Money Laundering

[George_P]

I see there was a rather big article on Money Laundering in the Business section of the IoM Examiner this week. Complete with experts.

 

There's new laws afoot you'd think. The Island's *ahem* elite has traditionally been able to close ranks on such matters with a legal system that is a law unto itself of course. And a very lucrative for some, legal system, it is at that.

 

Poor wee souls, bless 'em. When even a mediocre advocate can charge nearly a fiver for each and every minute of their time, I can see a good way of getting money cleaned, quite er, legitimately.

 

So, Step 1

Get a nice legal case going, say some civil action. Preferably with all parties in the same “ club ” and who are all in the know and could do with some laundry doing. If some poor innocent person/s can be dragged in, all’s the better as you can have some fun (sport) to boot. (And, at a push, it doesn’t really matter if you lose the case because the objective will still have been achieved – in fact it will look even more kosher, won’t it?)

 

Step 2

Make the case as big as you want – these things can grow into monsters you know!!

 

Step 3

Now, the money bit. At a charge of more per advocate per hour than most of us earn in a week, start ramping up the costs and, well, go for it. You can practice your letter writing and case law while you’re playing the charade and don’t forget a few court appearances in your new cloak and wig to really give it an edge. You can even go to trial. But to keep the whole thing nice and cosy, go for an out of court settlement just before the actual hearing, perhaps.

 

Hey presto! Much money has been sucked from the very murky grey area to the shiney white (cockney rhyming slang not intended). The rest is easy as many favours can now be done.

 

Know Your Client (KYC) has supposedly been around over here for some time. Funny how some of our advocates seem to not bother with it though. If they ever have to really start declaring their suspicions of money laundering, well, there may not be a lot people working up the street any more...

 

Isle of Man - not one confirmed case of money laundering yet?! It just goes to show how good our system really is then. When you come here to bask in your gains don't forget - join the right clubs if you're not already in them - you'll be surprised who you'll soon be rubbing shoulders with. They can help you out alright too.

 

Imagination? Maybe. But I wonder what our very own expert/s think. Do you think this simple ruse will work?

 

As ABBA said:

 

I do, I do, I do, I do, I do.

[crumlin]

WELL BLOODY SAID.

[Observer]

Well it would be if the cunning plan would work - couldn't be bothered going into it as decided it was a blatant troll.

[BunnyBoiler]

What do the government think the islands finacial centre is based on.

 

All these procedures the have introduced mean that people are using other offshore juristictions like the Caymmen Islands instead of the island.

 

The are just biteing the hand that feeds them.

 

Silly, silly government!

[Slim]

So we should instead allow the terrorists and criminals to launder money through the island to remain competative?

 

There's some serious stupidity in this thread, but that last one takes the cake.

[BunnyBoiler]

So we should instead allow the terrorists and criminals to launder money through the island to remain competative?

 

There's some serious stupidity in this thread, but that last one takes the cake.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

No its not that stupid.

 

The procedures introduced for money laundering in 1998 are now spilling over into the islands tax business.

 

I dont want terrorist using the island for their money laundering either but reallistically its the normal business man from the uk trying to save a bit of tax thats being effected.

 

The government have now brought in licensing for Corporate Service Providers which has flushed out unethical providers, which is a good thing. But who are they licensed by, the FSC who are people who are not from the industry and therfore dont undrestand how it works. Pointless!!

[Observer]

I would say that as the FSC run Companies Registry and monitor all the CSP's filing and regulation thereof, that they were well positioned to oversee CSP's. They also have a number of years of supervisory experience having regulated banking & related services and looking to the future, TSP's are next in line.

 

Of course anti money laundering procedures are going to effect all financial services on the island, including taxation issues - why on earth wouldn't they? It was not introduced purely for CSP use. Further, CSP regulation was not introduced to weed out unscrupulous providers, it was introduced to raise the standard of service provided to customers and to provide uniformity in standards and procedures across the board.

 

OK, so there may be other, cheaper jurisdictions with which to do business, but equally we are one of the most highly regulated financial centres and the other jurisdictions will be forced to raise their game in the long run even if they drag their heels for a time. It is not a local problem - it is a global issue with global objectives and to this end everyone will eventually have to comply or be ostracised.

 

Tax evasion is an economic crime, UK (or elsewhere) business people with legitimate tax schemes are still able to benefit from doing business here. If the anti money laundering measures we have in place now are forcing people to question the source of funds, tax requirements in the jurisdiction of the source of income and verify who they are acting for, is that such a bad thing?

[BunnyBoiler]

Do you not think it would be a better for them to be licenced by themselves. The ACSP would do a much better job. They have experiance.

[Observer]

That would effectively make them self governing and I think that there would be pitfalls. The ACSP works quite closey with the FSC anyway, and I think that it is a progressive complimentary relationship. Advocates/Solicitors are effectively self governing and I personally think that it breeds complacency and a false sense of security.