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Uruguay Expat Forum

BROU Bank--Don't leave UY without closing account

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withiniswithout

3/19/2019 14:43 EST

I left Uruguay and am living in Italy. I left a balance in a BROU account, thinking it would be easy to close the account with a phone call and a wire transfer, or perhaps paying the balance to somebody and arranging for them to transfer the money to me.

Guess what? Money cannot be paid to a person, or wired to another bank unless it is a business account. The money cannot be withdrawn without a Power of Attorney that is conferred to a friend, or flying back and going in person . It's going to cost a LOT of money to get what's left from the account. A huge hassle. Who knew! BROU also changed their online platform, and I cannot get into the account anymore. And to fix this I also have to go into the bank or set somebody up with a Power of Attorney to act in my behalf.

BROU must have hundreds of people over a barrel, basically holding accounts hostage. Crazy. Seemingly illegal, but here it is. Word to the wise: If you are leaving Uruguay and you are uncertain if you will ever go back, close your account while you're there.

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carlitos

3/19/2019 14:53 EST

I guess you can go into the uruguayan consulate in italy and ask them to write a power of atorney to a friend in uruguay to close the account.

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withiniswithout

3/19/2019 15:11 EST

I found an embassy in Milan, and I have written them. Hopefully they can help. I have the Power of Attorney form, and BROU has approved it. Now, it needs notarized and apostiled in Italy.

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pdeuyu

3/24/2019 07:36 EST

This is what I would do. If you know someone here that has a BROU account transfer the money to their account using a BROU to BROU transfer. Then have them take the money to GALES cambio and GALES will send the money anywhere you like. I sent 100,000 USD and the cost was 300USD. Let me know if you need any help.

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alfista1

4/12/2019 14:30 EST

Not just Brou. Luckily when we left in 2014 we made a family member power of attorney for various reasons. Wasn't cheap but very usefull to make transfers (ITAU). Also had a property sale to complete.

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