Structured Deposit

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Structured deposits, known overseas as yield-enhancement products, are deposit products embedded with derivatives contracts linked to currencies, commodities or stock prices. In theory, they offer a mixed return in line with regular bank deposits, along with yields linked to the derivatives. Structured deposits are savings accounts where the return is based on the performance of an index. Normally if the index is higher than it’s starting level on the maturity date you will receive an interest payment. If the index has dropped or stayed the same you would not receive any interest. Your original investment would be returned in full. A structured deposit is essentially a combination of a deposit and an investment product, where the return is dependent on the performance of some underlying financial instrument.

This is a structured investment product involving derivatives. Do not invest in it unless you fully understand and are willing to assume the risks associated with it. If you are in any doubt about the risks involved in the product, you may clarify with the intermediary or seek independent professional advice. The investment decision is yours but you should not invest in this product unless the intermediary who sells it to you has explained to you that the product is suitable for you having regard to your financial situation, investment experience and investment objectives.


Investment involves risks. You should not invest in Structured Investments based on this page alone. You should read and understand the Bank's Conditions for Services and all of the offering documents including the relevant term sheet, Important Facts Statement and the Structured Investments Application Form, before deciding whether to invest in this product.

Key Product Features

  • 100% principal protection – Principal Protected Structured Investments provides 100% protection at maturity.
  • Various Linked Assets – provides you with an opportunity to gain a higher potential return via various linked assets such as interest rates or currency exchange rates.
  • Flexible Investment Choices – You can choose HKD, USD, CNY or other designated currencies as the Investment Currency. The minimum investment amount is as low as HK$50,000 or its equivalent in other currencies. A wide range of investment periods are available for selection.
  • Trading Channels – You can trade via designated branches and Internet Banking. Service hours: Mondays to Fridays, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., except public holidays.

For details, please visit any of BOCHK branches or call Personal Customer Service Hotline at +852 3988 2388.

Legal online betting sites. Key Product Features

  • Partial principal protection – Non-Principal Protected Structured Investments offers higher potential return but you have limited principal protection at maturity.
  • Various Linked Assets – provides you with an opportunity to gain a higher potential return via various linked assets such as interest rates or currency exchange rates.
  • Flexible Investment Choices – You can choose HKD, USD, CNY or other designated currencies as the Investment Currency. The minimum investment amount is as low as HK$50,000 or its equivalent in other currencies. A wide range of investment periods are available for selection.
  • Trading Channels – You can trade via designated branches and Internet Banking. Service hours: Mondays to Fridays, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., except public holidays.

Structured Deposit Promotion

For details, please visit any of BOCHK branches or call Personal Customer Service Hotline at +852 3988 2388.

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Important Notice

The following risk disclosure statements cannot disclose all the risks involved. Prior to trading or investment, you should collect and study the information required for your investment. You should take your own independent review and seek independent professional advice, if necessary, on whether this product is suitable for you in light of your risk appetite, financial situation, investment experience, investment objectives and investment horizon. If you are uncertain of or have not understood any aspect of the following risk disclosure statements or the nature and risks involved in trading or investment, you should seek independent advice.


Risk Disclosure Statement

Principal Protected Structured Investments and Non-Principal Protected Structured Investments (“Structured Investments”)

