Account opening then and now

Dr. Dimitrios Karathanassis 

In: ContraLegem 2018/1, S. 50ff. 

• The complexity of opening an account 
• Increasing compliance requirements make it difficult to open accounts at Swiss banking institutions in terms of time and material. A field report. 

How information (should) make the world a better place 

At that time 

I can still  remember my  first  account opening. The summer holidays had   started a few days ago     and I had, a few    days    after  my  16th birthday.    Birthday, just  started  my  first  summer job  in a  small  industrial company.  After  a  welcome  by  the supervisor,   I   was asked  to fill out various documents. One of the pages was titled “banking relationship   ”  and    slightly   bashfully I    had to admit on   record  that  I   did not  have one.    With  a  smile  I was  advised    to  open one, because  salaries  would    not  be paid  in cash. Fearing  for my   future  wages,   I   ran  home right  after  work to  ask my  parents  for advice. My father  picked up   the   phone  and half an    hour  later  we  entered the branch  of a  bank in   the  village square. The store manager, a  nice elderly  gentleman, greeted  my  father  warmly  and  then   turned  to  me,   then invited us    both  into his office, which had  the charm   of the 60s.  He was still  breathing for years. The store manager     kindly asked  me   how old I was, where I went to  school, what my  favorite subjects  were  and if  I   had any hobbies.  I   answered  his  questions kindly, but did   not understand them  as  relevant for  the account opening, but  more  than  the    usual  questions that adults  ask  children,  if   their   real  interest  is their  parents  and a  certain  kindness  towards the children is part  of the  good  manners.   I was   then  told, since I   had  not  yet  reached the age of majority,  that my   father  would be  a co-beneficiary  of  the account   (which   made me  wonder, since it  was   my money that was supposed   to flow into the account ).   ) but  that  I   could otherwise    freely dispose of  it.  I was presented with   two  pages  that I   had to  sign, one of which  contained  the terms and conditions.  After  giving my  full  name    ,   I was asked   to  sign right away. I   could    leave the second  field with  the address blank,   you  would already have it   through  my  parents.  Finally, I     was  asked  if I     wanted a  bank card,   I would have to  make  another  signature  for  this  purpose.    After  twenty  minutes,   my  dad and    I   left  the bench and I felt like growing   up would  be   easy.        

Today 

Years later, with a  Ius degree and the bar exam in  between, I   was asked by a  client to assist him  in discussions with a bank.  Not far from  the parade ground, on a rainy afternoon, there are   seven of us, both of us  and five bank  representatives, sitting in one of  these elegant premises of the   bank    , which is more reminiscent of the 50s.  than  global banking, FATCA and AEOI.  Basically  , it  is about the establishment of a  banking relationship and the account opening for a stock corporation held by the customer alone. He himself  is a Colombian citizen,  but has been living in Switzerland for  over 20 years and  has been a  customer of the said bank ever since. 

 After initial niceties are exchanged and the café  is served,  the following  conversation begins,  which  is only incompletely reproduced here: 

  B:  Thank you  for  choosing us. 

K: Well, I’ve been a  customer of yours for a long time and I’m very satisfied. 

B:Yes, of course, in the area of private clients  

K: Uh, yes, exactly, that’s  with you, isn’t it?  

B: That’s  correct, but  we’re a different department here, Corporate Clients.   Nevertheless,  we are glad that you  have now  come to us with X AG.  We now have some documents here that  need to be filled in. 

The client advisor Corporate Clients hands me a stack of about 70 pages.  These are sorted into several substacks. 

B: You would now have  to  fill out these documents and  then send them to us.  Perhaps we could briefly look at  the documents together. 

K: That’s fine, my lawyer will take care of  it. 

B: That’s ok, thanks.  In conclusion,  however, we would like to ask  a few questions. 

K: What kind of questions? 

B:About you.  Questions of a general nature. 

 This  is where I dig deeper, because I  do not understand what questions should be relevant  in  addition to the  documents to be filled in. 

B: Oh, you know, the classic KYC. 

Even before  I  can answer that  I do not know what the classic KYC is and what other  KYC there  is,  the client takes the  floor. 

K: That’s ok,  please ask. 

B: You’re married, right? 

Q:And. 

B:How long? 

K: For 25 years. 

B: And your wife, who also lives  in Zurich? 

K: Yes, of course. But  listen,  you  have this information for a long time. 

