It has been a bad few years for most banks particularly those in the High Street. Generally those staff on the frontline do a very good job in difficult circumstances and are not of course in any way responsible for the behaviour of those far higher up the ladder.
I have a story which may or may not amaze -  I am a divorce lawyer . My client agreed to buy out his former wife from a property they jointly owned with a well known bank holding the mortgage. He had been a customer for many years paying the mortgage each month without fail and reducing the loan rapidly.There was plenty of equity and he was not going to raise any more money but pay his wife from his savings. During the proceedings he moved to the Middle East to work ( for the same company) but in a more lucrative job. He asked that the mortgage be transferred to him ( the bank were well aware he had paid the monthly payments for ages on his own) and his income was more than enough with all documentary evidence supplied. He was then asked to attend a personal interview in England with the bank for this mortgage transfer.
He said ‘Iam in the Middle East’
 ’Bad luck’ they said
‘But you are ‘the world’s local bank’Â Â he said
‘ The property is in England’ Â they said, therefore the interview must take place in England.
So he flew to England for a 5 minute interview and straight back again
Insanity – who decides these things?
I suppose he could have gone elsewhere but sometimes you just give up ( or give in ). I held his Power of Attorney but that was no help nor apparently my confirmation that he was who he said he was. But they already knew that as he was a customer of longstanding.
I still do not know ( nor does he ) the actual reason for this exercise but it defies all logic and commonsense. Probably to ensure he was not a money-launderer.
And who is this institution? The clue is in the story!
Andrew Kirkconel
