Endorsing international money order

malcolm000

Hello everyone - this is the first time I've posted anything onto this fabulous site. Hope it's the correct forum?
My father-in-law (holidaying in this country but granted right of leave) has an international money order(IMO) (1000's of £) in his name. He is in the process of opening a bank account in this country, which would then allow transfer of the money to our account - but that's being delayed due to waiting for the correct confirmatory documentation (bills, NHS card, etc) and until that has been done, we are losing potential interest on the capital. Is he allowed to endorse it so that my wife can deposit it asap into our joint account? Have been to Abbey and told this is not possible due to the anti-laundering regulations which came into existence some time ago. Could anyone out there advise me? Thanks for any replies.

Mikeyorks

If the MO is crossed (a/c payee only - or similar) then he won't be able to do that (Cheques Act 1992) .. but I'm totally unsure how an international MO is annotated!

Would not the Bank where he is intending to open his account be prepared to hold it in a suspense account 'without prejudice'. And then retrospectively apply the initial lodgement date once all is cleared?

malcolm000

The IMO is not crossed...thinking of trying another bank to see whether endorsing the IMO is allowed. Maybe the advice from Abbey wasn't correct?
With regard to your point - maybe his bank would open the account in a manner that you suggest but there's a risk his account may not be functional for months to come (wait for documents eg Council Tax Bill, NHS card).

jonesMUFCforever

Mikeyorks wrote:

If the MO is crossed (a/c payee only - or similar) then he won't be able to do that (Cheques Act 1992) .. but I'm totally unsure how an international MO is annotated!

Would not the Bank where he is intending to open his account be prepared to hold it in a suspense account 'without prejudice'. And then retrospectively apply the initial lodgement date once all is cleared?

They will not do this as the account may never be opened if sufficent id and address confirmation is not supplied.
Even after the account is opened it could take up to 4 weeks for cleared funds to be available in the account as I'm sure they would send the money order for collection rather than negotiate for a new customer (this would apply to all banks IMO).
What I would do is send the IMO back to the issuing bank for a refund and get your FIL to transfer funds electronically once he has an account number issued.