  • Not a time deposit - Structured Investments is NOT equivalent to, nor should it be treated as a substitute for, time deposit. It is NOT a protected deposit and is NOT protected by the Deposit Protection Scheme in Hong Kong.
  • Derivatives risk - Structured Investments is embedded with a European digital currency option which can only be exercised on the final fixing date if the specified condition for exercise is satisfied, in which case you may either receive the interest amount calculated at a higher interest rate, or otherwise, you will receive the interest amount calculated at a lower interest rate. The interest amount is therefore unknown in advance.
  • Limited potential gain - The maximum potential gain is limited to the interest amount calculated at the higher interest rate as prescribed in the term sheet of this product.
  • Principal protection at maturity only (only applicable to Principal Protected Structured Investments - Target Rate Investment) - The principal protection feature is only applicable if the Target Rate Investment is held to maturity.
  • Not necessarily principal protection (only applicable to Non-Principal Protected Structured Investments - Non-Principal Protected Target Rate Investment) - Subject to the movements in the exchange rate of the currency pair, you may have only limited principal protection even if the Non-Principal Protected Target Rate Investment is held to maturity. You could lose part of your principal amount.
  • Not the same as buying any currency of the currency pair - Investing in Structured Investments is not the same as buying any currency of the currency pair directly.
  • Market risk - The return on Structured Investments is dependent on movements in the exchange rate of the currency pair. Currency exchange rates may move rapidly and are affected by a number of factors including, national and international financial, economic, political and other conditions and events and may also be subject to intervention by central banks and other bodies.
  • Liquidity risk - Structured Investments is designed to be held till maturity. Once the transaction for this product is confirmed, you will not be allowed to early withdraw or terminate or transfer any or all of your investment before maturity.
  • Credit risk of the Bank - Structured Investments is not secured by any collateral. If you invest in this product, you will be taking the credit risk of the Bank. If the Bank becomes insolvent or defaults on its obligations under this product, you can only claim as an unsecured creditor of the Bank. In the worst case, you could suffer a total loss of your principal amount and the potential interest amount.
  • Currency risk - If the investment currency is not your home currency, and you choose to convert it back to your home currency upon maturity, you should note that exchange rate fluctuations may have an adverse impact on, and the potential loss may offset (or even exceed), the potential return of the product.
  • RMB Conversion Limitation Risk - RMB investments are subject to exchange rate fluctuations which may provide both opportunities and risks. The fluctuation in the exchange rate of RMB may result in losses in the event that the customer converts RMB into HKD or other foreign currencies.
    (Only applicable to Individual Customers) RMB is currently not fully freely convertible. Individual customers can be offered CNH rate to conduct conversion of RMB through bank accounts and may occasionally not be able to do so fully or immediately, for which it is subject to the RMB position of the banks and their commercial decisions at that moment. Customers should consider and understand the possible impact on their liquidity of RMB funds in advance.
    (Only applicable to Corporate Customers) RMB is currently not fully freely convertible. Corporate customers that intend to conduct conversion of RMB through banks may occasionally not be able to do so fully or immediately, for which it is subject to the RMB position of the banks and their commercial decisions at that moment. Customers should consider and understand the possible impact on their liquidity of RMB funds in advance.
  • No secondary market - Structured Investments is not a listed security. There is no secondary market for you to sell the Structured Investments prior to its maturity.
  • Not covered by Investor Compensation Fund - Structured Investments is not covered by the Hong Kong Investor Compensation Fund.


This page is issued by Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited. Its contents have not been reviewed by any regulatory authority in Hong Kong.

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Cody deposits $9,500 in small bills. That is okay. But depositing $9,500 with the “purpose of evading the currency transaction reporting requirement' is a crime called structuring. The Internal Revenue Service reminded businesses that they must file Form 8300, Report of Cash Payments Over $10,000 Received in a Trade or Business, when they engage in cash transactions in excess of $10,000.

Examples of businesses that may have to file Form 8300 include those that sell jewelry, furniture, boats, aircraft, or automobiles, as well as those that are pawnbrokers, attorneys, real estate brokers, insurance companies and travel agencies.

The law also requires that businesses report related transactions occurring within a 24-hour period. If the same payer makes two or more transactions totaling more than $10,000 in a 24-hour period, the business must treat the transactions as one transaction and report the payments. These laws are part of the Bank Secrecy Act, discussed below. The best casino online.

Structured Deposit

Structuring: Structuring transactions to evade BSA (Bank Secrecy Act) reporting and certain recordkeeping requirements can result in civil and criminal penalties under the BSA. Under the BSA , no person shall, for the purpose of evading the CTR (Currency Transaction Reporting) :
• Cause or attempt to cause a bank to fail to file a CTR or a report required under a geographic targeting order or to maintain a record required under BSA regulations.
• Structure, as defined below, or attempt to structure or assist in structuring, any transaction with one or more banks.

Structured Deposit Accounts


The definition of structuring states, 'a person structures a transaction if that person, acting alone, or in conjunction with, or on behalf of, other persons, conducts or attempts to conduct one or more transactions in currency in any amount, at one or more financial institutions, on one or more days, in any manner, for the purpose of evading the [CTR filing requirements].' 'In any manner' includes, but is not limited to, breaking down a single currency sum exceeding $10,000 into smaller amounts that may be conducted as a series of transactions at or less than $10,000. The transactions need not exceed the $10,000 CTR filing threshold at any one bank on any single day in order to constitute structuring.

The purpose of these laws is to limit criminal business activity conducted in cash – money laundering, drugs, criminal enterprises, etc. However, these laws can create potential problems for “law abiding” Americans, as well as hardened and white collar criminals. The IRS has seized assets (cash and bank account deposits) under suspicion of structuring. It then falls on the taxpayer to prove that the funds and deposits are legitimate. Even in the cases where taxpayers prevail, there is tremendous time and expense defending themselves.

