Bank Fraud Lawyer Advice

[steveinbsas]

I f I were you, I would file a lawsuit IN THE USA agains that bank. They will do the outmost to avoid it, maybe they will refund the money right away to avoid the scandal.

I doubt that would be legally possible, so I don't think any Argentine bank would have anything to worry about, including negative publicity.

Even if they use the same name (HSBC for example), I'm quite certain that all banks in Argentina are independent from banks in any other country.

Filing a lawsuit in the USA for any reason is time consuming and costly, and no doubt well above the amount in dispute here.

 

[FrankPintor]

Thanks banks there are a joke. I have an HSBC account in Argentina and I'm even a Premier client. I've had my account for many years. A month before COVID hit, my account stopped working. No email, no phone call. The only way I found out about it was I was paying a bill and it didn't work. I had both peso and US dollar account with about $6,000 US dollars in it.

I emailed my account manager and she said that they closed it as I haven't used the debit card in a long time. HUH? I used my account every month to pay bills so this is a strange explanation. They said I needed to come to Buenos Aires to get the funds out personally. Due to COVID, I haven't been able to get to Argentina yet. But the banks there are a joke.

Well, there you go. It's entirely not nice, it happened to me 6 years ago, and I had quite a bit more in my account and well from one day to the next I couldn't access my money anymore. HSBC doesn't care, and they are notorious in expat circles for that. All I can suggest is getting your money out of there to a serious bank, maybe you have someone of confidence that can help you, and from there the funds can be sent wherever you like.

 

[earlyretirement]

Well, there you go. It's entirely not nice, it happened to me 6 years ago, and I had quite a bit more in my account and well from one day to the next I couldn't access my money anymore. HSBC doesn't care, and they are notorious in expat circles for that. All I can suggest is getting your money out of there to a serious bank, maybe you have someone of confidence that can help you, and from there the funds can be sent wherever you like.

The banker says via email that they will return the money once I get there. FrankPintor, in your case did they refund the money and how much of a hassle was it? What was your process like if I can ask? Yes, I never kept too much money in it. Just enough to pay bills but I own a few properties so had to keep funds in it as I don't go down to Buenos Aires very often. What a hassle.

 

[nikad]

HSBC Argentina is not linked to the foreign bank. It is a horrible and expensive bank ( horrible in all senses ) with very nice facilities. I sued them years ago and got them to pay. I would not recommend this bank to my worst enemy. I know a lot of expats open accounts there out of naivety believing that it will be like the intl HSBC.

 

[FrankPintor]

The banker says via email that they will return the money once I get there. FrankPintor, in your case did they refund the money and how much of a hassle was it? What was your process like if I can ask? Yes, I never kept too much money in it. Just enough to pay bills but I own a few properties so had to keep funds in it as I don't go down to Buenos Aires very often. What a hassle.

They refunded the money, via SWIFT transfer (for which they charged, at their exorbitant rate of course) to my brother's account, and it was a lot of hassle, involving emails, phone calls, and faxes if I remember correctly. It took about a month to get it done.

Just to be clear, this was HSBC International, not the Argentina branch. I wouldn't recommend any HSBC operation to my worst enemy, they've done the same thing to several of my expat colleagues.

 

[earlyretirement]

HSBC Argentina is not linked to the foreign bank. It is a horrible and expensive bank ( horrible in all senses ) with very nice facilities. I sued them years ago and got them to pay. I would not recommend this bank to my worst enemy. I know a lot of expats open accounts there out of naivety believing that it will be like the intl HSBC.

Hi nikad,

Yes, AFTER this experience I wouldn't recommend them at all. But previous to this, I didn't have any issues at all. I"m a Premier bank client with them in 6 different countries and never had any issues up until this point. I already know that all these banks there have nothing to do with their US parents. In essence, it's almost like they are renting the name. I'm sure I'll eventually get it sorted out when I visit Argentina after the various lockdowns. I don't want to travel right now during COVID down there but will once things get better there and hopefully get my money back.

 

[Bajo_cero2]

HSBC Argentina is not linked to the foreign bank. It is a horrible and expensive bank ( horrible in all senses ) with very nice facilities. I sued them years ago and got them to pay. I would not recommend this bank to my worst enemy. I know a lot of expats open accounts there out of naivety believing that it will be like the intl HSBC.

Banco Frances is even worse.
They never sent me the credit cards but they want me to pay the fee for them.