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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The request seemed to be a simple one for a hotel owner. Banco Popular
had frozen the company account and wanted updated personal information
on the principal users.
This situation is developing daily here as banks scurry to "know their
customer," as required under anti-money laundering laws.
The problem was the owner was in the United States. So the time was
right to remove his name from the account and let the manager continue
to pay bills from the company account as he had done for 18 years.
Another problem: The manager and the hotel
were in Guanacaste.
Solution: Send a messenger to collect the
required identity information.
Problem: For some reason when the central
bank
office workers in San José got the updated identity information
from the manager, they took him off the account instead of the owner.
Problem: The bank action caused a rain of
bounced checks because they would not honor the signature of the
manager incorrectly removed from the account. And the bank stalled in
correcting the problem.
Solution: Have a business associate put a
couple of thousand dollars in the manager's personal account at the
same bank to cover the bum checks. A messenger was sent with the cash.
Problem: A bank teller refused to accept the
money for the manager's personal account even though the messenger had
the cash and the account number. The bank officials demanded to see a
photo ID of the person GETTING the money.
Solution: The manager faxes a copy of his
U.S. passport to the business associate in San José
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who promptly sends the messenger back.
Problem: Bank teller notices that the number
on the manager's
new U.S. passport does not coincide with the number originally
presented to the bank 18 years ago. The teller freezes the manager's
personal account, too, unaware that unlike Costa Rican passports, the
U.S. number changes at every renewal.
Solution: It would be easier to say don't do
business with Banco
Popular, but in some areas it is the only banking institution. And
before long every bank in town will be requiring a photo ID of the
recipient when money is posted to an account. Such a requirement is in
Law #8204, said bank officials.
Problem: Commerce will grind to a halt. And
bank officials are
making up the scenario as they go along because the anti-drug law #8204
really does not contain any such requirements.
Solution: ?
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