-Today was a fair bit warmer than yesterday. Actually, since the low of about -24 things have been warming up. My understanding is that we are supposed to plateau at about this temperature and then dip again. Over the next few days we are also supposed to get a little bit more snow, though nothing to really worry about.
-A few days ago I heard a rumor that McGill would be switching to all e-subscriptions for it journals (presumably keeping the paper version if that is all that is available). This would certainly be a bit of a change. It is a rather thought provoking suggestion. My initial worry is that people will get out of the habit of going to the print version, thereby basically negating the existence of print-only volumes and journals.
-Yesterday I was able to fly through about 100 pages of a management textbook. It was some of the fluffiest/fastest reading I have ever done. On the whole much of the content was very superficial, not really going into any degree of detail.
-Apparently Domtar will be coming out with a anti-microbial paper in the near future. I am curious what affect this might have on the archival world as things like mould are problematic for preservation.
-For the past two nights I have had the pleasure of hearing many back-up sirens as the municipal government removes Monday’s snow. Though I know that they are working hard I can’t quite figure out where it is they are working as many of the streets surrounding my apartment building seem to still be snow filled.
-Apparently Royal Bank mis-interpreted some of the US rules relating to the US currency accounts it was issuing. Residents will be able to open US currency accounts. To me it still seems that there is a bit more to the story that has still not come out. I have yet to see the text of the regulation that Royal Bank is supposedly following.
-Tomorrow is another workday. This one should be a bit quieter than last Friday as there won’t be a large party. On the other hand, I hope that it is busier than the first week of the term.
-Apparently the Park Avenue issue is not yet dead. The commission of last resort has been issuing cryptic statements about some kind of compromise, though I have no idea what this might be. At one point it was suggested that the street be given a dual name as occurs in New York. I guess in the next few days we will have a better handle on what will happen.
Showing posts with label banks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label banks. Show all posts
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Royal Bank, the US Government and the almighty dollar
Yesterday I briefly heard about Canadian dual citizens who had their American funds bank accounts closed by Royal Bank. It was suggested that the customers only found out afterwards. Furthermore, it is being reported that US government policy is the impetus for this activity, though I can’t quite understand why any reasonable person or institution would follow along (partly because none of the stories I have read have given any details about the US policies).
Mainly I am not quite sure why the US cares about this practice right now so much that they are causing banks to take this action. Many foreign nationals have been using US currency for years, without the consent of the US government. I would guess that many individuals will continue to do so in the future, even with the implementation of this crack down. Additionally, I am not quite sure how a country can control what happens to its currency once it leaves its borders. If Royal Bank, or any other bank for that matter, would like to offer accounts in foreign currencies it would seem to be up to the bank and the institution issuing their charter, not the country from which the currency originates (though maybe the international and inter-connected nature of the current banking system has caused this to change).
It would be interesting to know if the same rules are being followed in the US. In many ways I would find it hard to believe that the US is able to disallow dual citizens (people who are full US citizens) access to banking services, even if they wouldn’t want them to access these services. It seems somewhat hypocritical to expect more from banks located in foreign nations, though I guess they can boss these banks around without worrying about the constitutionality of the whole thing.
It seems that there is also an element of sloppy reporting in all of this. It was not initially reported that not all dual citizens were not having their US funds accounts shut down. The implication was that it was affecting everyone, something that is clearly not the case (as I haven’t had mine shut down). In stories that came out today it was reported that individuals would be able to have these accounts if they could demonstrate that they resided in Canada (a potentially temporary and possibly meaningless measure).
Mainly I am not quite sure why the US cares about this practice right now so much that they are causing banks to take this action. Many foreign nationals have been using US currency for years, without the consent of the US government. I would guess that many individuals will continue to do so in the future, even with the implementation of this crack down. Additionally, I am not quite sure how a country can control what happens to its currency once it leaves its borders. If Royal Bank, or any other bank for that matter, would like to offer accounts in foreign currencies it would seem to be up to the bank and the institution issuing their charter, not the country from which the currency originates (though maybe the international and inter-connected nature of the current banking system has caused this to change).
It would be interesting to know if the same rules are being followed in the US. In many ways I would find it hard to believe that the US is able to disallow dual citizens (people who are full US citizens) access to banking services, even if they wouldn’t want them to access these services. It seems somewhat hypocritical to expect more from banks located in foreign nations, though I guess they can boss these banks around without worrying about the constitutionality of the whole thing.
It seems that there is also an element of sloppy reporting in all of this. It was not initially reported that not all dual citizens were not having their US funds accounts shut down. The implication was that it was affecting everyone, something that is clearly not the case (as I haven’t had mine shut down). In stories that came out today it was reported that individuals would be able to have these accounts if they could demonstrate that they resided in Canada (a potentially temporary and possibly meaningless measure).
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