Question for the group

[tadirector at juno.com]

I have a question for the group, which is not really related to community
development, but is related to banking.

During a conversation with my significant other this weekend, she
mentioned a discussion she had with a co-worker. While talking about the
Kosovar emigration, my SO commented on the wealth they bring out. This
co-worker retorted that citizens of other countries are not permitted to
carry large sums of money out of the country.

My response was that, as I understand it, American citizens are not able
to carry large sums of money out of this country, either. However, this
only seems to be relevant when some criminal is trying to escape justice.
Wire transfers are the preferred method of getting ill-gotten funds to
Switzerland. Further, I mentioned that I believe that banks in some
countries are government-controlled, making it harder to make large
withdrawals. My experience with Hispanic clients, who are VERY reluctant
to use banks, is my basis for this assessment.

Many readers of this list are bankers. I will therefore put the
questions to you: are Americans restricted in carrying large sums of
money out of the country? If so, what is the maximum amount? And what
countries, if any, restrict the transport of large amounts of their
currencies?

Thanks for your responses.


Keith Ferrell
Technical Assistants
1315 Walnut Street, Suite 500
Philadelphia PA 19107
tadirector@juno.com

__________________________________________________ _________________
You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.
Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html
or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]


This post transferred from the cdb-l mailing list

[ofbbak at digizen.net]

The short answer to your question is NO, there is not.

In the United States there is no restriction on carrying large amounts of
currency or instruments either in or out of the country. You are however
obligated to inform customs at the port of entry or departure if you are
carrying any thing more than $ 10,000.00 or $10K USD worth. Although I
cannot imagine why any one would take the risk of carrying that kind of
wealth in or out in the form of currency.

With respect to other countries, and their banking rules and regs. There are
a number of reasons why most third world countries use cash for their
business transactions. Most of these are cash economies and are not setup
to use electronic banking and payment systems.

There are a number of countries that restrict the amount of cash in the form
or their own currencies, that you can bring out of a country and the reasons
have to do with the internal economics of the country.

As far as the Kosovar emigration is concerned, (I am assuming that you mean
Kosovar Refugees) I for one would like to know what this wealth is that they
are bringing out. If it is in the form of the YougoS. currency than at this
point in time it is probably worth nothing. If they are bringing out with
them jewelry and other precious things, then yes it is worth something.

In most cases I think that a good form of wealth that refugees bring with
them is technical skills and a strong desire to re-establish themselves.
Which could translate into an increase in the skilled labor force or further
development in the areas of microenterprises. Once again one would have to
look at the social, ethnic, and Geo. political background or the people.

During the USSR's invasion of Afghanistan, there was a flood of refugees
that went into neighboring Pakistan. The first set of people to arrive were
business people, who were experienced in the areas of running restaurants,
machine shops, transportation and so on. This group went into Pakistan and
established businesses and contributed to the local economy and thus
increased the wealth of the nation that had provided them with refuge. On
the other hand about 80 some percent of the people that went in as refugees
did not fall into that group and thus became a drain on the wealth resources
of the host country, not to mention the UN and the world.

This is a complicated subject. I can think of examples in Africa and Asia,
but it is hard to define how one can account for the wealth either (-) or
(+) that such people can generate either by bringing it with them in the
form of jewelry, cash and so on or in the form of skills. Sometimes host
countries benefit by providing refuge to displaces citizens of other
countries because it helps them gain foreign exchange and resources from
other countries that may join in the relief effort. Pakistan for example
realized an increase in its national wealth because it was colleted a lot of
AID from the UN and the United States in the form of foreign exchange and
technical help and payed out benefits to the refugees from within its own
internal economy. (this would be a whole now area of discussion)

In any case I hope I have shed some light on the questions that you have
asked.

ofbbak

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-COMMUNITYDEVELOPMENTBANKING-L@cornell.edu
[mailto:owner-COMMUNITYDEVELOPMENTBANKING-L@cornell.edu]On Behalf Of
tadirector@juno.com
Sent: Monday, May 17, 1999 8:57 AM
To: COMMUNITYDEVELOPMENTBANKING-L@cornell.edu
Subject: Question for the group


I have a question for the group, which is not really related to community
development, but is related to banking.

During a conversation with my significant other this weekend, she
mentioned a discussion she had with a co-worker. While talking about the
Kosovar emigration, my SO commented on the wealth they bring out. This
co-worker retorted that citizens of other countries are not permitted to
carry large sums of money out of the country.

My response was that, as I understand it, American citizens are not able
to carry large sums of money out of this country, either. However, this
only seems to be relevant when some criminal is trying to escape justice.
Wire transfers are the preferred method of getting ill-gotten funds to
Switzerland. Further, I mentioned that I believe that banks in some
countries are government-controlled, making it harder to make large
withdrawals. My experience with Hispanic clients, who are VERY reluctant
to use banks, is my basis for this assessment.

