The Notarial Chamber appealed to Oschadbank due to refusals to conduct operations based on notarial powers of attorney
The Notarial Chamber of Ukraine reported that it appealed to the chairman of the board of JSC Oschadbank regarding information about an increase in cases where banking institutions refuse to accept notarially certified powers of attorney. According to the Chamber, such practice may affect the implementation of state guarantees of notarial activity and complicate access for individuals and legal entities to obtaining notarial services. The Notarial Chamber reminded that current legislation provides: if a person acts on the basis of a properly certified notarial power of attorney, which clearly defines the scope of their authority, there are no grounds for refusal by banking institutions to perform the corresponding legal actions. According to the NPU, recently the organization has received appeals from notaries regarding an increase in cases where JSC Oschadbank institutions refuse to conduct operations for representatives acting on the basis of notarially certified powers of attorney. In this regard, the Chamber appealed to the bank’s management with a request to pay attention to the mentioned situation. The Notarial Chamber notes that it has received reports of refusals to conduct certain banking operations. Examples include: — refusal to issue a bank card to a representative due to the absence of a specific authority in the power of attorney to change the client’s financial number; — refusal to issue a bank card on the grounds that the power of attorney is valid for six months, while the card’s validity is eight years; — refusal to open a bank account with a special usage regime despite the power of attorney including authority to open any accounts; — refusal to reissue a bank card to replace a lost one, although the notarial power of attorney is still valid; — refusal to issue funds to a representative from the principal’s account or charging an additional fee for such an operation; — refusal to issue funds to a person who presented a certificate of ownership of the surviving spouse or an heir who presented a certificate of inheritance regarding the contents of a safe, cell, or bank box, because such a person is not a bank client. The NPU believes that such cases do not comply with current legislation and may complicate the exercise of rights of persons acting on the basis of notarially certified powers of attorney, as well as heirs and the surviving spouse of deceased bank clients. In this regard, the Notarial Chamber appealed to the management of JSC Oschadbank with a request to consider the raised issues and provide them with proper assessment. Additionally, the NPU proposed holding joint meetings and discussions to find ways to resolve the situation.
