> The entire thing is a ridiculous waste of taxpayer and public sector resources, and private sector compliance costs are probably overhanging a full digit % of

> The entire thing is a ridiculous waste of taxpayer and public sector resources, and private sector compliance costs are probably overhanging a full digit % of the GDP growth. It's estimated that, worldwide, KYC/AML bring in only an insignifant 1/150th of the enormous compliance cost it puts on the private sector. More than two freaking orders of magnitude. It's, indeed, a complete total and utter waste. Not to mention that some things that used be "sacred" do not exist anymore: for example in Belgium (and in other countries I'm sure), lawyers now are forced, in many cases, to denounce potential clients that come to asks for their help. This is beyond insanity. I do believe that even bad guys should have a right to see a lawyer without fearing that the lawyer is actually a little snitch.