ARE AFFLUENT MAINLAND CHINESE CLIENTS TOO HIGH RISK FOR WESTERN BANKS ?

It is getting to the point where the risk levels, of accepting wealthy new clients from the Peoples' Republic of China, are becoming so elevated that prudence many demand compliance officers at North American banks decline their business altogether. The potential negative publicity, when an affluent Chinese client is named as a fugitive from Chinese justice, simply outweighs any potential profit banks may gain from these clients.

At a glance:

(1) China is actively looking for those of its nationals that it alleges are major tax cheats, fraudsters, corrupt PEPs, and other classes of sundry and assorted accused wrongdoers, whose crimes may simply that they fell out of favor politically, or were associated with one who did. You do not want your bank client named as a financial criminal, in major media in the US or Canada.

(2) What constitutes money laundering in China includes using any part of the $50,000 ceiling Chinese are allowed by law to change their local currency into, for an "unapproved" and undeclared purpose. Your client's purchase of North American real estate could have made him or her guilty og  money laundering in China.

Compliance risk assessments should note that the chances that wealthy Chinese expats will be accused of criminal or corrupt activities, by his own government, than any other jurisdiction, and conduct enhanced due diligence, prior to onboarding the client.