B: No, not our department and we are obliged  to ask separately again. 

K:Ok, then please, continue . 

B:Where did you study? 

K:In Bogota, History and Politics. 

B:Any semesters abroad? 

K: No, that  wasn’t so common at the time. 

B: Where does your wealth come from? 

K: It’s my family’s money. 

B: You inherited it, right? 

Now  I cannot    hold back and object that apparently the Corporate Clients department  has  obtained information that is available to  the  Private Clients  department. 

B: Yes  , we know the customer, he  has been with us  for  a long time.  

I  refrain from asking   what the interrogation  is supposed to do  , also because I see that my client remains calm. 

B: So,  you inherited the fortune?  

K: Yes,  thirty years ago. 

B: Through her parents? 

Q:And. 

B:What did your parents do for a living? 

K: They had a factory, some companies. 

B:Ok. What was the name of the parents? 

K: Please? 

B:Your   parents’ names. 

K: But they’ve been dead  for thirty years and have never been  to Switzerland. 

B: Well, ok, but we   need to know their names. 

K: Their names were W and Z. 

How  I would have liked to have mentioned any figures by García Márquez  instead of  W and Z  and looked to  see if the customer advisor would notice.   Father José Arcadio Buendía, mother Úrsula Iguarán. But here, too,  I  refrain from interfering. 

B: And they have a son? 

K: Yes, he’s  fifteen. 

At this point  I intervene and object  that it  would go a little too far. The 52 bank representatives take a quick look at  each other  and give in. 

B:Good, good. That’s not so important. Still living   in XY? 

K: Yes, since I’ve been in Switzerland. 

B: Well, finally, could you  send us  a CV? 

K: A what? 

I, too, ask what  is meant by “CV”.  It is about an  account opening, not about an application.  

B: Well, we didn’t find  you  on LinkedIn,  so  we need more information. 

I see the astonished face of my  client, but also driven  by my own curiosity,  I ask what  role  LinkedIn plays here. 

B: Well, when we   find our customers on LinkedIn, we  take the  profile there for the CV   , because  we still have to have  it  .  If the customers are not on LinkedIn,  they must submit  a resume. 

K: I’m  not   on  LinkedIn, not even on Facebook or anything. 

B: Yes,  we know that, hence the request for a CV. 

K: Um, yes. 

B: Do you  have any relations with the US? 

K: No. 

B:Are you or family members U.S. citizens? 

K: No. 

B: And your parents?  Were the U.S. citizens? 

K: They’re still  dead! And no, they  weren’t. 

B: Are you  planning  to become a US citizen? 

K: Not in this life, maybe in the  next.  

The bank employees laugh tensely, but the mood is loosened up a bit despite everything. I    can’t   help laughing either,  but I wonder what can  still be said with certainty today. 

B: Well, still to the documents.  We have  already drawn for you in pencil what you  should tick where. 

I object   that  it may  be that something else would have to be ticked. The bank employees look at each other confused. 

B:Then  please  call us immediately. But actually, this  should not be  necessary. 

The  recently   relaxed mood  is noticeably tensing again. The awkward silence is finally broken by my client, who states that  he now  has  to go on,  has another  appointment. 

B:Ok, ok. If  you have any questions,  we will contact you. 

  We say goodbye  and  we leave the  bank into the cool summer air. My client looks at  me confused, he is still a little overwhelmed by this interrogation.  After a few minutes,  he  lets off some steam and   complains    about what he has been   asked,  but relents on his own: “You know, the banks are not  to blame.   , they are just doing  their job,  these regulations are to blame, they  have taken over  and you are riddled with questions that  should not concern anyone.” 

He hands me the account opening documents: “May I ask you to look at this? I’ll fill it  out if you give me the OK.” 

I assure him to do so and just before   he gets into the car, he  shakes his head again, visibly annoyed: “Look, many of my business partners are starting  ,  or have started to  To avoid the Swiss  financial centre. They have nothing to hide,  but do not want to reveal things that fall within the realm of the private.  We  once left  Colombia because there  was no rule of law, too  many controls, too much  surveillance  ,  too much  arbitrariness. And now this. And      even worse: the state 53  does  not even bother to collect this information itself. In South America, the secret services have long collected this  information themselves,  but here the state obliges the private individuals, i.e.   the banks,  to collect this data.   . And I  still pay for it, because the costs are passed on to me.  It’s  crazy to  have to pay for your own surveillance.”