HSBC Safeguard

Fraud and financial crimes are forms of theft. They tend to involve money or property that are gained illegally, and used in a deceptive or illegal manner to gain a benefit from the proceeds. In today's complex economy, financial crimes can take many forms including money laundering, sanctions breaches, fraud, tax evasion, terrorist financing, bribery and corruption. Therefore, it is even more important for us to be vigilant in protecting our customers wherever they are in the world. 

Sanctions are a policy tool which national governments and organisations such as the United Nations and European Union use to constrain and deter perceived threats to their security, or to conform international conduct to recognised international standards. Sanctions help to stop crimes like terrorism, drug trafficking and arms dealing by imposing restrictions on the business that banks can do with specific people, corporations or countries/regions and the names of these are clearly listed on resources like the Office of Foreign Assets (OFAC) sanctions list.

At HSBC, addressing financial crime globally has long been one of our priorities. It is our duty to ensure that you can bank with us safely, securely and confidently. Improving the way we share and manage customer information will help us continue to fight effectively against such risks and prevent criminals from penetrating the banking system.

As the world becomes increasingly connected and technologically advanced, there are unfortunately greater opportunities for the misuse of the financial system. A key defence against money laundering is to prevent accounts being opened in false identities. We also sometimes need to verify the origin of the funds as part of our ongoing efforts to track our customers' legitimate funds. Criminals will try to appear to be law-abiding citizens or businesses and therefore we need to request documentary evidence from all of our customers in order to fully protect them and their accounts.

In the event that your account is already inactive, we will place certain access restrictions to protect your account from potential unauthorized activity. As a result, you will experience limitations regarding your banking services, such as:

• Limited access to accounts via HSBC ATM, Phone Banking and Online Banking
• Restrictions on making investments and withdrawals from your account(s)

In the event that your account becomes inactive and you would like to activate it again, please follow the guide below. Please note, to activate joint accounts we will require documents from all account holders.

Step 1. Prepare the following documents

• A copy of your passport with minimum 6 months validity. For Singaporeans, a copy of your NRIC if there are any changes.
  For non-Singaporeans, a copy of proof of your current residential address^#
• A copy of proof of your current residential address^#, if you have moved and changed your country/region of residence.
• A copy of the passport/NRIC of connected parties associated with your HSBC account/s if any, e.g. supplementary credit card holders; power of attorney; executor/administrator etc.

^# your most recent utility bill, bank statement, rental agreement or phone bill

Step 2. Complete ALL the fields in the Personal Particulars Update Form

Step 3. Visit any HSBC Branch in Singapore with the above documents. You will need to complete and sign the Account Activation Form when you are at the branch. A copy of the Personal Particulars Update Form can also be requested during your visit.

If you are only holding credit card account(s) that have become inactive, you may contact us to reactivate the accounts.

If anyone has requested a payment from you for something like:

• an alleged offence overseas
• helping facilitate a courier delivery
• helping someone you've only recently met
• an investment promising high returns from an unverified source
• an unknown recipient that you've never made direct contact with,

we advise caution. We recommend cancelling the payment and calling us on +65 6472 2669.