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Joined: Oct 2010
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There is a Belizean bank that has been rumored to have lost its USD correspondent bank which means hundreds are not able to get their money out of the bank.

Anyone know which bank recently had these problems and if they fixed them by getting another correspondent bank?

Thanks, Otto

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The main reason a bank would lose it's US correspondent bank relationship is FATCA non-compliance.Though I have no first hand knowledge I find it highly unlikely that any of the major Belizean banks are not complying and have jeopardized their US banking relationships...

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Received yesterday from accounting at my Condo:

This update is to inform you of recent changes in U.S. and Belizean banking regulations. Effective immediately, we are no longer permitted to operate with our U.S. bank account since we are a Belizean company with our operations in Belize. We were recently informed by our bank of this change in banking regulations, and since they need to comply with the new regulations, they are requiring us to comply immediately. This means that, until further notice, we are no longer able to provide US dollar disbursements (check or wire transfer). We are looking into the issue further and exploring alternatives so we can restructure some of our operations related to U.S. dollars and potentially provide this U.S.

funds disbursement service to you again in the future. We will provide you updates as they develop.



Currently most owners receive their disbursements in Belize dollars. So for most, nothing has changed. If you have a local (Belize) account we can still process a local (Belize) deposit into that account. Or next time you visit Belize, we can issue you a local check that can be cashed and exchanged into U.S. dollars.



We realize this is not convenient for some of you - and it has also presented us with a challenge since we pay many of our travel agents and wholesalers in U.S. dollars. We also do significant purchasing in U.S.

dollars. Nonetheless, we're working hard to adapt quickly and still continue business as usual. This should have no effect on reservations nor any impact on the guest experience. Please bear with us as we make this change.

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greedy people........I should have gone into banking in stead of an environmentalist. "Change the world". Eric Clapton...................John Lennon"imagine" Then what? I think Bob Marley said "I give you more to receive you less" Go bankers, build bunkers.....Hurricanes coming.... just venting. hope everyone gets there check cashed in whatever form it needs to be in.........


Namiste/Have a blessed day
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Originally Posted by Agavegirl
Received yesterday from accounting at my Condo:

This update is to inform you of recent changes in U.S. and Belizean banking regulations.


Can you clarify who you received this from? Was this from a bank or financial institution?

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Originally Posted by beachbumin
Originally Posted by Agavegirl
Received yesterday from accounting at my Condo:

This update is to inform you of recent changes in U.S. and Belizean banking regulations.


Can you clarify who you received this from? Was this from a bank or financial institution?


If I read it correctly, this is from the accounting dept of a management company at a condo. It's long been the "rule" that a Belizean-based company cannot be also "offshore" (as in banking offshore). Some banks have ignored this rule and now are conforming. Ergo - the Belizean company has to close its USD account at a Belizean offshore bank. The Belize company in question should be able to open a USD account elsewhere if they are willing to provide endless stacks of paper and exercise a bit of patience.
Whilst I hate this whole witch-hunt for money thing going on, the posting here is not a shocking event and seems unrelated to the original topic about correspondent banks.


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Thank you. I was wondering if it was related is all.

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"greedy people........I should have gone into banking in stead of an environmentalist." Has nothing to do with the banks, world over they would love to go back a decade. It's the US government you need to point the finger at.

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Breaking News: US Expats in Mexico Left Stranded In Latest FATCA Escalation

http://dollarvigilante.com/blog/201...n-mexico-left-stranded-in-latest-fa.html

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yikes -

cowrie shells, here we come --- or is it Bitcoin?

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San Pedro Daily has a nice article about it but a different view from what seems like a more rational opinion.
http://www.sanpedrodaily.com/6-8-14.html


White Sands Dive Shop
https://whitesandsdiveshop.com/
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And now Canada is being forced to bend over to the US FACTA laws: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/fat...ks-to-send-info-to-irs-1.2690039?cmp=rss

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I think the jig was up when the Swiss caved awhile ago...initially the requirement was to register with the US Treasury for US citizens to report accounts held in aggregate with balances totaling more than 10K USD in a calendar year. This has now turned more and more into a revenue witch hunt not only for undeclared foreign income but to collect the penalties (omg they're horrendous) for not filing. This year FBARs were required to be filed online by June 30th.

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This is so out of hand that a group of the largest banks in Europe are working on a plan to help push along the movement away from the American dollar as a world currency. The day that happens, if it in fact does, the American people will realize how out of control government is.

I think the plan is to use a whole new bank exchange system, not currency, to remove the threats made by America. Just how it will work I have no idea but the point is many countries and banking systems are getting fed up with being tax collectors for the USA.

ps The largest bank in the world, a European bank, was just fined $10 billion dollars for "willfully" hiding transactions from the USA.

Last edited by ragman; 07/16/14 08:30 AM. Reason: ps

Jim
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Originally Posted by ragman
...the point is many countries and banking systems are getting fed up with being tax collectors for the USA.


Indeed Jim or at least the institution that is now required to rat out its US customers...



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For those who maybe interested here is an up to date article of unexpected consequences of FACTA. I wish they would get this all straightened out but they seem to be just plowing ahead with harassment of expats all over the world.

