Banks. Has anyone else heard this?

[Napoleon]

As I understand it, documented permanent residents will not be affected. Undocumented perma tourists will, but they don't vote so I am confused why you would claim the elected officials are theirs (yours)?

I see this as very similar to unscrupulous apartment landlords keeping the deposits of expats even when no damage is done to the apartment. It's taking money from a group that most probably has some money to spare and who don't really know their rights or how to fight injustice, and so they probably will ultimately give up even contesting the theft.

 

[Canick]

for what its worth:
i followed up with my bank rep and asked him to ask if there was a change in Citibank Argentina's policy happening at the end of the year, as per the request of the central bank.
i asked him to not just give his opinion but to ask around.
he emailed me back asking for my cel. On the call he explained that his email earlier stating "if you ask me, this is very strange. I have heard nothing about it"...was "HIS OPINION AND NOT THAT OF THE BANK'S".
He said he spoke to the bank's lawyers and said he wanted to be clear "THIS IS MY OPINION AS IF TWO FRIENDS WERE HAVING COFFEE"....

he restated, there was as of now, no official change to declare, but if i was worried, i should remove my funds and put them in my safe box.

i don't want to fuel a rumour. please everyone do their own due diligence as to your own specific situations.

The bank's official policy is that nothing will happen to people like me (with DNI, but not permanent yet), and I think the guy was yelled at by his lawyers for putting potentially 'liable' language in his email, when no one can be sure what will happen in the future.

Having said that, i'm off to the bank to make a withdrawal.

 

[jez]

he restated, there was as of now, no official change to declare, but if i was worried, i should remove my funds and put them in my safe box.

If your account is emptied and closed the bank will also close your safety deposit box; assuming it is at the same bank..

 

[Napoleon]

There are a lot of red flags here. I would do "the safe thing" and withdraw nearly everything I had, if I had a bank account. Wow...

 

[citygirl]

Especially given that historically, January is the usual month when bad things happen - ie devaluations, banking changes, etc.

I don't keep any money in the bank for this reason. And am seriously thinking about taking out the money in our corp account as ridiculous as that sounds. Too many things happening lately for me to feel comfortable with the banking system here (not that I ever trusted it but now I really don't).

 

[Sleuth]

I opened a bank account here with just my passport when I was applying for my DNI two years ago. My attorney had a connection at the bank who would do this and then later add your DNI when it was approved. I now have permanent residency as well as my DNI, but this was never added onto the account. (I tried to once, but there was some problem at the bank and they said they would call back when they fixed it and of course we never heard from them.)

I deposit just enough there every month to pay my bills with PagoMisCuentas and take advantage of some debit card offers they have. I'll be sure it has a really low balance by the end of the year and see what happens. I haven't received any type of notification from them.

 

[kat]

My HSBC rep said that this is the time of year that the Central Bank does its annual audit, and all banks must show that all their client accounts are up-to-date with registration and paperwork. As some foreigners have temporary DNI´s, they have to make sure they have any/all updated information, so they contact clients to come in and show their current ID.

 

[expatalex]

point 1, they can't confiscate money without a court order,

point 2, banks are corporations not a Gov entity, you might not be able to have movements in your accounts and they might be frozen until you take all your money out

point 3, your money is allways yours, you can always get it back with a court order,if confiscated they will have to go through the process

 

[Canick]

point 1, they can't confiscate money without a court order,

point 2, banks are corporations not a Gov entity, you might not be able to have movements in your accounts and they might be frozen until you take all your money out

point 3, your money is allways yours, you can always get it back with a court order,if confiscated they will have to go through the process

point 4, who the hell wants the hassle? i have other things to do than sue/get a court order to get my own money back!

 

[Napoleon]

point 1, they can't confiscate money without a court order,

point 2, banks are corporations not a Gov entity, you might not be able to have movements in your accounts and they might be frozen until you take all your money out

point 3, your money is allways yours, you can always get it back with a court order,if confiscated they will have to go through the process

"Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."