bernard
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Post by bernard on Jun 5, 2014 15:16:49 GMT
Anyone know any reason why FC still don't permit non UK resident lenders? As demonstrated by ample other sites (who allow non uk res), there is no external (eg HMRC) restriction on this, only a slight extra overhead with the initial AML/KYC. Is it just that FC are too lazy to do the AML/KYC? Anyone else know of a valid reason? Thanks
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Post by batchoy on Jun 5, 2014 16:40:58 GMT
The big one with US citizens is the IRS. I know a couple of people who have given up the US citizenship in favour of UK citizenship due to the difficulty in getting financial services and the cost of doing an annual tax return.
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pikestaff
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Post by pikestaff on Jun 5, 2014 17:17:05 GMT
Any (non-US) platform with any sense will exclude US citizens because compliance is a nightmare and the potential penalties for non-compliance are frightening. Beyond that, it comes down to what the platforms feel they need to do for anti-money laundering purposes, and what they judge the cost/benefit to be.
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bernard
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Post by bernard on Jun 6, 2014 13:13:00 GMT
Thanks for your replies guys. Apart from the US issue, seems like FC is lagging the comp here.
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unmadem
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Post by unmadem on Jun 6, 2014 13:20:38 GMT
I have a vague memory that FC set up a US site 3 or 4 months ago.
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Post by ajscotland on Jun 10, 2014 18:13:02 GMT
There are many implication to serving non-UK residents. Unless you want non UK business many financial organisations will avoid the cost and hassle of serving them. These include - Creating any exception process to deal with non-UK residents
- Removing demand from non UK investors for additional reporting to meet their tax needs; queries related to their non-UK status; and queries related to non-sterling payments
- Allow and organisation to report that they are UK resident only and so avoiding the additional costs of reporting about non-UK residents and the risk of the need to deal with follow-up enquires from regulators / tax authorities etc.
- Make it easier/cheaper to develop the product for ISAs etc.
- It is not a case of FC being lazy concerning AML/KYC. The cost of AML/KYC for non UK residents is huge by comparison with the automated validation that can be done with UK residents with a bank account.
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Post by planetx on Jun 10, 2014 18:50:26 GMT
- It is not a case of FC being lazy concerning AML/KYC. The cost of AML/KYC for non UK residents is huge by comparison with the automated validation that can be done with UK residents with a bank account.
But how can that be reconciled with the fact that a good number of other platforms with much smaller financial resources than Funding Circle seem to be managing it?
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Post by ajscotland on Jun 10, 2014 22:25:57 GMT
A UK resident with a UK bank account and driving licence/passport cost pence to AML/KYC using automated tools. Onboarding a non UK customer takes a skilled person quite a time; requires the inspection of documents carries the risk of exception that can then take an hour or more to resolve; and carries the overhead of compliance checking.
Perhaps some companies think it worth their while
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