Opening Bank Account

[nymong]

Hi,

I am trying to find out on behalf of my Iranian friend. He tried to open a bank account in HSBC and was denied the right to because the bank claimed that they could not provide such service to Iranian. That sounds ridiculous to me. Anyhow, if you could advise which other bank in Hong Kong can my friend go to, that will be of great help.

Cheers.

[pat_togo]

That's not ridiculous at all. There are certain countries for which banks are not allowed to open bank accounts, especially if applicants are non-resident in Hong Kong. Iran is certainly one of them.

[kelasanis]

That's not ridiculous at all. There are certain countries for which banks are not allowed to open bank accounts, especially if applicants are non-resident in Hong Kong. Iran is certainly one of them.

You think that's not ridiculous at all? Wow! That's a textbook definition of institutional racism: denying someone a service purely based on where they were born. You could say that's legal , but you can't say it's not ridiculous. I am an Iranian citizen, with a PhD in mathematics. I came to Hong Kong to conduct my research, and I have all the legal rights to do that here. I have tried all banks I was aware of - they all rejected my application, purely based on my nationality. One must have no shame to say it's not ridiculous! It's obscene!

[shri]

Can Melli Bank provide basic banking facilities?

2- HONG KONG BRANCH
18/F Kam Sang Building
257, Des Voeux Road Central,
Hong Kong
Tel : +852 37614444
Fax : +852 28684692
Swift : MELIHKHH
Email : [email protected]

Seems like they're no longer sanctioned, but I'm REALLY NOT SURE if they can operate as a retail bank in HK. Their website is how should I put it kindly.. fucked up.

Also, you should have a chat with your school's international student's office. Surely you're not the first irani who has entered HK. I do recall that there is a thread on here which Irani nationals use to catch up / celebrate Navroz etc.

[kelasanis]

Original Post Deleted

First off, that's not true. I have a bank account in the UK, and I had no trouble getting it. There are no monetary sanctions against all Iranian citizens. If you check the law, the sanctions are against certain specified Iranian individuals and institutions.
Secondly, assume for a second you were right and there existed this universal sanctions against all Iranian citizen. That doesn't make it any less obscene. All racist segregation laws have been legal at some point, and we consider them obscene now.

[shri]

limit the reputational risk.

Thanks for the laugh. To misquote Getty. If want to deposit $100 that's your problem. If you launder $100 million, that's the bank's problem.

[kelasanis]

Original Post Deleted

There is no clause in your reference that implies a sanction against all Iranian citizens. For your info here I post a list of people who are under Iran UN sanctions
http://www.gld.gov.hk/egazette/pdf/20162048/egn201620486845.pdf

Regardless, as I said, even if there were such a regulation, it still would have been a textbook definition of institutional racism to deny someone a service purely based on their nationality. I have no connection with the government of Iran, and that can be checked. It makes even less sense, when such regulations did not prevent me from having a bank account in the UK.
It's not so relevant what we say here, that doesn't change my bad experience in this country. However, I would urge you to have some empathy. Try to feel how it would be like if you go into a country to be denied such an important service. Think if it make sense to impose that on people regardless of their activities and only based on where they were born!

[kelasanis]

I'm posting this in case someone from Iran is in a similar situation and is searching online for a solution. Finally, I managed to open a bank account. This should hopefully clarify that there is no blanket regulation banning Iranians from Hong Kong banking system. I have also exchanged emails with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority confirming this fact. It is indeed merely the institutional racism of those banks that have such an internal regulation that causes the problem. I can confirm that Dah Sing bank opens accounts for Iranian nationals. The services are very basic, but I can suggest this bank to anyone who is in such unfortunate circumstances. I have heard that Bank of East Asia also opens new accounts for Iranian nationals, but I cannot confirm that. I applied for their most basic banking service over 2.5 months ago, but haven't heard anything back yet. I applied to 18 other banks. All rejected my application!

[HK_Katherine]

Let's hope you can keep it open after yesterdays shenanigans by POTUS.

[kelasanis]

Thanks :-)
I must say, things didn't turn out to be what I was hoping in HK. I've got a new job in the UK, so I'm going to go back to the west soon, where I generally feel more welcomed than here.