Posts Tagged ‘Exchange controls’
Asset Protection with Annuities and Life Insurance
Only minimal protection exists under federal bankruptcy laws for life insurance and annuity contracts, but laws in some states exempt certain annuities and life insurance policies from creditor claims. It’s also difficult for a creditor to sustain a fraudulent conveyance argument if you purchase a life insurance contract or (especially) an annuity. This is because [...]
USA: No Overt Capital Controls…Yet
Over the last week dozens of readers have sent me a link to an article with the provocative title of “It’s Official—America Now Enforces Capital Controls.” In the article, author Tyler Durden states that the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) (part of the HIRE Act signed last month by President Obama): “requires that foreign [...]
Get Ready for Exchange Controls! [Part III]
In Part I and Part II of this post, I described what exchange controls are, how they operate, and why they may be coming to your country. Unfortunately for the governments that impose them, exchange controls simply don’t work. The longer they’re in place, the more ways clever people find to get around them. To [...]
Get Ready for Exchange Controls! [Part II]
In my most recent blog entry, I described how exchange controls—laws restricting private ownership of, or transactions in, foreign currencies and gold—are spreading from third world countries to the industrialized world. Since exchange controls proliferate in economic crises, they may be coming to your country. How do governments impose foreign exchange controls? In most cases, [...]
Get Ready for Exchange Controls! [Part I]
Exchange controls—laws restricting private ownership of, or transactions in, foreign currencies and gold—are blossoming throughout the world. Residents of Cuba, Malaysia, Myanmar, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe have long dealt with these restrictions. So have residents of India and China, although the restrictions there aren’t as severe. But as the global financial crisis has deepened, in recent [...]
“Stripping” Leads to $350MM Fine for British Bank
Details are emerging of a massive effort by Iran to use the U.S. financial system to help finance Iranian nuclear and missile programs. Last Friday, one of Britain’s largest banks agreed to pay $350 million to settle charges that it helped the Iranian government (and also Sudan and Libya) disguise the origin of money flowing [...]
U.K. Uses Anti-Terror Laws to Deal with Financial Crisis
The word “terrorism” is a politically charged term, to put it mildly. Declaring a “War on Terrorism” means, of course, deciding who is a “terrorist.” And, according to the British government, the latest terrorist in its sights is Iceland. Yes, Iceland. Just what has this intrepid nation of 320,000 done to upset the Brits? In [...]
How to Survive the Coming Economic Emergency [Part III]
In Part I and Part II of this post, I described some of the powers the U.S. President has if he declares an “economic emergency.” I also described one scenario that could lead to foreign exchange controls or even outright confiscation of wealth: a death spiral in the value of the U.S. dollar. If you [...]
How to Survive the Coming Economic Emergency [Part II]
In my last post, I described the awesome power of the U.S. President to under an “economic emergency.” That authority includes, among other measures, the power to restrict or even prohibit the transfer of dollars outside the United States. One possible scenario for emergency economic controls would be a run on the U.S. dollar. That [...]