Thing is, if you’re laundering money, you’re probably doing something incredibly profitable (importing kilos of something that cost you $2k and then selling for $20k, or just straight up stolen funds with no cost basis).
These groups have no issue with the few percent cost of added transaction friction.
But it really costs people running low-margin businesses or unsophisticated honest people just trying to move overseas, remit funds to family or buy a home overseas.
And the knock-on effects of the bypasses becoming things like “buy a front-business and care less about the legitimate competitors that can’t compete with someone unworried about profit” or “buy a house and let it sit empty”.
These groups have no issue with the few percent cost of added transaction friction.
But it really costs people running low-margin businesses or unsophisticated honest people just trying to move overseas, remit funds to family or buy a home overseas.
And the knock-on effects of the bypasses becoming things like “buy a front-business and care less about the legitimate competitors that can’t compete with someone unworried about profit” or “buy a house and let it sit empty”.