, but after three months, if the account is still blocked it will be transferred to a different category known as “cuentas de orden;” Recovering one’s money at that point could be more complicated and require additional paperwork.
It may be prudent, therefore, if you have friends back in UK who may not be aware of the possible embargo on their accounts, to give them a call and advise them to get in touch with their bank. It could save them an awful lot of inconvenience in the future.
Filed under: http://www.theleader.info/article/47069/
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