So basically as the title suggests, T212 has so far asked for a “Clear Criminal Record” from 2 of my friends who I invited to start investing with T212.
Both of them are young lads and students, and have nothing to do with crime or the police even. T212 insists on this document, more so, it asks that they bring it from the country of the origin, but they are living, working and studying in Germany, EU.
I’ve opened perhaps a dozen different brokerage accounts in the last 5 years, and I’m from the same country, but was never asked for a police record.
I’m asking this question to understand if this is some new kind of legal requirement? Because even banks don’t ask for this, and brokerage don’t even have options of withdrawing funds to anywhere but your own bank accounts, so there’s even less risk compared to banks.
That’s weird, I’ve opened accounts with T212 before and never had to provide a criminal record, so I don’t think it’s a standard requirement. It could be something specific to their country of origin, though. I’ve also opened accounts with other brokers over the years, and none of them asked for that either. Maybe it’s some kind of compliance issue depending on where they’re from, but I’d definitely reach out to T212 and see if they can clarify why they’re asking for it in this case.
Sometime, institutions ask for weird things. The way to clarify this question, is to ask those entities, for the legal framework that mention that specific request.
Financial Institutions have a lot of legal and regulatory requirements, but also some institutions ask for more that the legislation demands. And when that happen, it’s violating the GDPR and other related legislation.
When putting a deposit down for a flat, I once got asked if we had an ASBO (Anti Social Behaviour Order). I didn’t know what it was at the time so replied “No, do we need to get one?”, they just looked at me and laughed.
Could it be a similar random test? I would be tempted to reply that I don’t have a criminal order, so how could I clear something I don’t have.
Perhaps someone has in the past used their details, or has similar details they need to check, you never know.
I am in a similar boat as them. I tried asking Trading 212 under which legal framework this is necessary, but they keep repeating the same process.
I am also unable to obtain my criminal record unless spending 1.5k on flight tickets, and even then the police will not provide it to a non-resident. I have been a resident of France for 5 years now and they refused the french criminal record.
In accordance with our policies and procedures, providing a clear criminal record may, in some cases, be a requirement to proceed with the onboarding process.
You may refer to our privacy policy: In the course of opening an account for you, we need to collect information to enable us to establish your identity and the appropriateness of our products to your circumstances. To do this, we will request your name, address, date of birth, contact details, income and savings. We may ask for additional information such as,but not limited to, trading statements and employment details.
The Client Acceptance and Categorisation section in the Invest Terms also states that: We are required under Applicable Law to perform KYC Procedures in order to identify and verify our customers. We have undertaken a risk-based approach to this process, which may require obtaining, includingbut not limited to, documentary proof of your name, date of birth and address.
Yes @Veselin.V but that’s doesn’t answer the question or help.
Why do you request a police record from the individual’s country of nationality and not the country of the residence??
Imagine you are living in the UK but are originally from Asia or Latin America or Australia, would you travel back to your country just to pick up a police record, spend 1000-2000$ or more, just to open a brokerage account???
What are you trying to achieve here?
If at all, ask from the country of residence.
Even countries like US ask for Police records from the country you are living in and not your country of citizenship, to issue a visa.
As part of our client verification process, we may request a clear criminal record from the country of nationality, residency, or both, depending on the nature of the review. This is determined by our regulatory obligations and internal procedures to ensure compliance with international standards.
I’ve several cases from friends I invited to the platform, all were required a police record from the country of citizenship even if they are living in Germany since several years.
I work at a bank and banks are more regulated than brokers, we don’t request police records as part of the KYC process.
I understand that you may request a clear criminal record, but there needs to be a clear reason for this request. Many people in our friend group are in the same situation as me and did not have to provide this document.
Additionally, in my home country, the police authority does not issue criminal records to individuals who do not reside there. Without a clear reason for needing this specific documentation, it is impossible for me to open an account. I can only obtain a French criminal record because that is where I currently reside.