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A change of address led to our Wise accounts being shut down

(shaun.nz)
325 points jemmyw | 5 comments | 30 Oct 25 22:41 UTC | HN request time: 0.832s | source
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Max-Ganz-II ◴[31 Oct 25 00:12 UTC] No.45766965[source]▶
Back in early 2022, a little after the war started, TransferWise blocked transfer (i.e. donation) to the account run by the National Bank of Ukraine for support of the Ukrainian military.

I have and never will forgive them for this.

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jesterson ◴[31 Oct 25 06:48 UTC] No.45769053[source]▶
> I have and never will forgive them for this.

Ukraine is well known money laundering machine. Before the conflict started it was a well known fact and many banks didn't want to work with transfers to Ukraine. I am sure TransferWise shared similar risk model.

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hkpack ◴[31 Oct 25 11:46 UTC] No.45770964[source]▶
> Ukraine is well known money laundering machine.

Can you provide any sources for this?

Ukraine had very strict banking rules for at least a decade. It had much more sense to launder through Cyprus for example or other EU countries like Latvia (when it was still possible) or Hungary if you’re politically connected.

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1. jesterson ◴[01 Nov 25 04:06 UTC] No.45779170[source]▶
> Can you provide any sources for this?

Thats common knowledge for everyone even tangentially related to finance industry and likely for anyone who ever did international business with cross border payments . Not sure what kind of "sources" you expect to see here.

> Ukraine had very strict banking rules for at least a decade

Perhaps for it's own populace, but not for it's rulers and those who they work with.

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2. jlaternman ◴[01 Nov 25 04:33 UTC] No.45779268[source]▶
Do you mean some Russians used Ukraine as a money laundering middleman, specifically through corruption of politicians and elites in the system there? Because it sounds like it. Before the "conflict" (invasion) happened.
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3. jesterson ◴[01 Nov 25 04:40 UTC] No.45779296[source]▶
I'll leave your imagination to judge who used ukraine as money laundering machine. To have some supplementary data for that, we can look where the money entering ukraine come from for say last 5 years. You can easily find how much was coming from russia and compare it with flow from say EU. You should be capable of drawing your own conclusions after.
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4. hkpack ◴[01 Nov 25 13:40 UTC] No.45781561[source]▶
Okay, so basically you’ve read some “anonymous sources” and decided they are true.

Because for me, as a person who did international business from Ukraine it makes absolutely zero sense to launder through Ukraine as it is:

1) no part of any union, so you will be unable to spend or move money outside.

2) it has extreme bank regulation, and you cannot just send money outside without cause. Receiving and sending money for fake “services” will not work (compared to a lot of other places I know)

3) it has a lot of independent anti-corruption institutions. You can be sure that any government official fears the consequences of doing something illegal.

4) it is in a state of war and any suspicious money operation will trigger investigation from SBU as well, since Russia tries to pay for its agents.

If there is corruption and money laundering happening, it is well outside of any path available for regular people.

5. hkpack ◴[01 Nov 25 13:46 UTC] No.45781608{3}[source]▶
You can imagine all sorts of things, including the ones which are not true.

The fact is that there are no proofs that any money donated by EU, US or other donors for Ukraine was misused.

I’ll leave your imagination to judge why the most powerful propaganda machine in the world tries to claim otherwise to stop such aid.