The UK justice system apparently didn't buy Wiese's explanation that the money came from diamond deals in South Africa in the 80s and 90s, and had been kept in a safety deposit box in the Ritz hotel because of foreign exchange restrictions in his homeland.

FORBES: Christoffel Wiese's unusual baggage

Some economists have doubts about another proposed move by the central bank: the abolition of most of Brazil's remaining foreign-exchange restrictions.

ECONOMIST: Brazil��s government debt

But in order to function properly, to function at an acceptable level of dysfunction, command systems need to exert an extraordinary degree of control over economic life: they need to control foreign travel, they need to restrict residency patterns and limit internal migration, they need to fix prices, they need to arbitrarily set a foreign exchange rate, and they need to place extreme restrictions on foreign trade.

FORBES: The Weak Foundations of Martel's Authoritarian Axis

The alternative, a foreign-owned holding company, must operate under tight restrictions that forbid, for example, inter-company loans, foreign-exchange balancing, import-export, or even consolidated accounts across the subsidiaries.

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