No more large cash payments

Wednesday 24th February 2010, 3:00PM GMT.

Anti-money laundering legislation means few large cash payments are now accepted

VIRTUALLY all Jersey businesses have stopped accepting large amounts of cash as payment for high-value goods to ensure that they do not fall foul of anti-money laundering legislation.

Traders such as jewellers, yacht brokers, garages and farmers no longer accept more than the sterling equivalent of 15,000 euros in cash and require customers to pay such sums by other methods.

For over a year, non-finance businesses that handle large sums of cash have had to register with the Jersey Financial Services Commission.

But very few have done so, as they would rather not accept cash in case they fall foul of laws that are designed to stop criminals from laundering the proceeds of crime.

The deputy anti-money laundering director at the JFSC, Nick Troy, said that they were quite surprised at how many firms the legislation covered when it was introduced.

Read the full story in the Jersey Evening Post.

Click here for subscription details.

Individual editions are also available online.