Not upheld: fund transfer refusal and account closure complaint against Bank of Scotland plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs and Mr F complained that BoS refused to transfer approximately £1.9 million in closing balance funds to their offshore account with Bank V following account closure in June 2023. BoS declined the international transfer citing risk appetite concerns and suggested alternative UK-based options. After Mr F returned the initial cheque without prior assurances of the offshore transfer, BoS re-issued it in November 2023, which Mrs and Mr F successfully deposited into their Bank V account. Mrs and Mr F subsequently claimed approximately £40,000 in lost interest. The ombudsman did not uphold the complaint, finding that BoS exercised legitimate commercial discretion, Mr F's decision to return the cheque was made without assurances, and alternative options were available to them.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that BoS exercised legitimate commercial discretion in declining an international transfer outside its risk appetite, which the FOS does not generally interfere with. The ombudsman determined it was Mr F's decision to return the first cheque without assurances the funds would be transferred to the preferred account, and that Mrs and Mr F had alternative options available (reactivating the dormant account or opening a new UK account). The replacement cheque issued in November 2023 was a standard cheque that successfully allowed deposit into the Bank V account, demonstrating BoS did not unreasonably deprive them of access to funds.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website