Harry Shannon
I recently visited the U.K. I had not been there for seven or eight years.
I had some British banknotes, including one for ₤20 (close to $40 Canadian or $27 U.S.). When I tried to use it in a store, I was told it was out of date, no longer legal tender.
“So what do I do,” I asked.
“Take it to a bank and they’ll exchange it,” came the reply.
A little while later I was passing a bank and went in. “Do you have an account here,” I was asked.
Naturally, I did not.
“Sorry, you need one to change the note.”
Again, I asked: “So what do I do?”
“Go to the Post Office.”
That wasn’t far away. Off I went.
“Do you have ID?”
I didn’t. My passport was back where we were staying.
“Then we can’t do it.”
I was surprised and frustrated. “Why not?” I asked.
“It’s illegal in the U.K. to change money for money. You must show ID to do it,” I was told.
“Why?” I asked.
“It’s to prevent money laundering.”
I was even more surprised. “₤20. If I’m money laundering, I’m a pretty small operator,” I countered.
The guy at the next wicket had overheard this and was chuckling away. I was able to see the funny side.
I looked it up and the Bank of England’s web site told me that the money stopped being usable almost four years before my visit. Did someone think that I would wait all that time to launder such a massive sum as ₤20? Or, much more sinister, had I been steadily swapping criminally obtained money for all that time?
Meanwhile, oligarchs, oil sheikhs, and others have transferred who knows how ill-gotten fortunes worth billions in any currency into the UK. No doubt they have hired the services of high-priced lawyers or money managers. I guess I could have tried that route, but it would have cost me far more than the measly ₤20 I wanted to exchange.
Coincidentally, today I heard a news story that Binance, the cryptocurrency exchange, was hacked and USD$6.3 billion taken. The reporter said that those who took it – North Koreans are the prime suspects – would hide it via money laundering.
You may be wondering, as I was, how many times you would have to swap ₤20 to launder $6.3 billion. (Yes, I know that it’s all electronic, they don’t have the amount in old banknotes, but I just wondered.) You’ll be pleased to learn that I have done the arithmetic, with currency conversion, for you. The answer: it’s about 235,000,000 times. Not going to happen!
The underlying problem is with the law. Surely, somewhere in the process of passing the legislation, someone would have suggested a minimum amount before you need to worry about money laundering, say ₤100. But no, the zero-tolerance crowd won out.
They say the law is an ass. Indeed.