Consumer complaint received 2019-05-19
Company: HSBC NORTH AMERICA HOLDINGS INC.
State: NY
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Funds not handled or disbursed as instructed

Complaint:
On Friday, XX/XX/XXXX a domestic wire from XXXX XXXX in the amount of {$50000.00} was sent to my account by an investor/business partner to my business account at HSBC US. XXXX XXXX gave a copy of the original wire instructions and receipt which follows all compliance and banking laws and cleared the funds on Friday, XX/XX/XXXX. On Saturday, XX/XX/XXXX I checked the account balance and the funds had not been credited to the account. On Monday, XX/XX/XXXX I called my banker and sent a text message to his mobile as well as an email with the copy of the wire receipt to him to which he stated he would give me a call at XXXX to give me an update on the reason for the delay but also stated the funds should be in the account by end of business day. I did not receive a call back nor had the funds been credited to the account. He also suggested I call HSBC customer service number on the back of my debit card to which I asked had they received any funds and the CS rep stated they had not. Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX I again checked the balance and it had not been credited, I followed up with my banker who explained he was in meetings all day and to deal with Customer Service, again I called customer service and they stated that no funds had come in to HSBC with directions to be credited to my account. Wednesday, XX/XX/XXXX I again reached out to customer service and the gentleman did more digging as I gave him the reference number giving to me by XXXX XXXX  and he tracked the funds letting me know that in fact the funds had been in HSBC all along and that I should probably wait until the end of the day he was confused as to why the funds were not credited to the account and also was confused as to why the previous bankers stated funds were never received by HSBC. I told him my banker was not being helpful and asked if he could check with the wire room, he obliged. He told me that the funds are being held and the transaction is being reviewed by compliance department as they needed additional information from XXXX XXXX. I asked what the additional information was and if I could be of service to oblige what may have been needed and he stated I should get my relationship manager involved. I asked if there was a number to compliance department and a contact person who I could direct my banker and XXXX  to so we can get the issue resolved. He stated he was not allowed to give me the list of information HSBC needed nor was he allowed to give me a contact and phone number to compliance. I asked why had I not received a call, email or letter and he stated he was not sure. I called my banker and sent him another email to which he called me back and stated that nothing was wrong or out of sorts with my account and that XXXX failed to give information needed to credit the funds to my account so the issue was with the sending parties wire instructions. He stated that HSBC sent a communication requesting the information to XXXX XXXX and that HSBC was waiting on the response. I asked what information was needed and he stated he did not know and that they would not tell him but that the bank is liable if they credit the funds to my account in error which I found perplexing as the original wire receipt stated to credit the funs same day, the funds were for investment and that the funds were clean, clear, non-criminal origin and had no liens nor encumberances. He also stated that the transaction was in fact not being held by compliance but by wire investigation. 

I reached out to my investor/business partner and we both reached out to XXXX XXXX. We were told by XXXX XXXX that the funds not only were debited from the sending account they had also already cleared and released the funds, they also stated that the Fed usually reviews all wires within 24 hours and that the Fed also cleared and released the transaction/funds. I called my banker back and relayed the information that XXXX gave me and he gave me a number stating not to tell the department that I received it from him, I gave my investor/partner the number and they relayed to XXXX XXXX. I called the number and a gentleman answered the phone and told me that he recognized the request as someone had just called about the transaction and he told me I had the wrong department and that he was not able to even look at my account as he could not log in and look at accounts. I asked if he could direct me to the wire room or to compliance so that I may speak with the department to which he stated he had no way of giving me the number to either because he did not have a directory nor could he help me. 
XXXX and my investor/business partner called me back and stated that they reached out to HSBC to which the gentleman who answered the phone stated XXXX needs to give more information and they inquired as to what information was needed so they could oblige to which he said he could not give the list of information needed and that he could not help. I went into a branch of HSBC and spoke to another business banker who also called and placed the phone on speaker to which we had XXXX call once more and again the gentleman would not give information to XXXX nor to the banker at HSBC making the call even after he was authenticated giving his PIN number. The same gentleman that stated he could not help me, could not log into the account and could not direct me anywhere while on the phone logged into my account as the banker gave him my account number and the reference number. The banker proceeded to tell the banker that XXXX needed to contact him to give more information to which the banker stated XXXX had just called him and the gentleman again lied and stated they did not. The banker requested to speak with another colleague of the gentleman and/or his manager to which the gentleman asked why and the banker responded that he had a situation similar to which the gentleman was not helpful and he wanted to speak with someone who would better service the client as well as work to come to a resolution. 

