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Frequently Asked Questions for customers with Latvian accounts and payment templates regarding the conversion to Euro as legal tender
What is happening to Latvia currency and when?
Latvia will introduce the Euro (EUR) as legal tender as of 1 January, 2014. The Latvian Lats (LVL) will expire and no longer be accepted as legal tender from 15 January 2014. The Bank of Latvia will exchange the last banknotes and coins by Euro Banknotes and coins for an indefinite period of time. Important: HSBCnet will cease LVL currency and account support from 1 January, 2014 in conjunction with the introduction of EUR as legal tender in Latvia.
What will happen to my current Latvia Currency accounts?
Effective 1 January, 2014, HSBCnet will no longer support Latvia currency accounts. However, your LVL accounts will not be automatically transferred to new or existing EUR accounts. If you still have active LVL accounts you are required to take the following actions as they appropriate to your situation:
- Open a new EUR account and close your current LVL account;
- Simply close your LVL account if an existing EUR account is available for future use or if a replacement account is not required.
Before closing your LVL account:
- LVL accounts with a credit balance: please transfer the credit to an existing EUR account using the above fixed exchange rate;
- LVL accounts with outstanding debit balance: please repay the outstanding balance using the above fixed exchange rate;
- For LVL accounts zero balance: no further action is required before closing.
What will happen to payment templates referencing Latvian currency accounts, or payment currency as Latvia?
You are required to open a new EUR account or designate an existing account as a replacement to your current LVL account which must be closed. As the account number for your new or existing EUR account will be different from your current LVL account the templates on your LVL account will not be available. They will not be automatically converted or reproduced so you will need to modify these templates to use your new or existing EUR accounts prior to 1 January, 2014. If payment templates where the debit account is an LVL account are not modified prior to 1 January, 2014, they will be deleted upon the effective date.
What will happen to my pending payment transactions, forward-dated payments, standing instructions that have been initiated with the Latvian Currency?
The same requirements apply as above. Pending, forward-dated payments and standing instructions using LVL currency or debiting an LVL account will need to be modified prior to 1 January, 2014. Those debiting an LVL currency account specifically will be deleted as of 1 January, 2014.
Important note: all LVL currency payments authorised and/or value-dated on or after 1 January 2014 will be rejected by the system. To process any remaining LVL currency transactions, make sure all pending payment transactions are authorised prior to the end of business on 31 December 2013. To avoid rejected forward-dated payments or standing instructions that reference LVL currency and are value-dated on or after 1 January, you will need to modify your templates to reference the new EUR currency prior to 1 January.
What will happen if I try to modify or create a General and Restricted payment template after 1 January, 2014?
For General Templates
When modifying an existing General template or creating payment instructions as of 1 January, 2014:
- If an LVL account is pre-selected in the template, then the payment template will be automatically deleted as of 1 January, 2014 an it will not be available for creating payment instructions.
- If LVL currency is pre-selected in the template, the LVL currency will be removed and the system will default to the first currency on the list (for example, this could be “AED”).
- If the payment amount was pre-defined in the template, then the payment amount will remain unchanged
For Restricted Templates
When modifying an existing Restricted template as of 1 January, 2014:
- If an LVL account is pre-selected in the template, then the payment template will be automatically deleted as of 1 January, 2014 an it will not be available for creating payment instructions.
- If LVL currency is pre-selected in the template, the LVL currency will be removed and the system will default to the first currency on the list (for example, this could be “AED”).
- If the payment amount was pre-defined in the template, then the payment amount will remain unchanged.
When creating payments instructions for an existing Restricted template as of 1 January, 2014:
- If an LVL account is pre-selected in the template, then the payment template will be automatically deleted as of 1 January, 2014 an it will not be available for creating payment instructions.
- If LVL currency is pre-selected in the template, the LVL currency will continue to be displayed in read-only format (i.e. not editable and greyed out). However, while it is possible to ‘submit’ an LVL currency payment in this case past 1 January, 2014 the payment will be rejected.
- If the payment amount was pre-defined in the template, then the payment amount will remain unchanged.
Will I be able to view the historical data on my Latvian currency accounts after 1 January, 2014?
If you close your LVL account(s) and delete it/them from HSBCnet the history for these closed and deleted accounts will be removed from HSBCnet as of 1 January. However, if you only close your LVL account (and do not delete it from HSBCnet) the system will retain your account history for the closed LVL account for 180 days.
What about LVL third party bank accounts?
There are three banks set up under third party agreements with HSBCnet using the LVL currency. Accounts at other institutions that operate under LVL currency will be unsupported once LVL currency is expired. There may be separate settlement or closing procedures for the third party accounts you hold elsewhere and you will need to contact those banks to ensure you meet their requirements. However, LVL third party accounts will be supported through HSBCnet until 1 January when we will no longer support the LVL currency.
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