================================================= Expat Worlds Monthly Digest ================================================= January, 2002 Vol. 4, Issue 1 .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ==== THE STORY =================== (Compliment from the Expat World Newsletter) -=Can Big Brother USA Style Clean Up the World's Dirty Money?=- ==== EW SPECIAL ================== -=Expat World News International Press Corps=- ==== HUMOR, TRIVIA, NEWS AND MORE... == -=Trivia=- -=News Story=- -=Traveller's Tales=- -=Quotes=- ==== THE RESOURCE TIP ============= -=mwbi4tfns6=- ==== INSIDE THIS MONTH EXPAT WORLD == -=Table of Content=- ==== THE STORY ================================== CAN BIG BROTHER USA STYLE CLEAN UP THE WORLD'S DIRTY MONEY? Let's pretend for a moment that you are a Defense Minister from the country of Lower Voltage and as corrupt as a Philadelphia politician and you designate me as your designated "commission agent" ie., money launderer, and all around partner in crime. What a profitable time we could have in the border less world of Globalization that has emerged in the last few years. For you see, the world of globalization is also a paradise on Earth for the money launderer allowing almost anyone with a few brain cells that still function, from Joe Sixpack, to Russian gangsters to Chinese arms dealers to Middle Eastern bagmen to hide their ill-gotten gains with little chance of being caught. Just imagine that I wanted to launder that 200 million commission I just made as the "commission agent" for the Potentate of Lower Voltage on a arms deal to supply his Kingdom with "spud" missiles. Not a big deal! I'd start by creating my own bank - dozens of web sites explain in amazing detail how to do this in the best way possible in one of the dozen or so banking havens in the Caribbean and South Pacific. I'd call our bank First Sincere Trust Co. I'd register the bank in, let's see . . . the South Pacific island nation of Nauru. That desolate atoll (known otherwise mainly for its phosphate deposits) is where Russian operatives moved an amazing $70 billion in 1998, according to the Central Bank. Our little "trust company" would be what's known as a "suitcase bank," or "brass plate bank," which means it wouldn't have any employees or records in Nauru, only a post office box. The bank would only exist in my laptop computer, which can go anywhere. Next I'd open a correspondent account for First Sincere Trust Company with a big money center bank in New York or London. And then, esteemed sir, I would arrange to wire that delicious $200 million commission to our little suitcase bank, via the correspondent account at the giant bank. And if I did it right, nobody would be the wiser - no taxes, no cops, no records. That's an imaginary (and extreme) example of the kind of money laundering that goes on everyday. But Big Brother US version is putting the heat on. It may get nasty soon for First Sincere and its hundreds of real-world counterparts. That's because the United States Big Brother and other financial powers are finally deciding to get serious about money laundering. The new counterattack is converging from two flanks. First, a group known as the Financial Action Task Force, which was created by the world's 26 leading financial nations has just released a report identifying the top money-laundering havens around the world. There was a lively debate about who should be on the list - should it include Russia, for example? The initial version named many notorious spots in the Caribbean and in the South Pacific. "Naming and shaming" is the term given to this blacklist approach. The resulting publicity will push major financial institutions around the world to restrict transactions with local banks in the listed countries - effectively shutting down their operations. Already there has been a backlash by many of the countries named and Big Brother might have shot himself in the foot on this one. The task force is also pressing its 26 members to make internal reforms. It has warned Austria, for example, that if it doesn't agree to eliminate its existing system of anonymous "passbook" accounts, it will get kicked out of the group, effective next month. (editor's note: Austria has sidestepped this in an ingenious way by making some changes in the Sparbuch rules effective end of November, 2000 but Sparbuchs still can be used anonymously by small "investors" for sums up to about $20,000 per book. They still remain the best place to retain a small stash of money for emergency use that no one can determine who the owner is. EW will have a full report of Sparbuch changes later this year.) The second push is coming from Congress, which is considering legislation that would expand the U.S. government's ability to attack money launderers. One bill that will be marked up by the House banking committee soon would give the Treasury Department new tools - such as requiring U.S. banks to investigate who really controls secret accounts at offshore banks, mandating elaborate new record-keeping for banks that do business with money-laundering havens, and authorizing the U.S. Treasury to ban such transactions outright. These new powers, if actively used, would raise the cost of money laundering so much that no legitimate bank would knowingly touch it without bigger and better profits built into the system for them by the launderers. Money talks, bullshit walks! The House judiciary committee is considering another bill that would expand the list of crimes that trigger money-laundering investigations to include such global scourges as foreign corruption or arms trafficking. Now, the feds tend to focus on the cash deposits made by drug traffickers and other antisocial individuals rather than on the hundreds of millions stashed away by corrupt dictators and businesses in quest of tax and/or money saving schemes. By creating a seamless financial world, globalization has made life easier for the new pirates of the 21st century. It has also made it easier for the common Joe who wants to hide his legal and hard earn money from illegal and/or discriminatory confiscation by Big Brother, lawyers, ex-spouses and other common low-lifes. But that could change in a hurry. EW believes that even if the world's leading financial nations decide to get REALLY SERIOUS about money laundering, they couldn't quickly create a world in which dirty money has no place to hide. ==== EW SPECIAL ================================= FREE FIRST CLASS TRAVEL, CELEBRITY STATUS, LUXURY HOTELS, ACCESS TO TOP EVENTS WORLDWIDE INTERESTED??? YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A HEMMINGWAY, WOODWARD OR BERNSTEIN TO HOLD A PRESS PASS You can enjoy all the benefits I’ve just described... and many more... without actually becoming a full time journalist. You don’t even have to write well. You can still carry a press pass of your own and enjoy the many benefits of a card-carrying member of the press. We are offering you the chance to carry the press pass for the Expat World News International Press Corps. Just contact us at email: officew@expatworld.net and we will give you the full details. Please put "Press Pass" in the heading of your request. ==== HUMOR, TRIVIA, NEWS AND MORE... ================ TRIVIA Where was Kentucky Fried Chicken's Colonel Sanders born? A: Kentucky B: Nebraska C: Indiana D: Georgia Around how miles of wall does the Great Wall of China have? A: 3,000 B: 4,000 C: 6,000 D: 5,000 (Anwers below) ----- NEWS STORY From The Guardian: After being charged 20 pounds for a 10 pounds overdraft, 30 year old Michael Howard of Leeds changed his name by deed poll to 'Yorkshire Bank Plc are Fascist Bastards.' The Bank has now asked him to close his account, and Mr Bastards has asked them to repay the 69p balance by cheque, made out in his new name.' ----- TRAVELLER'S TALES Thieves stole dozens of valuable trees from inside the guarded, fenced-off grounds of a prison in Pakistan. Inspectors were shocked to find that many examples of a type of tree known as a shesham were missing from the district prison of Mirpurkhas, according to the Dawn newspaper. They are believed to have been sold to loggers for hundreds of thousands of rupees--equivalent to several thousand dollars. The jail's prisoners aren't under suspicion in the case, however. The authorities are focusing their attention on the head warden, the superintendent and the chief jailer. ----- QUOTES "What makes him think a middle aged actor, who's played with a chimp, could have a future in politics?" - Ronald Reagan commenting on Eastwood's bid to become mayor of Carmel "Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied." - Otto Von Bismark. ----- TRIVIA ANSWER Where was Kentucky Fried Chicken's Colonel Sanders born? The correct answer: C (Indiana, born in 1890 and died in 1980) Around how miles of wall does the Great Wall of China have? The correct answer: B (approx. 4,000 miles ~ 6,400 kilometers) ==== THE RESOURCE TIP ============================ mwbi4tfns6 Confused? It's a pseudo-random password. The actual password is generated from an easy-to-remember pass-phrase that is important to the user. Pass phrase: My Wife's Birthday Is April (4th month), Twenty Fifth, Nineteen Sixty six(6) Password: mwbi4tfns6 Read the details at and improve your passwords and pass-phrases. Other resources for passwords and pass-phrase: ==== INSIDE THIS MONTH EXPAT WORLD =============== EXPAT WORLD NEWSLETTER (VOL.14 ISSUE 1) Table of Content: - Playing the Diplomat Game How to Become an Honorary Consul - Letters to the Editor - Opinions on Stem Cell Cloning from Two of Our Regular Readers - Thought's of Bobby Bolderdash on Cloning - The Caymans Cuts Off it's Nose to Spite its Face - The Local Singapore Scene - Can Big Brother USA Style Clean Up the World's Dirty Money? - Armchair Investor - Inflation Can Make You Rich - US Seeks to Stop the Net From Becoming an Offshore Tax Haven - Portable Trades and Occupations - Match Maker - International Snips and Clips - Cambodia -- Little Known Sex Haven - Crapper Rapper - Temperature Conversion Chart New England Version - I am a BAD American. 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