Concern raised over 'punts laundering'

A Government TD has expressed concern people may be laundering old punts, sourced by illegitimate means, by exchanging them for euro at the Central Bank.

Labour's Kevin Humphries has called on the bank to set a cut-off date after which punts would no longer be exchangeable for euro. He said some of the sums being exchanged were so large as to raise questions about where the money came from.

“The figures provided to me by the Minister for Finance on the daily exchanges of punts to euro at the Central Bank indicate that on 62 days in 2011 cash sums of over €15,000 were converted from old notes and coins. A total of €2.7 million was exchanged in 2011.

“On 9th November alone, €160,242.21 was exchanged. This is not the kind of money a person might find down the back of a couch.”

He said the bank had not been able to provide a breakdown by transaction - only daily totals. Two days before the €160,242 was exchanged, a total of just €266.14 was changed.

“I would be anxious to ensure the money being exchanged is from legitimate sources, and consideration should be given to a Garda investigation of these large cash exchanges.

“The anti-money laundering compliance unit [within An Garda Síochána] requires businesses that accept cash payment of €15,000 or over to carry out a customer due diligence,” he said. “Consideration should be given to applying similar rules to large punt transactions at the Central Bank.”

Mr Humphries called for a cut-off date after which punts could no longer be exchanged, as has happened in Italy with the lira, Greece with the drachma and more recently in France with the franc.

The Banque de France set February 17th as the last day for the exchange of francs after over 600 years as the country’s legal tender.

Since January 1st, 1999, the Central Bank has been accepting old punt notes for exchange into euro. The annual cost for this service is €368,000.

A spokesman for the Central Bank said there were systems and controls in place around the exchange of old bank notes and coins but for security reasons could not give out information on these. He said amounts up to the value of £1,000 could be redeemed at the bank, in person, on the same day.

“Amounts in excess of £1,000 (€1,270) will be accepted at our counter, a receipt will be issued and the notes sent to our currency issue department for verification. Payment will be made directly into the bank account of the individual for the appropriate amount, usually within 20 working days.”

As of  March 15th, 2012 there remained £98,337,811.60, or euro equivalent: €124,863,263.94, in coins in circulation, and £185,023,166.00, euro equivalent: €234,930,959.26 in notes, a total of £283,360,977.60, euro equivalent: €359,794,223.20.