Tough tax rules see expats ditch US pass.
CNBC By Katy Barnato

Expatriate Americans are renouncing U.S. citizenship in record volumes because of increasingly onerous tax-filing requirements-and the number doing so is likely to continue rising.

Around 6.32 million Americans (excluding military) live abroad-about as many as who inhabit the state of Tennessee. The majority of expats are based in Europe, but growing numbers live in the Asian financial hubs of Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong.

These �migr�s have been swept up in a government crackdown on tax evasion, following well-publicized investigations into Swiss banks like UBS (Swiss Exchange: UBSN-CH) and Credit Suisse that are alleged to have helped Americans conceal money abroad.
The result is that increasing numbers of expats are opting to relinquish their passports.
In the first six months of 2014, 1,577 Americans expatriated their citizenship, according to data from the IRS- the U.S. tax authority.

Last year as whole, 2,999 Americans officially cut their ties to the U.S.-over three times more than in 2012 and far above a previous record of 1,781 in 2011.

"We probably get two or three calls a day from people saying they want to relinquish citizenship. That would have much rarer six or seven years ago, maybe once every couple of months," Scott Michel, the president of tax law specialist Caplin & Drysdale, told CNBC.

Michel was one of several lawyers and financial advisers across the U.S., Europe and Asia who told CNBC that more Americans were requesting advice on expatriating.

"What is really driving Americans to expatriate is not that they do not want to pay taxes. What is driving them crazy is that now filling out tax returns is much more complicated-it requires tremendous work in terms of tax-record keeping and then it can cost thousands of dollars to get a competent person to fill it (the tax return) out," David Kuenzi, the founder of Thum Financial Advisors, told CNBC.

A particular bugbear is the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FACTA), which came into force at the end of June this year with the intention of combating tax evasion. It requires all Americans to provide the IRS with detailed information on their foreign financial accounts and offshore assets, and also requires that foreign financial institutions divulge any accounts held by Americans, as well as any entities in which Americans have financial interest.

This latter point has proved controversial, with some countries claiming it violates local laws, and expats saying that certain banks are now unwilling to service them due to the increased administrative burden and the risk of misfiling to the IRS and being hit by penalties.

Individuals can also be hit by steep penalties for misfiling, even by accident. Fines start at $10,000 and criminal charges can apply if the IRS decides information was withheld "willfully".

"My filing requirements and possible penalties are very much different (to U.S. residents)," Jim Rogers, a renowned U.S. investor who lives in Singapore, told CNBC. "It is treating Americans who live abroad differently-you would think it is some kind of discrimination."

Rogers, who was born in Baltimore, said that relinquishing citizenship "crosses the minds of everybody lives abroad".

"I know three or four Americans who are basically being forced to give up citizenship. If you make simple mistakes it could cost you-it could be a criminal offense, or at least a very financially onerous one," he told CNBC.

The U.S. is the only country in the world which levies taxes on the basis of citizenship rather than residency-meaning people can be liable to the IRS without ever having lived in the country, if they hold a U.S. passport or green card.

CNBC spoke to one such citizen-who asked to remain anonymous due to the "very long arm" of the IRS-who was born and raised in London but holds a U.S. passport through his American father.

A trainee obstetrician, he mulled cutting his U.S. ties after his sister was threatened with a hefty fine for accidentally misfiling.

"Giving up citizenship would be incredibly difficult to undertake from an emotional standpoint," he told CNBC. "However, financially you have to be ever so careful...It is something I have to consider in the future."

Renouncing U.S. citizenship is neither easy nor cheap however. Citizens must undergo at least two intensive interviews with consular officers and renunciation is subject to final approval by lawmakers in Washington.

Would-be expatriates must also pay both a fee and an "exit tax", although the latter only applies to those who meet a minimum income or net worth threshold, or have failed to comply with federal tax obligations.

This month, the fee for renunciation will rise five-fold to $2,350. Justifying the increase, the Department of State noted that demand for expatriation had increased "dramatically" since a fee of $450 was set in 2010.

U.K. expats may also soon feel the long arm of the taxman. Last month, the British government launched a consultation on whether non-residents should cease to benefit from the �10,000 ($16,100) tax-free allowance which all Britons are currently guaranteed. The move was criticized by the U.K. media, with the Daily Telegraph newspaper headlining with "Expats face �400 million tax raid".


Jim
Formerly from somewhere on a beach in Belize
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Am biting tongue and filing FBARs because I am too bloody old to fight this particular battle.....

Bit-coin anyone?

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Originally Posted by Diane Campbell

Bit-coin anyone?



The threat of cyber currencies and the reckless spending causing huge government debts which weighs on the value of the currencies has been a cause of the rise of Basel III requirements which will see currencies backed by assets at least partially, instead of the hot air of politicians backing them. Just watch what happens.


I have an insatiable hunger for more land !!!
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Originally Posted by Diane Campbell
yikes -

cowrie shells, here we come --- or is it Bitcoin?



Diane Campbell is one of the most intelligent and sensible people I have witnessed on this forum

Go Diane !!!! Yeah !!!!

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