Do It Go » Economy

Insurance Against Acts of Money Laundering

Sam — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:55:00 +0000

The Basel Committee conducted a research survey in 1999. This survey focused on the internal workings of banks throughout the world, in regards to their practices of due diligence and how well they practiced the know your customer policies and procedures. These procedures have been in place in financial institutions for many years, and are a few of the ways that banks ensure that they are not unknowingly involved with people or businesses that are committing illegal acts of corruption such as the financing of terrorists or money laundering scams. Bank managers and presidents are aware of the importance of these policies, and are working with their employees to make certain that the new and existing customers have reputations that are clean and above board.

For not only is there the threat of a significant loss financially, they may be held criminally liable in cases of fraud and corruption themselves. What was found in the 1999 survey, was that at that time, there were many deficiencies in the practice of due diligence when it involved foreign banking procedures. In some countries, they did not even have these policies in place and in other more developed countries, the gap between the policies and the enforcement of those policies was great.

They printed out a guideline book, and distributed it bank managers, in the hopes that the rules and the laws would be better understood, and therefore easier for those institutions to implement their own procedures. This differed from that which was put out by the Financial Action Task Force. The FATF guidelines were about avoiding the legal consequences of not practicing due diligence while the Basel Committee’s guidelines focused more on the protection of the reputation of the institutes. The business that a bank may lose if it is found out that they had been involved in acts of corruption, whether or not they were aware of it, is detrimental and has been the ruin of banks and businesses in the past. The key is to allows know with whom one is becoming involved with and to practice the gathering of the knowledge with due diligence.

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Insurance Against Acts of Money Laundering

Anti-Corruption and Ethics

Sam — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:05:54 +0000

Ethics has been a philosophical science for hundreds of years, beginning with the consideration of certain acts or behaviors by such men as Socrates and Plato. What business ethics is, is just the simple applications of the concepts of morality to the world of business. What the anti-corruption agencies focus on the legal aspect of such action as bribery and money laundering, they also serve to create and maintain business relations that remain moral and ethical in nature. What is applied in the study of the philosophy of ethics, is enforced by federal law, and that is quite simply, what is right and what is wrong, on a social level as well as the economic level. One way in which agencies maintain this is by having a set of checks and balances. Businesses and those in foreign offices must keep records and accounts of their actions and their dealings, and those records must be available to the law enforcement agencies, or in the public officials case to the public.

This creates a transparency, a clear view of what is actually happening. This has an effect that is two-fold. It brings to light when inconsistencies give way to corrupt actions, and it serves to protect those who are wrongly accused of such actions. It is a way for one to keep the receipts so to speak, the evidence of no wrong doing. When companies do not follow this system through negligence or ignorance they risk being convicted of committing crimes that they actually had taken no part in. Corruption is not only an economic or a political problem, but the true heart of the matter is that it is an ethical problem. It is the use of power over one that is seen as weaker, in order to take advantage of them for personal gain. Corruption destroys the economy, it destroys society and public morale, careers, business ventures, and it can bring a country to ruin.

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Anti-Corruption and Ethics

Different Canadian Provinces, Different Foreclosure Procedures

Sam — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:39:08 +0000

There are two different ways in which lenders in Canada can recover on defaulted loans that result in foreclosures. Vancouver laws may differ from another region such as Ottawa or Ontario, and it is best to have an in depth knowledge and understanding of the laws for one’s own region. One way a lender will attempt to collect on a debt is by a judicial sale. These cases involve the lenders attaining authority granted through the court system, before selling the property, they must apply for the permission to do so and the court system remains extensively involved throughout the process.

The power of sale, requires no court involvement. The lender has been given the right in the existing mortgage documents that will allow them to auction off the house and recuperate their loss. This varies from province to province, as well as other laws surrounding the process of foreclosure. In New Burnswick, Prince Edward Island and Ontario, it is this power of sale system that is used. In Manitoba, Alberta and Quebec it is the judicial process that is enforced. And within these provinces, their own procedures vary as well.

The main difference is in the involvement of the courts, and in the beginning of the entire process. In the provinces wherein the power of sale is used, the home owner is sent a notice in the mail, stating that the lender has started the foreclosure. In the provinces wherein the judicial system is involved, a lawsuit filed against the home owner and anyone else involved who may have liability in the case starts the process. And in power of sale, the lender is just trying to recover the loan amount, usually this happens with the sale of the property, however with judicial provinces, the owner is sued by the borrower in a court of law.

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Different Canadian Provinces, Different Foreclosure Procedures