An appropriate word for a "complex lengthy bureaucratic procedure" that prevents a positive outcome

Solution 1:

A common term for bureaucratic complication that frustrates or prevents activity is red tape

The collection or sequence of forms and procedures required to gain bureaucratic approval for something, especially when oppressively complex and time-consuming.

American Heritage

Supplement: Red tape has an interesting etymology

"excessive bureaucratic rigmarole," 1736, in reference to the red tape formerly used in Great Britain (and the American colonies) for binding up legal and other official documents, mentioned from 1690s.

etymonline.com

Red ribbon, often with a wax seal, continued to be used in the US to show completeness of official legal documents, such as wills and deeds, well into the late 20th century.

Solution 2:

This particular situation sounds like a Catch-22. From Wikipedia:

A catch-22 is a paradoxical situation from which an individual cannot escape because of contradictory rules.

Solution 3:

Kafkaesque- used to describe a situation that is confusing and frightening, especially one involving complicated official rules and systems that do not seem to make any sense

e.g. My attempt to get a new passport turned into a Kafkaesque nightmare.

rigmarole- a long and complicated process that is annoying and seems unnecessary

e.g. I couldn't face the whole rigmarole of getting a work permit again.

Solution 4:

The term bureaucratization is used with a negative connotation in that respect:

Tendency to manage an organization by adding more controls, adherence to rigid procedures, and attention to every detail for its own sake.

(www.businessdictionary.com)

Solution 5:

If the question is about complicated procedures, some have developed the concept of bloatocracy, applicable to a state, or a system in general. For instance in Bloatocracy and Ineptocracy, one can read:

In a bloatocratic system, it is beyond the capacity of the ordinary citizen to be aware of, keep track of, and do all the laws, rules, regulations, policies and procedures that are required of him or her.

Workers, employees, customers, and users of these businesses and institutions find themselves increasingly frustrated and unable to walk through the paperwork required to do even the most basic things.

So, bloatocratic could apply to the question.

However, the situation described in the OP's example is a different situation. Rules are quite simple, they just don't match. I was thinking about four options: deadlock, stalemate (from chess, aka pat or pat), impasse, and finally Mexican standoff .

For deadlock (my favorite here), I quote the concurrent computing sense, because your banking process involves e-mails and wire transfer. And in bureaucracy "it's always the fault of the computer".

[it] occurs when two competing actions wait for the other to finish, and thus neither ever does

The above page also refers to Catch-22, and oddly, there exists a Banker's algorithm, which is:

a resource allocation and deadlock avoidance algorithm developed by Edsger Dijkstra

In popular usage, the word stalemate refers to:

a conflict that has reached an impasse, and in which resolution or further action seems highly difficult or unlikely.

In chess, this is a situation in which the player who have to play "has no legal move"

The word impasse is more generic:

may also refer to any situation in which no progress can be made.

And a final one: a Mexican standoff (or shootout),

a confrontation between two or more parties in which no participant can proceed or retreat without being exposed to danger