Obama Treasury Dept. Wants Banks, for First Time, to Report All Foreign Money Transfers

[The Straight Story]

Obama Treasury Dept. Wants Banks, for First Time, to Report All Foreign Money Transfers

The Department of the Treasury is proposing a significant expansion of reporting requirements for banks involving money transfers to and from the United States, all in the name of thwarting future terrorist attacks.

Administration officials insist the new regulations will help them detect 9/11-like plots before they are carried out.

Currently, financial institutions are required to report to the Treasury Department transactions in excess of $10,000 and any others deemed suspicious. The new rules would mandate the disclosure of all money transfers, no matter how small.

The idea dates back to legislation adopted during the Bush years, when the 2004 Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act was adopted to better organize the intelligence community. That law ordered the Treasury secretary to issue regulations governing cross-border transfers that might be financing terrorists.

The new regulation would cover about 750 million money transfers a year and would include all information about the sender and recipient, including social security numbers. All of this would be fed into a central database. Credit card and ATM transactions would not be covered.

http://www.allgov.com/Where_is_the_Money_Going/ViewNews/Obama_Treasury_Dept_Wants_Banks_for_First_Time_to_Report_All_Foreign_Money_Transfers_100928

[MadMaddie]

1. So I wonder why the previous administration did not do this?

Makes you wonder doesn't it?

Many of the transactions may be legal but there is a high probability that countries like drug infested Mexico have some interesting transactions.

So before this law anyone could send multiple transactions of $1 - $9,999 without a blink of an eye.

<snip>
Currently, financial institutions are required to report to the Treasury Department transactions in excess of $10,000 and any others deemed suspicious.
<snip>

[The Straight Story]

2. I guess there is more fear now

cause if this had happened during the last admin we would hear how it was all based on fear.

I am wondering if we have rolled back all/some of those policies?

[MadMaddie]

3. That's true but Junior and his cronies never cared

about public opinion. I think they didn't do it because they knew how many transactions were going on.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

4. That would be damn near impossible - and probably useless

Were talking about tens of millions of transactions every day, and at the end of the day most clandestine financial transactions are done with giant stacks of money orders.