Opening a foreign currency account abroad

was it a huge headache getting that tax ID number?

Nah. You just fill out a form and you're good to go.

Look, if you go ahead and open an account outside the US without getting the green light from the Federal Reserve on January 1st, 2010, you're looking at a foreign exchange violation.

Terry Howard said:Look, if you go ahead and open an account outside the US without getting the green light from the Federal Reserve on January 1st, 2010, you're looking at a foreign exchange violation.

I’m struggling to wrap my head around this. Look, I understand the logic behind the Federal Reserve's decision, but the Fed doesn't exercise supervision over banks in Canada or any other foreign nation. How on earth are they supposed to even know if you've opened a foreign currency account abroad? In most other countries, banking transactions are protected by strict bank secrecy laws.
The only way this works is if a commercial bank reports you to the Federal Reserve for opening an account, which shouldn't be possible since the Fed doesn't have supervisory authority across international borders. Either the Federal Reserve would have had to send a memo to every single commercial bank on the planet, or foreign banks would have to proactively report data on Americans opening accounts to their own central banks, who would then pass that info along to the Federal Reserve—which is something I find highly improbable.

I just don't get it, and frankly, it makes no sense to me.

Nobody mentioned anything about oversight, but honestly, how is a guy supposed to move that cash back to the States? A wire transfer? The Federal Reserve tracks every single transaction, so it’s going to look pretty sketchy when the sender and the receiver are the exact same person. What, is he gonna carry it in a briefcase? That’s what Customs and the IRS are there for. Just to be clear, the Federal Reserve isn't ever going to greenlight an account opened specifically for gambling.

I was just pointing out that doing this would trigger some major foreign exchange violations with massive fines—which is just a fact. If someone wants to play fast and loose with the rules, go for it, but they can't come crying later claiming they didn't know it was illegal.

Terry Howard, I hear you. My understanding is that you can carry up to about $3,000 in cash across the border in your bag without any issues, but anything beyond that absolutely has to be declared. I just want to be certain whether institutions like JPMorgan Chase report these transactions directly to the Federal Reserve.
Also, you mentioned that this specific regulation stays in effect until January 1, 2010. What happens to us once we hit 2010 and that law is repealed?

Back on January 1st, 2010, we finally saw the foreign exchange market get liberalized—it was actually one of those requirements tucked into the agreement signed with the European Union, part of what I think is called the Democratic Party platform.
This whole liberalization process was originally supposed to kick off on January 1st, 2009, but the US government pulled a last-minute move and pushed it back by a year (some minor stuff was cleared by August, but most of it didn't happen until 2010).

Do you have a link for that?

People throw that statistic around all the time, but I still haven't stumbled upon an official ruling that actually backs it up. Besides, wouldn't they need to pass a whole new foreign exchange law first, which is hardly a given at this point?
It’s honestly even weirder when you consider that foreign exchange laws are becoming more restrictive rather than more liberal, especially in how they're being enforced.

The Federal Register, issue number 150 from back in 2008.

link

well, unfortunately, it looks like implementation is definitely being pushed back, maybe even held up until we fully integrate with the European Union

if you're looking to grab some cash, honestly, just hit an ATM... I'm not entirely sure if it works like it does in Austria where all those machines are networked together so you don't get hit with extra fees, but maybe things are similar over in Canada too

but hey, if you're doing that well and don't need to head over to Canada once a month to pull out $10,000 at once, you could always just nip out every few days for a couple hundred here and there, pick up some groceries—since they're cheaper anyway—or grab some clothes every so often, I guess😉

Actually, they pushed back the account opening until January 1st, 2010—it's not tied to joining the European Union at all.

we haven't seen anything yet
I don't know, I wouldn't take their word for it if I were you... I certainly wouldn't be banking on much from them personally

I get where you're coming from, but honestly, they wouldn't bother if they weren't backed into a corner.
They signed that whole stabilization and association agreement—basically a massive trade deal—so they have to play by the rules, which means they'll eventually open things up.

The Democratic Party might have signed on, but let's be honest, their deadlines are always a bit... flexible 😉
they could easily pivot right now and claim everything kicks in the moment the USA joins the European Union, just like they did with those specific articles back then 😁

do you really think I’d be surprised by a move like that? 😬

on another note, does anyone know the deal with using ATMs in Canada?
if things go sideways, I might just head over to a local credit union instead
anyone got recommendations... besides the big banks in Chicago 😬

Why should it even be an issue to carry something like 50k USD across the border?
Just toss it in a bag or hide it in a desk drawer and act like everything's fine...
It’s not like you’re some kind of criminal.. 😉you earned the damn money.

So, once they finally catch you with all that cash in hand, do you have any idea what happens next? 😉

Well, well... well, more money.

Honestly, tossing a few extra pounds of jerky into my bag isn't even an issue before I head out over the ridge.

Honestly, I was thinking the exact same thing when I stumbled across that post 🙂

$50k isn't much compared to a 5-pound bag of high-grade kush 🙂—and besides, dogs haven't been trained to sniff out cash yet. What’s one little stack of bills? Just slip it into an inside jacket pocket; they aren't going to frisk you anyway.

Hey everyone..

It just crossed my mind: what’s the actual process for opening an account at a Swiss bank?
Is it even possible to do this from the States, or am I going to have to fly out to Switzerland in person?
And does the concept of bank secrecy still hold weight there, regardless of whether other countries come knocking with requests to see their citizens' records?
Also, just as a hypothetical, could I open an account at somewhere like the Bank of Geneva with, say, $2,000?