Degiro asks long-standing clients to declare all their assets

Degiro asks clients to justify their wealth: which documents are accepted

An account more than ten years old, with no transactions since March 2020 and accumulated gains from buying gold mining stocks at just the right moment. That is the profile of the investor Degiro has asked to submit a full declaration of their assets before the end of next month. The request comes despite no recent deposits: no suspicious transfers and no large movements of money.

Financial institutions, including foreign brokers with a European IBAN, carry out regular anti-money laundering checks. What at a traditional bank is settled with a scanned payslip turns, in an account with a foreign IBAN, into an interrogation about the origin of all your savings. The paradox is obvious: that money has already passed through a Spanish bank and onto the radar of Spain's tax authority, Hacienda.

Which documents work when replying to Degiro

Accumulated experience suggests that payslips, screenshots of historical balances and proof of specific deposits are usually enough. In some cases, a single document explaining the transaction that triggered the alert settles the matter. Another option is to ignore the request and wait, although warnings are that difficulties may arise when trying to withdraw the money.

The underlying question remains: if a Spanish bank has already reported the origin of those funds to Hacienda, what is the point of a European broker demanding the same proof all over again? The request is seen as an abuse, but anyone who does not respond risks problems when they want to withdraw their position.