Mainstream News

Foreign investors: Why US bank may close your account

"El Paso’s international trade traffic in 2011 was greater than the trade traffic passing through San Diego, Calif. and Nogales, Ariz. combined. With such cross-border economic activity it is only natural for foreign businesses to maintain U.S. bank accounts in El Paso. Unfortunately, many of these commercial accounts are being closed by U.S. banks. Why is this happening? The answer can be traced back to the bank formerly known as the Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation and its violations of the 2001 Patriot Act – transgressions that a U.S. Senate subcommittee investigated and resulted in the assessment of a $1.9-billion penalty to HSBC in July." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingForeign investors: Why US bank may close your account

Faber: Fed could up QE to $1 trillion a month

"Marc Faber, publisher of The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report, told CNBC on Monday that investors are asking the wrong question about when the Federal Reserve will taper its massive bond-buying program. They should be asking when the central bank will be increasing it, he argued. 'The question is not tapering. The question is at what point will they increase the asset purchases to say $150 [billion], $200 [billion], a trillion dollars a month,' Faber said in a 'Squawk Box' interview. Faber has been predicting so-called 'QE infinity' because 'every government program that is introduced under urgency and as a temporary measure is always permanent.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFaber: Fed could up QE to $1 trillion a month

India arrests man caught smuggling gold bars in cellphone

"The Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) arrested a passenger for attempting to smuggle gold through Mumbai airport on Saturday. The passenger, Ibrahim Khaleel, was carrying four gold bars worth Rs 48 lakh. Two of the bars were concealed in his mobile phone in place of the battery. The other two were found in his bag. Khaleel landed in Mumbai from Riyadh by a Jet Airways flight. Just as he was trying to clear Customs through the green channel, AIU officials intercepted him on suspicion and asked for a thorough check." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndia arrests man caught smuggling gold bars in cellphone

Switzerland will release bank account numbers to foreign financial police

"Switzerland will cooperate more closely on fighting money laundering, the Swiss body responsible said on Wednesday, marking a further loosening of bank secrecy a day after the country signed an accord to fight tax evasion. In legislation that will come into force on November 1, the Bern-based Money Laundering Reporting Office (MROS) said that Swiss authorities will be able to release the numbers of bank accounts opened in the country to foreign investigators. A day earlier, Switzerland, widely considered a tax haven and long criticized for its secretive banking culture, signed an international agreement to exchange information among more than 60 countries aimed at exposing tax dodgers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSwitzerland will release bank account numbers to foreign financial police

Buried in Fine Print: $57B of FHA Loans Big Banks May Have to Eat

"The nation's four largest banks are holding $57 billion of seriously delinquent loans that they've been slow to move into foreclosure over concerns that the Federal Housing Administration, the government mortgage insurer, will refuse to cover the losses and hit them with damages, according to industry sources. The banks — Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (NYSE:C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), and Wells Fargo (WFC) — have assured investors in the footnotes of quarterly filings that the loans are government-insured and therefore pose no threat to their bottom lines, even if they end up in foreclosure." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBuried in Fine Print: $57B of FHA Loans Big Banks May Have to Eat

We All Know Who Janet Yellen Is, And That’s Terrifying

"The acclaim in the media sends a shiver down the spine. Janet Yellen, just nominated by President Obama as the next head of his Federal Reserve, will be 'the most powerful woman in the planet'. If we were living in a stable monetary order she would be the least powerful woman in the world. Think back to the era of the gold standard before 1914. Britain was the leader of the orchestra in the monetary system. But no one outside a few discount brokers in London knew the name of the Bank of England Governor, who changed each 2 years." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWe All Know Who Janet Yellen Is, And That’s Terrifying

Overtaxed and over there

"'FATCA is strangling us economically,' says Genevieve Besser, an American who has lived in Germany for 25 years. Last year her youngest daughter, a dual citizen, had her local brokerage account closed by Deutsche Bank because her mother had signing authority over it. Americans are even being forced out of products that are not subject to FATCA reporting: some have been forced to pay off mortgage balances with Swiss banks, for instance. American banks and brokerages are growing frostier too. Some are closing the accounts of citizens who no longer have an American address because of FATCA." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOvertaxed and over there

State, provincial regulators raise red flags on virtual currency

"Consumers may be headed for trouble when they turn over bank and brokerage pass codes to investment advisers or get pulled into investment scams involving digital currencies, state securities regulators said. The North American Securities Administrators Association said digital currencies, such as Bitcoin, offer consumers another way of paying for goods and services, but they also provide a 'fertile ground for scam artists to capitalize on ... (their) increasing popularity and acceptance.' The association's members include state and provincial regulators in the United States, Canada and Mexico." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingState, provincial regulators raise red flags on virtual currency

Lebanese banks tightening regulations in line with U.S. laws

"Lebanese banks Thursday assured the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon David Hale they were strengthening measures to combat all forms of money laundering, terrorist funding and tax evasion. 'We are preparing, in collaboration with our international audit firm, a manual on AML and FATCA policies and procedures,' Association of Banks in Lebanon President Francois Bassil told the ambassador. 'It will be available very soon to all operating banks in Lebanon,' he said, adding that this would allow for 'a standardized and harmonized implementation of the new U.S. regulations.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLebanese banks tightening regulations in line with U.S. laws

South African banks in massive credit card data breach

"A variant of malware – short for malicious software – called Dexter, inserted into point-of-sale (POS) devices at South African fast-food outlets, has cost local banks tens of millions of rand in what is being described as one of the worst breaches of customer card data in the country's history. South Africa's banks have suffered tens of millions of rand in losses due to a major breach of customer card data by criminal syndicates that infected electronic POS devices using a variant of malicious software called Dexter. It's not known exactly how many POS devices were infected by the malware, but the problem is believed to have been widespread in the fast-food industry." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSouth African banks in massive credit card data breach