The robbers who stole £22 million (€31.49 million) from the headquarters of the Northern Bank in Belfast on Monday will find their options severely limited when it comes to spending their haul.
Recent legislation, effective throughout the EU, forces financial institutions and other professionals, from bank officials to accountants and estate agents, to report any suspicious activity. Banks also employ complex monitoring schemes to check unusual fluctuations in cash transfers.
The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and Money Laundering Regulations 2003 have significantly tightened the processes covering transfers of cash, according to one accountant who has practised on both sides of the Border. "We now work under the most stringent legislation and are required to inform the police if suspicions are raised," he said.
The professional and regulatory bodies covering the professions also maintained a monitoring function, he said. Similar legislation enacted throughout the EU means that cross-Border loopholes have largely been closed.
It is thought to be all but impossible to move large sums without triggering a suspicious financial activity report, which is passed to police intelligence officers.
An immediate problem for the Northern Bank thieves is that a large amount of the cash taken is in new banknotes. With the PSNI confirming yesterday that lists of the relevant serial numbers are being prepared, the robbers will need to be careful not to prompt suspicion when they attempt to put their cash to use.
Virtually all of the stolen £22 million is in Northern Ireland banknotes, the PSNI has said. Although such notes are denominated in sterling, they are not widely accepted in the Republic's Border areas and are virtually unusable in Britain. With awareness at a high level following such a daring raid, and with details of the trauma endured by the hostages during the 24-hour robbery now in the public domain, the public may be keen to report any suspicious activity.
However, despite restrictions on the use or the exchange of the stolen notes, decades of racketeering in Northern Ireland and the continuation of fuel-laundering plants along the Border mean that legislation has failed to eradicate the black economy.
After carrying out a plan involving six hostages, three crime sites, up to 20 gang members and months of intelligence-gathering, it appears unlikely that such attention to detail ended on the night of the robbery.
Underworld contacts could be prepared to buy the stolen cash at well under its face value. Another possibility could see the criminals "slipping the cash into circulation bit by bit", one source said. But, with such a vast sum to dispose of, this appears unlikely.