Car sale and FCA regulations

When you say "cash", do you mean "a big bag full of tenners"?

If so, then the company is probably just playing it very safe on the high value cash transaction part of the money laundering regs.

I had the same problem when I bought a new £20k Peugeot. HMG assume that all cash is stolen or drugs income. In the end I said take it or leave it but I daresay someone stuck there noses in on the paperwork.

Many of the big dealerships would not accept cash over 6000 (last time I looked). Ridiculous, maybe, but it saves them the massive and expensive grief of being accused of money laundering if it goes pear shaped.

I hope they refused.

You'd rather ask the salesman to break the law, risking both his job and prison, than to demonstrate - simply - that the money is legitimate?

...and then people wonder why money laundering regs are needed...

But the laundering regulations only apply to law abiding citizens.

Those with money to launder will do it irrespective of any regulations.

The dealer already knew me well for several years. I took it as a slight on my character that I needed to prove where I got the cash from.

Life was far better when everyone got their wages in brown envelopes and what it was spent on was entirely between them and the wall.

The money laundering regs only kick in over £11,000.

Not if they can't buy anything legit with the cash.

Yep, although many financial institutions and sellers tend to set an arbitrary lower amount.

Chris

Which is where we came in, of course.

But for the £20k purchase that was being moaned about a minute ago...

A woman was trying to get 5k out of her account in Santander the other day, it took over twenty minutes (I left before she did) They were getting her to sign various disclaimers about the cash and asking all sorts of about why she wanted the money, the woman was about sub 40 and on her own, no shifty looking pikeys hanging about that were tarmacing her drive or anything.

Quite. I applied for a store card recently. Having approved the thing, and presumably matched up my details with everything ?which shouldn't be hard given I've lived at the same address for thirty years? 'money laundering regulations' require them to ask for proof of address and ID. Which means getting a certified copy of my passport (or various other doc on their approved list). Which means a visit to a solicitor etc. Frankly, I don't need the credit, its more trouble and expense than it's worth to jump through these hoops, so I'll do without. There business loses not me.

WTF?

I really can't see how that works. When I worked for businesses offering store cards, they were piss easy for anyone to get. Driving licence / passport and a utility bill were more than adequate.

And some companies want you to send your passport and driving licence (no certified copies) through the post to them for this purpose. And some companies insist on these methods of proof for new accounts even if you have been a customer of theirs for decades.

Why is it that some companies are willing to accept the details you give and an existing credit card or bank account as proof of ID and other expect the prospective customer to jump through necessary hoops?

I wonder if the banks applied the same rigour when they laundered all the proceeds from the LIBOR rates rigging?

As for companies wanting to view a utility bill for proof, with paperless/email billing it only takes a few minutes on a computer to give yourself a new identity and address.

Still unusual (suspect) if it was in cash. It could be related to identity theft and other misdemeanour. Life was simpler in olden days when it was more normal to operate with cash.

Or why is it possible for the various frauds where people are conned into transferring money to accounts that are then emptied to work at all. Somehow the criminal never has difficulty creating these accounts.

I notice my PDF bills from Santander are overprinted with 'downloaded copy' or some such. Still, that would hardly stop someone with a bit of skill to create a convincing document.

cash. The salesman insisted on taking her through a whole lot of patter as though she were going to buy it on credit. I remonstrated with him but he said it was necessary or his firm would incur a £5,000 fine. I cannot see why buying a car for cash should be any different in principle to buying a bicycle or a pair of shoes or a cup cake.

I went into the dealership with my daughter and asked them why all this per formance was necessary and they said it was the FCA, not money laundering, and was due to the fact that she might have wanted credit, and might have w anted gap insurance, etc, etc and they had to tell her all this.

on taking her through a whole lot of patter as though she were going to buy it on credit. I remonstrated with him but he said it was necessary or his firm would incur a £5,000 fine. I cannot see why buying a car for cash should be any different in principle to buying a bicycle or a pair of shoes or a cup cake.

it was the FCA, not money laundering, and was due to the fact that she might have wanted credit, and might have wanted gap insurance, etc, etc and they had to tell her all this.

... and the computer won't let them make a sale without answering the questions, even when the car is over 5 years old, and so is not eligible for the optional extras anyway. But they have to use the Evans Halshaw system instead of their old one, now that they've been taken over.