3 months bank statements to solicitor/fee will be around £1,500?

[RockandRollsuicide]

Just wondering if other people have had to do this? I can understand money 💰 laundry for large amounts but have others had to show 3 months statement's for such a small amount?

The fee will be about £1500 ?

Are you saying that the reason for asking for the bank statements is so that they think you can pay the fee? Did they actually say that? it seems a little unlikely as anyone would know that it says nothing at all about whether you'll pay the bill.

Might you have misunderstood?

I'm being asked to send

1. proof of I'd. Passport etc. 2).copy of utility bill for address..
2. copy of three months bank statements

@Tellhimno ”hundreds of thousands of pounds” means £100,000 upwards, “hundreds of thousands “ of pounds as in £900 - £5,000.
So no, you didn’t pay hundreds of thousands of pounds for a £200,000 house. I have a small £250,000 house and solicitor fees were about £2500 - that is thousands of pounds.

OK but you're still not saying what reason they gave when you queried why the 3 months of statements

Money Laundering regulations have hugely tightened recently, we are an accountancy practice and as we are chartered we are regulated. Even someone wanting £150 worth of work done still has to comply with Anti Money Laundering criteria.

Sorry “hundreds OR thousands” is £900-£5,000 etc

To be honest most of your posts read like a Nigerian scammer. I can see why they might be suspicious.

@IcedOatLatte If I am reading correctly they need the bank statements to meet the anti money laundering criteria, which is likely the case for all new clients.

The work the solicitor is carrying out carries a fee of £1500 and the OP thinks this is too small a fee for her to be looked at for Money Laundering

This.

They tightened the the MLR even further just before pandemic (I recall as we had more training on it)

I can assure you complying is not for us to be “intrusive” the checks are a pain in the arse for us and we want to get on with things!

Q, yes that's exactly it.

I was wondering if it was a generic letter and it was just lazynes on their part holding me to it.

any business, whatever it may, banks, solicitors, accountants etc have to abide by very strict anti-money laundering regulations, regardless of the fee being paid, whether it big or small. If audited we have to show our due diligence on everything. If you went to another solicitor chances are they'd ask for the same documents

Are you though OP? Or are you being asked for a bank statement from the past three months?

I’m a solicitor, money laundering is a crucial part of our process. We are required to ask for a copy of your passport or driving licence plus a utility bill or bank statement from the past three months which shows your current address. Increasingly we are asking for something even more recent ie a bank statement from the past month.

I suspect you’ve misunderstood their letter.

If not then they are concerned that you are a money laundering risk or that you don’t have the funds to pay them (although generally in the latter case we would just ask for payment up front)

the size of the solicitor’s invoice is completely irrelevant, we have to carry out money laundering checked whether our bill is £1 or £1 million.

I had something similar when I had a to get a complex will drawn up.

I was required to prove my identity in order to pay their bill - again, no funds transfer to third parties, just payment for a service provided.

I can at least understand the logic around source of funds for a third party payment, but to pay a bill? Crazy!

Ring them and ask for clarification. It might be a generic email that they sent you.

Then you'll have your answer

We sent the solicitor "hundreds of thousands" which they would have to verify came from a legitimate source.

I think it's probably just a standard letter and I can see why to be honest. Varying it for you is not laziness, it's good business practice. If they do ad hoc arrangements for you then what about the next person and the next again? Very hard to manage anti-money laundering checks if there are multiple different ones.

If you find it too intrusive then take your business elsewhere. Simple.

Currently selling and buying property, only things I've had to give are copy driving licence and recent utilty bill

Thanks everyone!

Denholm I did contact but I know these things can still get confused.