Money laundering is hard

"D", one of the chappies that works here, wanted to change some local money into US dollars as his Chinese credit card probably wouldn't work for his trip to America. 
This took a few days.

Day 1:

Popped into the bank after lunch and asked about changing money.

"$500 dollars a day is the maximum per person" we were informed by the lady at the front desk. "And you need your passport"

"I need more than $500", D replied, every so slightly agitated.

The lady leaned towards and said that we should "bring some friends". She was telling is a way to get around the "per person" part of the rule.

Day 2:

Lunch. D and two of his friends, of which I was one, rolled up to the bank, passports in hands.

D withdrew 9000 Yuen in Chinese currency, gave us each 3000 Yuen, which we passed straight back to the teller.

Passports were copied.
Forms were filled.
Money was counted.
Forms were signed.
Computer was typed into.
Forms were copied.
Money was counted again.
Computer was typed into.
Forms were given back.

Dollars were counted
Dollars were counted again.

Dollars were given.

This all took an hour and a half.

Day3:

Same bank as yesterday, and passports were copied. We waited for a teller to become available which took about 20 minutes, at which point we were told that the "a day" in "$500 dollars a day" was actually one day a month.

D started to splutter a bit. He does that when he gets frustrated.

The lady leaned into us again and said "but you can go to a different bank". She picked up a leaflet, opened it and pointed to the address of another bank.

D then lost it. 

"It's the same fucking bank" he squealed in frustration.

"All you're doing is sending me to a different branch" he continued to squeal, stabbing the leaflet with his finger.

An hour and a half in the bank next door and we had another $1500

Total time spent (3 people) 9 hours

Total money changed:$3000

TLDR:

$500 per day max (unless you bring friends)

One transaction per month (unless you go to a different branch)