Many readers of this list are bankers. I will therefore put the
questions to you: are Americans restricted in carrying large sums of
money out of the country? If so, what is the maximum amount? And what
countries, if any, restrict the transport of large amounts of their
currencies?

Thanks for your responses.


Keith Ferrell
Technical Assistants
1315 Walnut Street, Suite 500
Philadelphia PA 19107
tadirector@juno.com

__________________________________________________ _________________
You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.
Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html
or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]



This post transferred from the cdb-l mailing list

[ofbbak at digizen.net]

The short answer to your question is NO, there is not.

In the United States there is no restriction on carrying large amounts of
currency or instruments either in or out of the country. You are however
obligated to inform customs at the port of entry or departure if you are
carrying any thing more than $ 10,000.00 or $10K USD worth. Although I
cannot imagine why any one would take the risk of carrying that kind of
wealth in or out in the form of currency.

With respect to other countries, and their banking rules and regs. There are
a number of reasons why most third world countries use cash for their
business transactions. Most of these are cash economies and are not setup
to use electronic banking and payment systems.

There are a number of countries that restrict the amount of cash in the form
or their own currencies, that you can bring out of a country and the reasons
have to do with the internal economics of the country.

As far as the Kosovar emigration is concerned, (I am assuming that you mean
Kosovar Refugees) I for one would like to know what this wealth is that they
are bringing out. If it is in the form of the YougoS. currency than at this
point in time it is probably worth nothing. If they are bringing out with
them jewelry and other precious things, then yes it is worth something.

In most cases I think that a good form of wealth that refugees bring with
them is technical skills and a strong desire to re-establish themselves.
Which could translate into an increase in the skilled labor force or further
development in the areas of microenterprises. Once again one would have to
look at the social, ethnic, and Geo. political background or the people.

During the USSR's invasion of Afghanistan, there was a flood of refugees
that went into neighboring Pakistan. The first set of people to arrive were
business people, who were experienced in the areas of running restaurants,
machine shops, transportation and so on. This group went into Pakistan and
established businesses and contributed to the local economy and thus
increased the wealth of the nation that had provided them with refuge. On
the other hand about 80 some percent of the people that went in as refugees
did not fall into that group and thus became a drain on the wealth resources
of the host country, not to mention the UN and the world.

This is a complicated subject. I can think of examples in Africa and Asia,
but it is hard to define how one can account for the wealth either (-) or
(+) that such people can generate either by bringing it with them in the
form of jewelry, cash and so on or in the form of skills. Sometimes host
countries benefit by providing refuge to displaces citizens of other
countries because it helps them gain foreign exchange and resources from
other countries that may join in the relief effort. Pakistan for example
realized an increase in its national wealth because it was colleted a lot of
AID from the UN and the United States in the form of foreign exchange and
technical help and payed out benefits to the refugees from within its own
internal economy. (this would be a whole now area of discussion)

In any case I hope I have shed some light on the questions that you have
asked.

ofbbak
ofbbak@digizen.net

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-COMMUNITYDEVELOPMENTBANKING-L@cornell.edu
[mailto:owner-COMMUNITYDEVELOPMENTBANKING-L@cornell.edu]On Behalf Of
tadirector@juno.com
Sent: Monday, May 17, 1999 8:57 AM
To: COMMUNITYDEVELOPMENTBANKING-L@cornell.edu
Subject: Question for the group


I have a question for the group, which is not really related to community
development, but is related to banking.

During a conversation with my significant other this weekend, she
mentioned a discussion she had with a co-worker. While talking about the
Kosovar emigration, my SO commented on the wealth they bring out. This
co-worker retorted that citizens of other countries are not permitted to
carry large sums of money out of the country.

My response was that, as I understand it, American citizens are not able
to carry large sums of money out of this country, either. However, this
only seems to be relevant when some criminal is trying to escape justice.
Wire transfers are the preferred method of getting ill-gotten funds to
Switzerland. Further, I mentioned that I believe that banks in some
countries are government-controlled, making it harder to make large
withdrawals. My experience with Hispanic clients, who are VERY reluctant
to use banks, is my basis for this assessment.

Many readers of this list are bankers. I will therefore put the
questions to you: are Americans restricted in carrying large sums of
money out of the country? If so, what is the maximum amount? And what
countries, if any, restrict the transport of large amounts of their
currencies?

Thanks for your responses.


Keith Ferrell
Technical Assistants
1315 Walnut Street, Suite 500
Philadelphia PA 19107
tadirector@juno.com

__________________________________________________ _________________
You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.
Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html
or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]



This post transferred from the cdb-l mailing list