1. My Contacts
My contact was a former employee of our firm. When I had completed my narration, she pointed out that the matter was within the jurisdiction of another department. She didn’t wish to cross wires with them. Still, she rang up her counterpart in that department.
To my pleasant surprise I recognised the incumbent. She had been one of my favourite students some twelve years earlier. At that time, she had been in her twenties; and she still looked the same.
“I haven’t seen you in ages, Prof.”
“Actually, I thought you were still with B & G. You were one of the three pupils they took on that year, Lynn.”
“I was. Later on, they made me a Legal Assistant and after another few years promoted me.”
“Why did you leave? Surely, the pay was good, wasn’t it?”
“It was. But then, they made heavy demands on my time. Here I can usually leave at 5.30 or 6 o’clock. I can look after my two girls and spend some time with my husband.”
“When did you get married?”
“Shortly after I finished my law degree. And you know my husband!”
“Eh?” I let my surprise show.
“He works in the same department as you. His name is Paul.”
“Good grief. We work quite a bit together. He is a fine young man!”
“You mean ‘a young middle-aged man’, don’t you?”
“To me all of you look so young. How old are your daughters?”
“Four and six.”
For a moment I was perplexed; then saw the light. She had taken my course on Banking Law when I was in my early sixties. For me, too, time had not stood still. I had by now become an old man: one of the very few academics of my vintage who had remained fully employed after their 65th birthday.
To my regret, Lynn was unable to sort the case out. The issue was not purely legal – it concerned the fiscal policy of the Republic. On the one hand, we could not afford to invoke the wrath of the United States. They were too powerful and, in addition, one of our main markets. On the other hand, free trade and freedom of dealings in money were essential. If they were abrogated, our Republic might lose its hard-earned status.
2. The Solution
The only person who could give me a hint as to what was to be done was Lynn’s superior. Before I went over to his office, Lynn checked the details of the transaction. They were before him when I entered his posh office.
“You don’t recognise me, Prof!” he chuckled.
“Frankly, I don’t.”
“I took your course in 1964.”
“Are you by any chance R.?”
“Guilty as charged. You gave me a B1!”
“You did well. I remember your paper. But you know, you don’t look the same.”
“Of course not. I am a grandfather – twice over.”
“You must be close to retirement?”
“They’ve extended me. I’ll stop by the end of next year: before I make a mistake.”
“How will you occupy yourself?” I asked tactlessly.
“I’ll be looking after my grandchildren,” he announced victoriously. “My grandmother looked after me. My late mother was a businesswoman.”
“So, it is a sort of a cycle,” I mumbled.
“It is, Prof. Always has been.”
For a while we gossiped. For my part, I felt as if somebody was walking over my grave. For a reason unknown to me, I had made very few attempts to contact former students. I was relieved when R. turned to the case. He had checked the source of the funds and advised me, in confidence, that the remitters had no record. In plain language, their name was not included in any “red signal” or “black” list.
Neither R. nor any other officer of the Authority could take a clear stand. The regulations imposed the duty to disclose on the “bank”, provided it had “reasonable grounds” to suspect the source of the funds.
“The word ‘bank’ is not clearly defined,” I pointed out.
“It isn’t. In general, the word refers to the ‘officer in charge of the bank account’. The initial decision must be made by him.”
“Generally, then, not by a member of another department, for instance a legal officer or a compliance officer?”
“Not normally, unless the facts of a specific case raise his eyebrows.”
“Thanks,” I said and added: “So if the bank officer in charge of the matters OK’s it, the ‘bank’ can go ahead?”
“In strict confidence, this is the position.”
Before I left, R. suggested that my Bank consider the risk of the United States’ intervention. The American authorities had the power to seize our Bank’s balances in New York. I was aware that some local banks had burned their fingers and had needed the Authority’s tacit support to clear their name.
“Off the record, our policy is simple, Prof. We have to avoid any clash with our American colleagues. All the same, we must protect our freedom of trade policy.”
“I thought that was also the orientation of the United States?”
“I believe, it is.”