The gentleman asked that we call back in 10 minutes, we called back in 10 minutes to which he asked that we call back in 20 minutes, we called back in 20 minutes this went on until XXXX est and we called again and the gentleman stated his manager and all his colleagues were in a meeting and he didn't know when they would be coming out. 
Thursday, XX/XX/XXXX I sent an email to both the banker at the main branch that helped me and my banker asking for an update at XXXX est as they both said they would get back to me top of the morning I also followed up with phone calls to no avail. The bankers wrote me back a few hours later stating that HSBC just needed more information from XXXX XXXX and basically outlined what we already had been told. 

I reached out to my business associate and we contacted XXXX XXXX who reiterated they had in fact NOT received any communication from HSBC via XXXX nor email and they had reached out both via phone and XXXX to HSBC to which they still had not received any answer as to what additional information HSBC needed nor an answer as to why the funds had not been credited. The banker sent a formal email to my associate who is their account holder and I forwarded a copy to my bankers to which no on e responded yet again. I called customer service and again was told it was being held as they are needing information from XXXX XXXX  when I stated that XXXX XXXX has reached out numerous times and that they had not received any communication from HSBC the customer service rep called the wire room to which she came back and stated that HSBC sent a XXXX   requesting information and that XXXX had in fact responded but not with any information needed. I told the young lady that I spoke with and have documented proof XXXX XXXX  requested information and had not received any thing from HSBC to which she stated I should suggest XXXX XXXX  send another XXXX she also questioned why was a wire sent and not an ACH. To which I stated ACH is an electronic check and takes 2 business days at least to clear and wires are more efficient and the investment is time sensitive. I also stated that wires are better as they are more secure than ACH to send and that wires automatically are sent within international banking law regulations. 

Friday, XX/XX/XXXX I again attempted to reach both bankers at HSBC to which no one responded nor called me back. My business associate called XXXX XXXX and asked for an update and XXXX XXXX sent an email stating they escalated the situation and sent a XXXX requesting confirmation of credit to my HSBC account to which they again did not receive a response to date. I called HSBC customer service once more and the young lady called the wire room and they again stated they sent a XXXX   on Friday, XX/XX/XXXX then again on Thursday XX/XX/XXXX to which I stated that was not true as XXXX XXXX  has been very honest and HSBC kept lying first by stating they never received money then by stating earlier in the week they needed XXXX  to reach out and XXXX did and the gentleman also lied by stating he could not log into my account and could not help and lied by stating that XXXX XXXX  had not reached out to him when in fact they had and I was on the line when they did so. I told the young lady that XXXX XXXX had not received any communication from HSBC and that HSBC was not helpful in getting XXXX XXXX the list of whatever information they were supposedly missing in order to credit my account as XXXX XXXX  had already cleared and released the funds and the wire was in compliance complete with all information needed to send a wire transfer. The young lady asked if the XXXX was sent from XXXX XXXX XXXX or XXXX XXXX US, to which I stated as she can see on the transaction it was a domestic wire thus I am even more perplexed as to why she would ask to which her response was that she was just wondering because this is unusual and international wires tend to have more issues to which I stated it should not take this long to credit funds to an account that has clearly passed compliance and the receiving bank has already released. She contacted the wire room again and no one answered. She suggested I have XXXX XXXX  escalate the situation to which I stated they already have and have not received any response or information from HSBC. She asked that I call back on Monday and asked if I would like and email sent to the wire room to which I agreed to and thanked her. 

To date the funds have not been credited to my account despite the wire being in compliance and pushed past Fed routine reviews and XXXX XXXX not only clearing the transaction but also releasing the funds a week ago. All attempts to get whatever list of information HSBC is stating they need from myself, XXXX XXXX and my bankers at HSBC has been unsuccessful. No one has contacted me from compliance nor investigations and no one will give me a contact or reference point to communicate with that apparently is handling my 'investigation '. It has been a rat race, chaotic, unproductive and detrimental to our business and workflow as we have now missed deadlines to which we are responsible to meet and have not been able to due to HSBC 's actions/inactions.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation