International Business Update: Wiring Funds And Banking

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International Business Update: Wiring Funds And Banking

If you are either conducting business internationally or are contemplating conducting any type of business which may require international electronic or SWIFT transfers of funds (i.e., funds transfers inbound or outbound via wire) the current terrorist threat levels are already creating additional diligence and reporting on the part of depositary institutions, as certainly as it will now take you longer to go through airport security clearance protocol on any international flight due to the prevalance of consciousness relating to possible terrorist or Ebola virus-related problems throughout the world.

Following are several suggestions to provide your banker, or your recipient's banker – as well as the host of regulators to which they now answerable – with additional comfort regarding the nature of your transactions, business and funds. 

While you may see these steps as “overkill,” rest assured that they are not, and that they will reduce the likelihood of any holds or restrictions on your funds. Again, these are not legally mandated, but are just an extra step of precaution:

1. Do not, under any circumstances, accept any inbound transfers, or make any outbound transfers by wire (or by check, for that matter) to businesses or other organizations located in any of the prohibited jurisdictions on US Ex-Im Bank's most recent publication of the Country Limitation Schedule (a link to which which follows for the purposes of example) or which happens to be on the Department Of The Secretary Of State's “Watchlist” (a link to which follows for the purposes of example) ;
2. Pre-advise your bank, via email to your account officer or manager, if you are anticipating any transfer into or out of your account in any amount in excess of $1.0 million US;
3. Have any transferor execute the following undertaking [or one in a format suggested by your legal counsel] in a signed writing and either fax or email the same to your banker (in the form of a PDF attachment) with your own covering letter to accompany it: “ _________________ is transferring funds in the amount of _____________________ to ________________ [recipient name] via SWIFT [or even via check, if you'd like to take that extra precaution when you are accepting a check drawn on a foreign bank in payment for goods or services]. This transaction is made using clean, cleared funds of non-criminal origin, and is being transferred in compliance with applicable laws; further, these funds are free of all liens, taxes, encumbrances and other claims of any sort, and are being conveyed to be utilized for legal purposes.”

The above steps will help to keep both you and your bankers in the best possible standing. Should you wish to view Ex-Im Bank's latest updated Country Limitation Schedule (CLS), go to http://www.exim.gov/tools/countrylimitationschedule/index.cfm.

Should you wish to find out if the country with which you are considering doing business is “watchlisted” by either the Department Of State or the Department Of Homeland Security, go to either http://www.state.gov/ or http://www.dhs.gov/ respectively. Both websites offer you telephone numbers to contact helpful civil servants to answer any of your questions.

Douglas E. Castle

NOTE: THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS ARTICLE SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED BY THE READER AS BEING LEGAL, FINANCIAL, TAX, ACCOUNTING, ECONOMIC OR INVESTMENT ADVICE. NO OFFERING OF SECURITIES OR OTHER INVESTMENT INTERESTS OF ANY TYPE IN ANY ENTITY IS MADE HEREBY, NOR IS A SOLICITATION FOR THE PURCHASE OF SECURITIES OR OTHER INVESTMENT INTERESTS OF ANY TYPE IN ANY ENTITY MADE HEREBY. THIS ARTICLE IS INTENDED FOR GENERAL INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND REPRESENTS THE VIEW OF THE AUTHOR ONLY.

THIS ARTICLE IS COPYRIGHT 2014 BY DOUGLAS E. CASTLE, WITH ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ANY REPRODUCTION, TRANSMITTAL OR DISTRIBUTION OF THIS ARTICLE, EITHER IN WHOLE OR PART, IS UNAUTHORIZED AND MAY BE UNLAWFUL, UNLESS FULL ATTRIBUTION IS GIVEN TO THE AUTHOR AND ALL LINKS IN THE ARTICLE REMAIN INCLUDED AND “LIVE.”

TAGS, LABELS, SEARCH TERMS, CATEGORIES AND KEY WORDS FOR THIS ARTICLE: Douglas E. Castle, International Ventures, Banking, Wire Transfers, EX-IM Bank, Department Of State, Department Of Homeland Security, Representations, Anti-Money Laundering, Terrorism, Ebola.