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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DMaA who wrote (241685)	3/12/2008 6:33:02 PM
From: Snowshoe	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 794587

>>It has morphed into a way to keep track of EVERYONE.<< How? Very few people use cash in such high quantities.

To: DMaA who wrote (241685)	3/12/2008 6:36:52 PM
From: Alan Smithee	Respond to of 794587

It absolutely is Orwellian. They snuck this $10,000 thing in as a measure to help in the war on drugs. It has morphed into a way to keep track of EVERYONE. They investigated further because of his position as Gov of New York. The initial concern was political corruption, which IMO is a legitimate concern.

To: DMaA who wrote (241685)	3/12/2008 6:59:31 PM
From: mistermj	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 794587

Watch out: Your mutual fund could report transactions of $5,000 or more Updated 5/18/2006 10:36 AM ET By Kathy Chu, USA TODAY Under little-noticed rules that kick in this year, the Treasury Department is requiring mutual fund firms and insurers to report you to Uncle Sam if they note a "suspicious" transaction that might relate to money laundering or terrorism. Banks, casinos and check-cashing shops already must flag such transactions, in a "suspicious activity report" (SAR) sent to the government. Separately, financial institutions have long had to report cash transactions above $10,000. The new rules emerged from the post-Sept. 11 Patriot Act. The law required financial institutions to adopt programs to fight money laundering. It also gave the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which is part of Treasury, more authority to regulate these programs. Just what is a "suspicious" transaction? Definitions vary among banks, insurers and mutual fund companies. But generally, consumers who pay cash for transactions of at least $5,000 or who use bogus addresses or fake IDs are more likely to have personal information — names, addresses, e-mails, Social Security numbers and account numbers — reported to the government. On insurance products, examples of "red flags" that could trigger a suspicious activity report are people who cash in policies early or who buy insurance products they don't seem to need, the enforcement network says. Most insurers will return your money within 10 days if you're not satisfied with a policy. Some insurers have voluntarily filed suspicious activity reports in recent years, but the volume is likely to increase under the new rule, says Lisa Tate, senior counsel at the American Council of Life Insurers. Insurance firms have had to report suspicious activity after May 2. Mutual fund companies must do so starting in November. Treasury is weighing whether to require other companies, such as car dealers, travel agents and real estate agents, to follow the same rules. "It's the kind of thing that we want to make sure is going to be useful for both the industry and law enforcement," says Steve Hudak, a spokesman for the enforcement network. Immigrants, who may not trust the banking system and who pay by cash rather than check or plastic for autos or homes, could be disproportionately hurt by the rules, says J. Bradley Jansen, director of the Center for Financial Privacy and Human Rights. "If you're a rich, white married man, you're much less likely to have a SAR filed on you than if you're poor, minority and immigrant," Jansen says. Yet you won't know your information was sent to the government, because by law, companies can't disclose this. And if the government has a "reasonable suspicion" that someone is involved in terrorism, it could subpoena bank, phone and e-mail records with a National Security Letter, which doesn't need court approval, notes Bill Carter, an FBI spokesman. Find this article at: usatoday.com