We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.
Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]
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Samizdata quote of the day – ‘Suspicious’ activity can get you debanked Under the Bank Secrecy Act, one of the most common reasons for filing a suspicious activity report (often abbreviated as SAR) is because someone deposited or withdrew nearly $10,000 in cash. That’s all it takes for you to get labeled as “suspicious” in an official report to the government.
These reports rarely catch actual criminals. Yet, each report is like a red mark on your banking record, nonetheless. And getting too many of these reports filed on you can quickly spell trouble. If you rack up multiple reports (often as few as three), banks will close the account. The bank might know you are likely innocent, but the risk of regulators punishing them for inaction is too high. Fines for failing to report real criminal activity can reach into the millions.
It’s much safer for the bank to close the account than risk fines later, especially if it is a smaller account.
– Nicholas Anthony
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Who Are We? The Samizdata people are a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property. Amongst our many crimes is a sense of humour and the intermittent use of British spelling.
We are also a varied group made up of social individualists, classical liberals, whigs, libertarians, extropians, futurists, ‘Porcupines’, Karl Popper fetishists, recovering neo-conservatives, crazed Ayn Rand worshipers, over-caffeinated Virginia Postrel devotees, witty Frédéric Bastiat wannabes, cypherpunks, minarchists, kritarchists and wild-eyed anarcho-capitalists from Britain, North America, Australia and Europe.
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Three things:
1. The “Bank Secrecy Act” is an law to strip bank customers of all secrecy in their banking, and so may well be the worst named act of congress in history. Though I’m sure there must be other contenders. I mean the Patriot act was badly named, but it would be worse if it had been called the “Speed up Airline Queues Act” or “Eliminate Secret Courts Act”.
2. I used to run a company that provided software for the banking industry and so I spent a lot of time with bankers and auditors. They will tell you on the down low that they often file SARs for cash transaction amounts as low as $3000.
3. It is extremely difficult for American citizens to open bank accounts in other countries (for example, me, who would like a bank account in Britain for when I spend time there, being, as I am, a British Citizen.) Because the US government anti bank secrecy laws are so onerous, and absolutely jammed down the throat of foreign governments, that it is more trouble for the foreign banks than it is worth.