After introducing clients to Georgian Banks for four years now, I would like to give an update of my personal experience with SOLO Bank (Bank of Georgia), TBC Bank and Tera Bank.
While opening an account in person might still be possible, opening a personal bank account with a notarized and apostilled power of attorney was not possible.
SOLO/BOG
The bank showed willingness to accept - only - 1 out of 12 new clients with power of attorney, under the condition that all funds (in this case 250,000 € - which were very well documented - to be put in a term deposit.
The client made a counter offer to have 20% stored in term deposit rest liquid in the current account, the bank denied.
TBC
After one week of back and forth, changes and amendments to the original power of attorney, the bank denied account opening with their own draft of the power of attorney.
Tera Bank
Same as TBC
What all banks had in common was their reason for these changes, namely INTERNAL POLICY.
The mentioned institutes had many new KYC forms, asked for 6 months of bank statements with another bank, tax statements, other proof of funds,
description of professional activities, CV, the relationship to Georgia and proof thereof, volumes etc. which was not an issue, since all funds were properly taxed, legit and well documented.
I consider this usual compliance questions, although this is quite new in Georgia.
Besides that, several TBC and SOLO clients have been notified about account closure with laughable short notice, lately.
These are my personal experiences with the above mentioned institutions which took place between 1 June 2020 and 24 June 2020.
After the facts changed, we informed our clients, offered account closure and re-evaluated our banking relationships.
We started onboarding process for several clients in Moldova and other jurisdictions which can be an alternative for some individuals.
Thought it was worth sharing.
While opening an account in person might still be possible, opening a personal bank account with a notarized and apostilled power of attorney was not possible.
SOLO/BOG
The bank showed willingness to accept - only - 1 out of 12 new clients with power of attorney, under the condition that all funds (in this case 250,000 € - which were very well documented - to be put in a term deposit.
The client made a counter offer to have 20% stored in term deposit rest liquid in the current account, the bank denied.
TBC
After one week of back and forth, changes and amendments to the original power of attorney, the bank denied account opening with their own draft of the power of attorney.
Tera Bank
Same as TBC
What all banks had in common was their reason for these changes, namely INTERNAL POLICY.
The mentioned institutes had many new KYC forms, asked for 6 months of bank statements with another bank, tax statements, other proof of funds,
description of professional activities, CV, the relationship to Georgia and proof thereof, volumes etc. which was not an issue, since all funds were properly taxed, legit and well documented.
I consider this usual compliance questions, although this is quite new in Georgia.
Besides that, several TBC and SOLO clients have been notified about account closure with laughable short notice, lately.
These are my personal experiences with the above mentioned institutions which took place between 1 June 2020 and 24 June 2020.
After the facts changed, we informed our clients, offered account closure and re-evaluated our banking relationships.
We started onboarding process for several clients in Moldova and other jurisdictions which can be an alternative for some individuals.
Thought it was worth sharing.
