HMT's "Remit over Currency and Promissory Notes"

Darryl J Lee (Mr.) made this Freedom of Information request to HM Treasury This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

The request was refused by HM Treasury.

Darryl J Lee (Mr.)

Dear Her Majesty’s Treasury,

The Attorney General's Office wrote to me and stated in the following terms:

" The handling, acceptance or issuing of currency notes does not fall within the remit of the AGO. You may wish to refer your request to Her Majesty’s Treasury (HMT) who has remit over currency and Promissory Notes. An FOI request can be sent to [email address]."

Please disclose what information HMT does hold within the Treasury's "Remit over Currency and Promissory Notes" (To use the phase of The Attorney General Office).

In this Request, "...what information..." means a list of documents or other information that fall within HMT's Remit over currency and promissory notes.

At this stage I ask merely for a list of information - not disclosure of copies of each information.

Thank you.
Yours faithfully,

Darryl J Lee (Mr.)

FOI Requests, HM Treasury

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FOI Requests, HM Treasury

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request. I write to confirm receipt of your request and to let you know that it is receiving attention. If you have any enquiries regarding your request do not hesitate to contact us.

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Information Rights Team

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FOI Requests, HM Treasury

Dear Mr Lee

Thank you for your email. Under section 1(3) of the Freedom of Information Act, a public authority need not comply with a request unless any further information reasonably required to locate the information is supplied. Before we can search for any possible information held, the Treasury reasonably requires some more information on your request. In particular, could you please provide further detail on exactly what information you are seeking, as your request in its current format is very broad? Once you have clarified your request, we will be able to begin to process it.

Kind regards

Information Rights Case Advisor | Information Rights Unit | Correspondence and Information Rights Team | HM Treasury | www.gov.uk/hm-treasury 

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Darryl J Lee (Mr.)

Dear FOI Requests,

CLARIFICATION.

I Requested a list of information held by HM Treasury within the Remit over Currency and Promissory Notes upon having been advised by The Attorney General's Office that HM Treasury has "Remit over Currency and Promissory Notes" as I had informed you in my Request.

You have asked for clarification stating that my Request for information (requesting you list the information do you hold) stating that my Request "is too wide". This "wide" Request was after Requests being refused for allegedly being "too narrow".

In an attempt to clarify the information (narrow my Request at your demand) for information that I seek disclosure of, I ask these questions:

Does the Treasury have any "powers" in relation to Promissory Notes (as Defined by The Bills of Exchange Act 1882) and or "Currency Notes" (as defined by The Counterfeiting and Forgery Act) [being Promissory Notes that are payable upon Demand to Bearer] by which the Treasury has (after 1882) fettered a Person's (within the meaning of The Interpretation Act 1978) right to lawfully issue such Notes. This Request is not concerned with "Banknotes" which, although a sub-species of Promissory Notes and are also Currency Notes, are by being Notes issued by Banks so are such themselves defined by other Legislation.

In plain English; Legislation provides a Statutory Right to a person to promise to pay another person a sum in money at some other time or to promise to pay the bearer of a written promise (a note) on demand the sum agreed on the face of the note. Does HMT interfere with that legal right? If so; in which circumstance?

The Notes discussed above are "Bearer Negotiable Instruments" ("BNI") - BNIs are - by Reference to several EU laws "Cash". Of particular Relevance is the Directive that compels Member States to ensure Cash over a prescribed limit is not permitted into or out of The EU without declaring the cash carried by the traveller. Please see the Interpretative Note (Cash Couriers) by FAFT. Bearer Negotiable Instruments including, Promissory Notes, including those that are Currency Notes, including those that are Banknotes, some of which are Legal Tender must be "Tracked". This is an Anti-Money-Laundering measure, a tactic to prevent terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and prevents and detects serious organised crime; The FAFT and The EU (plus The United Nations) all rely on the same definition of "CASH" as do (In The UK) HMRC and UK Border Force and numerous laws have been passed (outside The UK) by HM The Queen relying on that definition, See for example The Cash Controls (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2007. My search for information is centred on the definition of "Cash".

"Notes" (Whether Promissory ...or Currency... or Bank...) are all "CASH" if they are a Bearer Negotiable Instruments. It does not matter which currency they are payable in, or even if they are made-out to a fictitious person. These Notes in any currency must be declared by those seeking to move them around the world. Does HMT hold any information about the creation and movement of Bearer Negotiable Instruments ? In particular, Does HMT have any powers to stop a person excising their rights to produce BNIs for their own use (Not where a unauthorised person undertakes Reserved Legal Services for others - (Legal Services Act 2007))?

Put simply (because members of the public may see this) - The law says a man can create his own cash and (according to The Government's lawyers, HMT has "Remit over Currency and Promissory Notes"). I want to know how Her Majesty's Treasury "oversees [if at all] a persons Statutory Right to quite literally "print his own cash"?
Thank you.

A Note to other Researchers. Cash is not always legal tender. Only "Banknotes" can be "Legal Tender". No one is obliged to accept a promissory note unless there is a contract or other agreement in advance. (This point has been heard in a number of court cases) . Some laws make it unlawful or impossible to use a Bill of Exchange (such as a cheque) to pay certain debts. The Consumer Credit Act is one example. Sometimes, even cash is not accepted in shops. Often a retailer will not accept fifty pound notes or occasionally a twenty. Coins are legal tender upto a limit. E.g 21 pence in coppers is not legal tender and can be rejected as payment. When Promissory Notes are "Sold" usually called "discounted" they are sold at a reduced rate. There are lots of international "Promissory Note Investors" sometimes called "Mortgage Note Investors" but Banks in The UK DO "Discount" (buy) / Monetise Promissory Notes. It is important to remember that Promissory Notes must be treated as cash (This goes back hundreds of years and was most recently confirmed in December 2016 in The High Court)(But cash which is in the form of promissory notes is not legal tender and may be rejected as a form of payment unless the method of payment was agreed in advance).

Yours sincerely,

Darryl J Lee (Mr.)

FOI Requests, HM Treasury

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request. I write to confirm receipt of your request and to let you know that it is receiving attention. If you have any enquiries regarding your request do not hesitate to contact us.

Regards,

Information Rights Team

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Darryl J Lee (Mr.)

Dear FOI Requests,

Perhaps I should add that where, in the text above, I mention "after 1882" I do not require ALL "interferences" by HMT with a persons Statutory Rights since 1882 - merely after the coming into force of the 1882 Act But specifically I ask about the last few years.

Yours sincerely,

Darryl J Lee (Mr.)

FOI Requests, HM Treasury

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Lee

Please find attached our response to your Freedom of Information request. Please find clickable versions of the links contained in our response below:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict...
https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/offici...

Kind regards

Information Rights Case Advisor | Information Rights Unit | Correspondence and Information Rights Team | HM Treasury | www.gov.uk/hm-treasury 

This email and any files transmitted with it are intended solely for the use of the individual(s) to whom they are addressed. If you are not the intended recipient and have received this email in error, please notify the sender and delete the email.

This footnote also confirms that our email communications may be monitored to ensure the secure and effective operation of our systems and for other lawful purposes, and that this email has been swept for malware and viruses.