Free Republic

Something stunning took place earlier this week, and it quietly snuck by, unnoticed by anyone as the "all important" FOMC meeting was looming. That something could have been taken straight out of the playbook of either Cyprus, or Greece, or the USSR "evil empire", or all three. This is how the WSJ explained it: The U.S. Justice Department’s criminal head said banks may need to go beyond filing suspicious activity reports when they encounter a risky customer.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- President Nicolas Maduro's government is slashing the amount of U.S. dollars Venezuelans traveling to Florida and other popular destinations take with them under decade-old currency controls. Travelers just to Florida will be allowed to charge a maximum of $700 annually on their Venezuelan credit cards and will be allowed to buy no more than $300 in cash. That compares with limits of $2,500 in credit and $500 in cash they were previously allowed for trips to Florida, an amount that will be maintained for the remaining 49 US states. The restrictions published Friday in the Official...

Chaos in crisis-hit Cyprus as thousands of savers rush to withdraw cash from banks which have opened for first time in two weeks Ten of thousands of Cypriots scrambled to get hold of what savings they could today after the island's banks opened for the first time in two weeks amid tight restrictions on withdrawals. There were chaotic scenes outside some banks, with one branch manager in the capital Nicosia forced to placate angry customers clamouring to get in ahead of opening.Staff had turned up for work early as cash was delivered by armoured trucks, while armed police and hundreds...

Capital controls should be considered in future May 28, 2010 Korea is considering measures to regulate capital flows as part of a broader international effort, the head of the Financial Supervisory Service said yesterday. Kim Jong-chang, the FSS governor, told foreign correspondents at the Bankers Club in Jung District, central Seoul, that “we are mulling whether to impose regulations on the inflows and outflows of foreign capital.” Government officials have been raising the issue of capital controls in recent weeks in reaction to the global financial turmoil resulting from the European sovereign debt crisis, which has caused massive selling by...