money

U.S. Regulators Mull Yanking Access To USD As Punishment For Banks

"BNP Paribas is expected to plead guilty in the coming weeks to charges that it processed payments for companies and countries that were subject to United States sanctions. BNP Paribas is also expected to pay financial penalties of about $8 billion, which would leave a sizable, though manageable, dent on its balance sheet. Despite those potential punishments, some regulators want to do more. Specifically, Benjamin M. Lawsky, New York State’s top financial regulator, is considering whether to temporarily suspend BNP Paribas’s ability to process dollar payments, according to people briefed on the settlement talks." Continue reading →

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Capital Controls Rolling Into High Gear Under FATCA

"It isn't just affecting the most financially restricted people on Earth: US citizens... it is affecting everyone. Take myself, for example. I operate numerous businesses worldwide. I am a Canadian citizen as well as the citizen of a Caribbean country and our business operations are also operated out of a non-tax jurisdiction in the Caribbean. On top of that we hold no bank accounts, whatsoever, in the US... instead, we have bank accounts all over the world. Yet, in the last two months we have had our accounts or transactions frozen, denied or questioned in different jurisdictions at least ten times. And we have had countless other problems over the last two years." Continue reading →

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Lew Rockwell: Speaking Truth to Monetary Power

"We have every reason to expect governments to exploit their positions as monopolists of the production of money in ways that increase their power and benefit favored constituencies. We do not need 'monetary policy' any more than we need a paintbrush policy, a baseball bat policy, or an automobile policy. We do not need a monopoly institution to create money for us. Money, like any good, is better produced on the market within the nexus of economic calculation. Money creation by government or its privileged central bank yields us business cycles, monetary debasement, and an increase in the power of government." Continue reading →

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The DOJ’s “Operation Choke Point” Has Driven 30 Industries To Bitcoin

"The DOJ is targeting 30 high-risk industries, as labeled by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in 2011. BitPay has proven to be an incredible ally to the porn industry and has led Bitcoin’s charge into the high chargeback industry. Porn.com and now Verotel both accept Bitcoin using bitpay; both are able to charge lower fees without the risk of chargeback. OKCupid has been using Bitcoin for over a year now… Almost as long as the DOJ has been unintentionally pushing these industries towards Bitcoin. Every industry in the world can benefit from Bitcoin Blockchain technology; it’s just that these 30 have been given a forceful push by the government." Continue reading →

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Wendy McElroy: First They Came For The Porn Stars…

"The Department of Justice (DOJ) program is called Operation Choke Point. The choke point is America's payment infrastructure through which an estimated $5 trillion in consumer purchases flow each year; more than eight million merchants use it to process credit and debit card payments. The DOJ is targeting banks and payment companies, such as PayPal, with a tsunami of subpoenas and other expensive legal demands. The demands go away if the institutions refuse to do business with people whose activities are deemed 'objectionable' although they are legal. The DOJ is imposing its own moral criteria on who can participate in the market place." Continue reading →

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Hidden Erosion of Corporate Worth Since U.S. Abandoned Money

"For 173 years, the United States used money as a medium of exchange. In 1965, it switched to using a floating accounting unit. This change coincided with a dramatic yet hidden reversal in the net trend of worth for U.S. corporations. The shift to fake money in 1965 just happens to coincide with the year that divides the long term trend of corporate worth in the United States from mostly up to mostly down. This chart reveals the breathtaking rise in total U.S. corporate worth during the money period and exposes the stunning net destruction of U.S. corporate worth since the start of the non-money period." Continue reading →

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Cyprus lifts almost all domestic capital controls

"Cyprus has reached another milestone in getting rid of capital controls it put in place after being bailed out last year, saying all domestic controls have been lifted except the opening of new bank accounts. The Finance Ministry said in a statement Friday that a prohibition on cashing checks as well as caps on domestic transactions and payments that don't require central bank vetting have now been removed. However, restrictions on unfettered money transfers abroad remain in place. Authorities said they hope to lift them by year's end. Authorities imposed restrictions to prevent a run after international creditors last year forced the seizure of uninsured deposits in its two largest lenders." Continue reading →

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U.S. Fed’s Kocherlakota says interested in bitcoin

"A top U.S. Federal Reserve official said on Tuesday he is interested in the fast-emerging bitcoin, although he scoffed at the idea that the virtual currency could replace the dollar. Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Narayana Kocherlakota, speaking at a town hall at North Dakota State University, said he is interested in bitcoin as a technology, not as a currency. He speculated that bitcoin could make payments among individuals faster. 'That's where I think the interest of it is, myself, as opposed to a new currency that's going to drive the U.S. dollar out of circulation.'" Continue reading →

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Getting the Best Rates on Currency Conversions

"Forex trading platforms allow you to convert and transfer your money for minimal charges and are perhaps the best way to do so. You may want to consider Interactive Brokers as a forex platform (but do shop for other forex trading platforms in your jurisdiction). You can do all sorts of currency conversion with Interactive Brokers, and it has extremely competitive spreads. For certain currency conversions involving the US dollar, the spread can be smaller than 1 pip (1/10,000th of dollar or 0.01%). Moreover, you can execute limit orders. These spreads are attractive considering most banks operate at a spread of about 2.5-3%." Continue reading →

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