Structured Deposits Uk

South Mountain Creamery
Dairy farmers Randy and Karen Sowers, who who have owned South Mountain Creamery in Middletown, Md. for more than three decades had Treasury officials show up at their farm in February 2012 to question them about bank deposits under $10,000. They learned that the federal government had just seized approximately $70,000 in their bank account. The only crime they are accused of is structuring. They have since reached a settlement with the government and are required to forfeit close to $30,000. The Sowers are apparently not drug dealers – just daily farmers.

Dennis Hastert

As reported yesterday, Dennis Hastert (former Speaker of the House) was indicted by a grand jury on charges of structuring and lying to the FBI.

Other examples of structuring are below. As mentioned, these laws are intended to restrict the activities of criminals.

California Man Sentenced for Structuring Cash Deposits
On July 21, 2014, in Bakersfield, California, Miguel Antonio Ruiz Jaramillo was sentenced to 12 months in prison and ordered to pay $91,527 in unpaid federal taxes. According to court documents, from January 2010 through July 2012, Jaramillo cashed more than fifty checks in amounts of $10,000 or less at a bank located in Bakersfield, totaling more than $420,000. Jaramillo had the checks cashed in this manner to prevent, or attempt to prevent, the bank from filing a currency transaction report on those transactions. He did not want a report filed because for the years 2010 and 2011, he did not declare the structured cash transactions as income on his federal tax returns.

Doctor Sentenced for Tax Evasion and Currency Structuring
On April 28, 2014, in Macon Ga., Robert Sperrazza, M.D., formerly a resident of Lee County, Georgia, was sentenced to 36 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $870,238 to the United States. Sperrazza was convicted by a jury on June 7, 2013 of three counts of tax evasion and two counts of currency structuring. According to trial evidence, Sperrazza personally cashed over one million dollars in patient checks at the counter of a local bank, in Albany, Georgia. Sperrazza structured the cash transactions in amounts under $10,000 for the purpose of evading the bank reporting requirements of federal law and for the purpose of furthering his tax avoidance scheme. Sperrazza was formerly an anesthesiologist in Albany, Georgia. He later moved to Panama City Beach, Florida where he briefly operated a pain clinic. Sperrazza is not currently involved in the practice of medicine.

Man Sentenced for Making and Selling Bootlegged DVDs and CDs
On Aug. 27, 2014, in Hartford, Connecticut, John W. Rice, of Windsor, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, three years of supervised release. In addition, Rice forfeited $48,195 seized from his bank account, a 2005 Chevrolet Corvette and a 2012 BMW 650i. On April 25, 2014, Rice pleaded guilty to one count of criminal copyright infringement and one count of money laundering. According to court documents, between 2000 and 2013, doing business as “Dr. Jay’s Entertainment,” Rice manufactured copies of motion pictures, television shows, and music that were copyrighted works, using recordable blank DVDs and CDs. Rice displayed and sold the bootlegged merchandise in a variety of locations and advertised and sold the materials over the internet. A total of 8,913 DVDs and 11,410 CDs were seized from Rice and Dr. Jay’s Entertainment. Rice also structured cash deposits into his bank account. In November 2012, Rice withdrew from his account $39,237 in cash derived from his criminal activity in order to purchase a cashier’s check payable to BMW of West Springfield.

Georgia Man Sentenced for Investment Fraud Scheme
On June 25, 2014, in Peoria, Illinois, Kenneth Lewis of Augusta, Georgia and Cranford, New Jersey, was sentenced to 271 months in prison and ordered to pay $5,565,406 in restitution. Lewis was convicted of four counts of wire fraud and 11 counts of money laundering. According to court documents, beginning in the late 1990s, Lewis offered investors the ability to generate income through highly secretive overseas financial transactions. He obtained more than $5.5 million from victims to cover his living expenses while he was purportedly working on completing the details of non-existent transactions. Lewis told investors that he had been living in Zurich, Switzerland for seven years working on the transaction, when, in fact, he was living in a hotel in New Jersey, where he was arrested in July 2012.

How to Avoid Structuring?

Certainly one of the best ways is to simply not do it. For those that have a cash business, it is important to build a relatiohship with the bank so the bank understands that the daily deposits (under $10,000) is not structuring, but rather normal operations. It is more than a little frightening to think that a teller who does not know you can create serious problems when you are really just conducting a legitimate business.