Put yourself in the position of UBS. Someone comes into your office to open a Nominee Trust account. Obviously a very high net worth individual. The individual gives you his personal information to open the account, he is required to do this. U ask him what is the purpose and goals of the Nominee account. He tells u he wants to open the account for the sole purpose of purchasing a GCB property. U ask him, how much is this GCB. He tells u $88 million. Later, he comes back with the sales agreement, and tells you he is wiring funds into the account for this legitimate purchase of a GCB. U look at the sales contract. It's got Shan's name on it. U escalate to your senior VP. Now exactly how hard will you, your Senior VP, and your money laundering department look into this transaction? Will u ask buyer(your own client) to prove source of funds? Would you ask buyer for how long these funds were at his disposal? Will u ask buyer for 5 years of income statements and net worth statements? Because if the buyer fails any of these steps, the money has to be reported to STRO and so exactly how tightly will u enforce this AML in your own bank? even if the buyer is a drug lord from Thailand, and brings in 20 suitcases full of cash to your office to deposit it to his Nominee account, the minute you flag it to STRO, they will freeze the money and the transaction is dead. Within the hour, u will have a personal call from Shan's listing agent to ask whether you and your boss want to explain to the Minister of Law why u flag this transaction, so he cannot sell his GCB for $88 million. Is this a call u and your boss want to take? This is the man that POFMA people left right and centre. The most vindictive Minister out there.
Now u ask your question again. Is this really a failure of the regulatory authorities or just self preservation?