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Jan232017

Remesas, Migración y el Efecto Trump: La Prensa Pregunta

Artículos, Country Profiles, IMTC

“Es el migrante, muchas veces olvidado, el que está financiando toda la economía”
Diario La Hora – Guatemala – Ene 20, 2017
Remesas se incrementaron por incertidumbre tras victoria de Trump

Hugo Cuevas Mohr, director de IMTC (Internacional Money Transfer Conferences), ha trabajado durante años asesorando a empresas bancarias y no bancarias sobre los asuntos de transferencias de dinero y remesas. Previamente al foro regional de IMTC que se llevará a cabo en la Antigua Guatemala en marzo, visitó el país para hablar sobre migración y remesas en el contexto del nombramiento de Donald Trump como presidente de los Estados Unidos. Cuevas-Mohr advierte que los países de la región centroamericana y México no deben esperar para tomar medidas preventivas que puedan proteger a los migrantes en caso de que las autoridades estadounidenses impulsen cambios legales que los afecten.

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Jan152017

Las amenazas de Trump – Remesas, impuestos, migración, deportaciones y la construcción del muro

Artículos, Associations, Compliance & Regulation, De-Risking, News & Comments

Remesas, impuestos, migración, deportaciones y la construcción del muro

Durante las primarias presidenciales republicanas del año pasado, Donald Trump expuso su propuesta de cómo forzar a México a pagar por el muro de 1,000 millas en la frontera entre Estados Unidos y este país. Los periodistas Bob Woodward y Robert Costa del Washington Post publicaron en Abril 5 de 2016 la noticia (http://wapo.st/2jbWHFn) en la cual Trump manifestaba su intención de amenazar a México con “cortar el suministro de remesas”. Trump envió en esta ocasión un memorando de dos páginas…

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Jan52017

Press Release: IMTC LATAM 2017

IMTC, News & Comments

Miami, January 5, 2017 – IMTC, the premier events of the International Money Transfer & Payments Industry, has announced today that its first remittance & migration conference of 2017 will be held in Antigua, Guatemala at the Porta Hotel. IMTC LATAM 2017 will be it’s first conference in Central America and will draw attendees from the Americas & Europe.

Remittances to Guatemala will surpass US 7 Billion for 2016, an all-time high. Remittances to Guatemala have grown steadily since 2010 with an average growth of 6% per year, outperforming most of the countries in the region. But also El Salvador, Honduras and even Mexico has seen remittances grow in 2016, all of them reaching all-time highs. Remittances to Honduras are expected to reach 4 billion while El Salvador could reach 4.5 B when year-end statistics are published. Higher incomes in the US and Trump fears are cited as reasons for the increases.

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Dec282016

THE TRUMP MIGRATION POLICIES THAT MIGHT AFFECT THE INDUSTRY

News & Comments

Fears abound amidst growing speculation on what Trump’s new government will mean for migrants in the US and for Mexico and its remittances life-line.
I have been asked by many colleagues on what the Trump administration will mean to the industry and to remittances in general and I have basically kept quiet, scanning the news for its cabinet nominations to catch a glimpse, under all the noise and non-sense, of what could it all mean for our industry and to all the clients we serve in the United States. And with so much influence in the world, what happens in the US will surely affect the industry in many countries.

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Dec272016

CIASEFIM-INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF MONEY TRANSFER ASSOCIATIONS

Associations, De-Risking

On December 12 in São Paulo, Brazil at the 2nd ABRACAM COMPLIANCE DAY an International Commission of Associations of Money Transfers Companies, Non-Bank Financial Services Companies, Foreign Exchange Firms and their Agents, was formed to make a public statement, signed by all the Associations, voicing their extreme concern regarding the negative impacts of “DE-RISKING” in the economic, financial e social areas of several countries in the region. They had met previously in November 11th, as part of IMTC WORLD 2016 “DE-RISKING & BANK DISCONTINUANCE FORUM” that discussed the impact of this practice in the Money Transfer, Remittance and Payment Industry. The termination of correspondent accounts of foreign financial institutions (FFIs) by US Commercial Banks as well as some these US Banks forcing local bank account closures by their corresponding banks in many countries in the region was also discussed at IMTC WORLD in an afternoon round table on Nov. 10, moderated by Daniel Trias.

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Oct312016

Michael McDonald, in memoriam

Compliance & Regulation

Michael was a 27-year veteran of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division. He retired in 1998 and formed a Miami based consulting firm specializing in international money laundering, Bank Secrecy Act, Patriot Act, asset forfeiture, compliance and related matters. The firm has been a network of retired Special Agents, each with in-depth experience in money laundering investigations.

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Oct62016

Recent News about De-Risking, Financial Exclusion and Bank Discontinuance

De-Risking

On November 11th, as part of IMTC WORLD 2016 we will be having a “DE-RISKING & BANK DISCONTINUANCE FORUM” to discuss the impact of this practice in the Money Transfer, Remittance and Payment Industry as well as the U.S. depository institutions termination of correspondent accounts of foreign financial institutions (FFIs) as well as some US Banks forcing local bank account closures by their corresponding banks in many countries in the world.

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Oct52016

Notes about IMTC ASIA 2016

IMTC

Our September conference in Delhi was without a question of a doubt one of the most challenging conferences IMTC has done ever. It would take me many paragraphs to explain this statement, so I am not going to elaborate much more. But at the same time, it has been one of the most rewarding conferences due to the engagement of the attendees and the great feedback received. We had close to 100 attendees from 14 countries: US, UK, Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Russia, UAE, Nepal, Hong Kong, Mongolia, Singapore, Israel and the host country, India. All Photos have been posted here.

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Sep72016

HELPING REMITTANCE FAMILIES IN NEED

News & Comments

OVERSEAS WORKERS IN SAUDI ARABIA
When migrant workers are left stranded, should governments step in?

The situation in Saudi Arabia for overseas workers is critical. During the oil boom migrant workers went from 5.3M in 2000 to 10.2M in 2015 according to UN figures. More than 1M have lost their jobs in 2016 and remittances are dropping more than 20% every month compared to last year’s figures. Shivaji Sarkar wrote in The Pioneer: “The hiking petroleum price by producing nations itself had caused upheaval and as different energy sources are now being developed, it is leading to an Arabian night.” An Arabian night for the construction companies that are laying off thousands of workers and the OWs that they employ…

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