Absolutely FUMING with Abbey

dunstonh

have re-read this thread, and am still slightly confused. Where exactly in the 'Money Laundering Rules' that everyone keeps referring to

I refer you to the Money Laundering regulations 1993 for starters but that has had periodic updates and there were further changes in the Money laundering regulations 2007 which was laid before parliament 25th July 07 and came into force 15th December 2007.

The FSA enforce the money laundering rules at financial services companies. When the FSA do an audit they will check how the money laundering regs have been interpreted and they will then check for evidence of that. The FSA may pick a random sample of transactions that look unusual and ask to see evidence that the money laundering procedures that they have been told about actually happened. So, if the cashier has noted it was a purchase of xyz on the back then there is evidence of a check. If the cashier noted that the person was evasive in answering, the FSA will check to see if it was reported to the MLRO. If nothing was noted and no other evidence exists then the company will fail its evidencing and the FSA can then take a range of actions against that company. It may range from training and revised procedures and can go as far as significant fines running into millions (which has happened).

A staff member found at fault on an audit could suffer in various ways from nothing through to training, loss of bonuses, poor annual report effecting next years pay rise through to being given an official warning for negligence. If the transaction did involve money laundering then a prison sentence for that staff member could be given upto 15 years.

does it state you specifically have to ask a customer "what the money is to be used for?",

Nope. You do not get many specifics in the rules. Its risk based and firms have to put in place rules based on their risks. The FSA then enforce this and decide if they are sufficient or not.

Somerset

We're now in a police state.

Bought a flat 2 years back. Sat in solicitors office discussing details. She wanted to quickly get started ordering local searches so asked for £100 odd to cover. I'd come out without my cheue book, so said I'd nip to the cashpoint to get it. NOOOO - they could only accept £50 in cash - money laundering !!!

Everyone applauds money laundering legislation and fraud prevention in theory, well I do anyway. But it's operation in practice is oppressive and quite often ridiculous.

Meltdown_2

Originally Posted by dunstonh
The FSA then enforce this and decide if they are sufficient or not.

And the FSA have a very good track record on overseeing the banks ... :rolleyes:

Meltdown_2

Somerset wrote: »

She wanted to quickly get started ordering local searches so asked for £100 odd to cover. I'd come out without my cheque book, so said I'd nip to the cashpoint to get it. NOOOO - they could only accept £50 in cash - money laundering !!!

Did she accept your gold watch as security for the other £50? :rolleyes:

Meltdown_2

dunstonh wrote: »

I was conned by somoene who was perceived to be a regular.

No..... :eek:

Also, just because some know you doesnt mean the cashier in question did and its their neck that is on the line.

I didn't realise the penalties were that draconian! :eek: (And I thought the UK had abolished the death penalty ...)

Money laundering rules.

As opposed to ML legislation, which as you say later is now pretty vague on specifics (it's a risk-based regime), leaving lots of practical decisions with individual banks, etc.

sparky.shark

It depends on who the cashier is and how they are feeling. Simple as that! There are procedures but some just take the biscuit while others or more professional. I've taken out large sums of money with only a credit card as secondary ID.

On the point of ordering cash I also find this ridiculous, they should have loads of cash in the back and if security is a concern then they should beef it up. Any excuse in my book, next it’ll be health and safety “can’t lift the money it’s too heavy”. That’s why banks were created after all!!

I'll give one example where me and the misses went mad. We have a joint account and I asked to withdraw £1000, sorry sir you cannot take this amount out you have to order it. I said what!! Luckily my wife was with me and hey presto another £500 a complete JOKE!

Also EVERYTIME, I go into the abbey branches there are massive Q’s, total lack of staff and total lack of service. It's like they have lost the will to live. If it wasn’t for the hassle, people would leave in droves, goes for all the service industry.

That’s one of the advantages of a Lloyds or Barclays. No messing around if you want money you get it there and then, in my case anyway.

AND let’s not go down the bank Profits discussion!

PS: If they ask where the money came from. Just say you won the Lottery, the tune then changes to do you have any spare you can give me!

overlander

This thread is unbelievable, its just amazing how people can dance and skirt around the problem and by doing so completely change the original complaint. This is nothing whatsoever to do with the standard money laundering questions, everyone is in agreement that they are in both parties interest.

BUT what the heck has "what do you want the money for" got to do with money laundering. Any one money laundering would spout out some bog standard answer like buying car. So can anyone please tell me an answer that would indicate money laundering? I very much doubt anyone could come up with an answer. The question is totally ridiculous. Remember we are not talking about the other questions so please answer the original posters question.

Meltdown_2

Apparently, the answers that indicate money laundering are :

"None of your business!"
"Why do you want to know that?"
or ANY hesitation before answering with one of the "acceptable" answers
(car, holiday, new kitchen, etc)

reformedEffortMaker_2

overlander wrote: »

BUT what the heck has "what do you want the money for" got to do with money laundering. .

good point!...sounds to me like the cashier was either
a) a nosy parker
b) a buffoon, or
c) getting ready to try and sell a loan

gatita

Gosh its so good to see that many people agree with me in that "what do you want the money for" to be both abusive and darn right rude! I was beginning to think it was just me, but then realised that the people that agreed with Abbey's procedures all worked within the financial industry and had been brainwashed into thinking this would stop money laundering:lipsrseal

Meltdown I just loved your comment about the death penalty, I am still chuckling
When I started this thread I never dreamt for one moment there would be so many posts.