Why does the UK bank suddenly ask for additional documents? How to respond to account review and how long will it take?

"...scrutiny of transactions undertaken throughout the course of the relationship... including, where necessary, the source of funds"
——"Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017" regulation 28(11)(a)

The term "throughout the course of the relationship" in the regulation has no time limit. An account that has been open for eight years, with salaries regularly coming in and going out, the bank can still change your online banking to read-only on some Tuesday morning, then pop up a message asking you to upload documents. It doesn't need anything to happen; it's just that your file has reached the review cycle, or a certain deposit falls within the model threshold.

First, clarify which type of trigger it is.

🔍 One type is periodic KYC review, which becomes more frequent as the risk rating increases; the second type is fund movement, such as foreign transfers, cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals, and cash deposits that do not match known income sources; the third type is the easiest to be ignored, which is expired identity information. The Immigration Act 2014, sections 40A-40C, prohibit banks from opening current accounts for "disqualified persons". Since January 1, 2018, this verification has been extended to existing current accounts. Banks compare with the Home Office list through Cifas and run it regularly. After BRP fully transitions to eVisa, the "ID expiry date" in the bank system will expire first, so you need to provide a share code generated by the UKVI account. This type of document submission has nothing to do with money laundering, and it can be unlocked on the same day it is submitted - admitting the wrong type will cause unnecessary anxiety for two weeks.

Submit additional documents, or reapply with another bank

Line breaks look clean, but the cost is underestimated. Opening a new bank account requires going through KYC again. Address proof must be within 3 months, with complete name and address readable. PDFs exported by yourself are often rejected. Most institutions do not accept mobile phone bills, and driver's licenses are generally not allowed to serve as both identity and address proof. Salary deposits, Direct Debit, and rent deductions need to be re-arranged, and automatic renewals for rental and car insurance are most likely to break down here. More seriously, if the original bank has already submitted a suspicious activity report to NCA regarding a certain payment, if you transfer a large amount of balance during this window, the nature of the transaction will immediately change, and the bank is legally not allowed to give you any warning (tipping off is a criminal offense), and you will not see this layer at all on the interface.

留在原行补，才是成本最低的路。关键是补得"对得上"，不是补得多。

Add two actions: All documents must be uploaded through the APP or online banking's secure channel, not via regular email; every time you upload, add a sentence in the conversation "X files have been uploaded on a certain day" to leave yourself a timestamp. Attach a page of A4 with a timeline of funds, including date, amount, counterparty, and purpose, matching each deposit questioned on the statement. Reviewers look at dozens of files a day; being understandable is more useful than being thick. do not move out actively before receiving formal termination notice. if unsure which document counts as source of funds, spend £5 on justiscript.com to get a response from a UK-qualified lawyer within 24 hours, which is more efficient than guessing and sending three rounds by yourself.

After the payment, there is no response. From which day should we start counting?

The review itself has no statutory time limit, but the complaint does. After a formal complaint, the firm has up to 8 weeks to provide a final response according to FCA Handbook DISP 1.6; within 6 months from the date of the final response, it can be referred free of charge to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

If the account is frozen entirely, and customer service repeatedly says "cannot provide more information," it's most likely following the POCA 2002 route: after NCA receives DAML, it has 7 working days to decide whether to release it. If not released, it enters a 31 calendar day moratorium period. The court may extend it by another 31 days each time under section 336A, up to a maximum of 186 days. During this time, don't expect explanations. It's more useful to change your salary to another card and keep all conversations.

The last thing that was widely misunderstood this year. The Payment Services and Payment Accounts (Contract Termination) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 came into effect on April 28, 2026, extending the account closure notice period from 2 months to 90 days, and requiring "sufficiently detailed and specific" reasons. However, the regulations limit the scope of application to framework contracts entered into on or after that day. The account opened in 2019 is not within the scope of protection, still requiring a 2-month notice without needing to specify the exact reason. Therefore, what truly protects you is not the new regulation, but the timeline and upload records left on the day you submitted the documents.

📌 This document is for reference only. For specific issues, please consult a licensed attorney.

[Data source] legislation.gov.uk: Money Laundering Regulations 2017 reg.28; legislation.gov.uk: The Payment Services and Payment Accounts (Contract Termination) (Amendment) Regulations 2025; financial-ombudsman.org.uk: Bank account closures

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