Heightened Money Transfer Scrutiny Proposed

A Treasury Department proposed regulation would make all electronic money transfers in and out of the country subject to disclosure reports the Washington Post (registration required).

The Obama administration wants to require U.S. banks to report all electronic money transfers into and out of the country, a dramatic expansion in efforts to counter terrorist financing and money laundering….

Financial institutions are now required to report to the Treasury Department transactions in excess of $10,000 and others they deem suspicious. The new rule would require banks to disclose even the smallest transfers.

The proposed regulation has been posted for public comment. The Post says it could take effect in 2012.

Andrew Porter wondered if this would affect fan funds like TAFF and DUFF.

That depends on whether fan fund administrators transfer funds between countries electronically. I don’t know if they do. In my limited experience (1984), TAFF money from its U.S. account was given in cash to the delegate when he arrived at the Worldcon.

Under the proposed regulation, information about electronic transfers between the U.S. and other countries would be added to the government’s database. The reporting would be done by banks and financial institutions. It wouldn’t be the responsibility of people making the transfer, for example a fan fund administrator or worldcon committee.

3 thoughts on “Heightened Money Transfer Scrutiny Proposed

  1. Timely news, as I just finished making a couple of electronic transfers from Australia to the US to take advantage of the high exchange rate!

    As you note, this would not impose a burden on fan fund administrators as it is a requirement for the banks, not the transferer or transferee. There is surely enough history of the fan funds to withstand any scrutiny.

  2. It wouldn’t seem to matter much to TAFF, as we haven’t mingled the funds too much, at least not during the time I was administrator. We had separate accounts and didn’t move money between them, though we often hand off some cash when teh visit is actually taking place
    Chris

  3. I wonder how long it will be before a TAFF winner and a TAFF administrator who gives him his local winnings in cash are charged with attempting to avoid laws against international money laundering.

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