Hi All, just to let you know the outcome in my case; after abt. 10 days Barclays has returned all of my funds however, after another few days, they asked me to move to another bank as, 'after careful consideration...(they) couldn't act as (my) bankers any longer' - although absolutely nothing wrong has been discovered. This is a situation which, I know for certain, has happened to NatWest account holders as well which leads me to conclude that, clearly, not only is the legislation draconian and exaggerated in its requirements but also the banks are overzealous in applying it indiscriminately. I believe this is a mistake as an attitude such as this will push more and more people to use banks abroad in the detriment of British banks where, it may be concluded, people's money are not safe anymore.

What happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'?

Here is what I have found out: apparently investigations are being carried out by the National Crime Authority (NCA) pursuant to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Such an investigation may be undertaken at any time if a bank, or the NCA, has any suspicion at all that a person's dealings contravene the legislation. The principal reasons for suspicion are that monies in an account are the proceeds of crime, or are related to money laundering. What is interesting is that there need be no actual evidence of any wrongdoing for an investigation to be instituted and the authorities seem prepared to freeze an account simply because, for example, an account holder has a foreign passport and/or holds significant funds.The legislation itself is draconian. Not only is the Bank not obliged to notify an investigated person that there is an investigation in progress, but it is required not to notify. And the investigating authorities also have no requirement to notify. In the meantime, the account may be frozen and it is common practice for the bank to give the kind of response which we have all had, namely that it does not know what is happening. It seems to me that this legislation is widely open to abuse or error by the banks and it punishes mainly honest people as the real felons will usually know what to do to escape it. I think that if we want to achieve anything, all those who have been innocent victims of this legislation should talk to their Members of Parliament and ask for a change in this law. Also making the media aware of what is going on could start the ball rolling. Good luck to all of you!

Hello, I was reading your message as I am in a similar situation but with our personal accounts, I must say it is utterly depressing to see what banks are allowed to get away with - or is it only Barclays who does this sort of thing? Are you still banking with Barclays?

Hi, I am in a similar situation, can you please let me know me if your situation has been resolved and you have received your money back? Thank you

hello, a very similar situation happened to me, all the money in my current account and savings account as well as an isa with barclays bank have disappeared overnight and the balance on those is zero; also in the current account a minus 6000 pounds appeared out of nowhere as it does not result from the transactions in this account apart from a transaction listed under 'Coventry ops o5 adv' for the amount of approx. 1600 pounds which I don't know anything about. i have lodged a complaint with barclays and was told that i will get a reply withn 5 working days. i would like to know how other similar complaints have fared? did you resolve the situation and how quickly? thank you