Republicans Said to Focus on Cost of U.S. Consumer Bureau Rules

Tuesday, 31 January 2012 17:45

Source: Bloomberg
By: Phil Mattingly and Carter Dougherty

Republican lawmakers may escalate their criticism of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over estimates that its first rule would require nearly 7.7 million employee hours of work to comply.

Republican senators will raise the issue on the impact of a proposed rule regulating international remittances when Richard Cordray, the consumer bureau’s director, testifies today in front of the Senate Banking Committee, according to three senior Senate Republican aides.

Read more: Republicans Said to Focus on Cost of U.S. Consumer Bureau Rules

Saudi Arabia: 15% slide expected in expat remittances

Tuesday, 17 January 2012 09:26

Source: ARAB NEWS

Saudi economic experts have predicted a 15 percent decrease in the volume of money transferred by foreigners within the next six months following the ban on foreign salesmen in lingerie shops, Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper reported on Saturday.

They said the new law would create tens of thousands of job opportunities for Saudi women.

Noted economist Abdullah Baashan said the new regulation would help contain unemployment among Saudi female graduates.

Read more: Saudi Arabia: 15% slide expected in expat remittances

Local Organization Helps Returning Migrants Reintegrate Into Senegal

Tuesday, 20 December 2011 12:25

Source: Voice of America
By: Amanda Fortier

Elhadji Moctar Gueye (far right) with his team of employees outside his metallic workshop in Dakar, December 19, 2011.

Senegal has one of the highest remittance rates in Africa, partly a result of strong economic and social pressures that push many to go abroad in the first place - often illegally and often at great personal expense.  Amanda Fortier reports from Dakar on one illegal immigrant’s experience returning to Senegal, and how a local organization is trying to ease the transition by providing financial and psychological support.

Read more: Local Organization Helps Returning Migrants Reintegrate Into Senegal

Effect of Sudanese Expatriates Remittances on the Sudanese Economy

Tuesday, 20 December 2011 12:17

Source: Sudan Vision
By: Khalda Elyas

The development boom witnessed by the country in the last decade can be attributed to the flow of foreign investments into the country in a manner unprecedented in the modern history of Sudan.

However, flow of foreign investments is not the only reason for such boom. Indeed, direct foreign investments entails that assets are transferred to a foreign country but remain the property of investors who can set whatever conditions they deem for the utilization of such assets.

Read more: Effect of Sudanese Expatriates Remittances on the Sudanese Economy

Rules Stretched as Green Cards Go to Investors

Monday, 19 December 2011 11:29

Source: New York Times
By: PATRICK McGEEHAN and KIRK SEMPLE

Affluent foreigners are rushing to take advantage of a federal immigration program that offers them the chance to obtain a green card in return for investing in construction projects in the United States. With credit tight, the program has unexpectedly turned into a mainstay for the financing of these projects in New York, California, Texas and other states.

The number of foreign applicants, each of whom must invest at least $500,000 in a project, has nearly quadrupled in the last two years, to more than 3,800 in the 2011 fiscal year, officials said. Demand has grown so fast that the Obama administration, which is championing the program, is seeking to streamline the application process.

Read more: Rules Stretched as Green Cards Go to Investors

Shortchanging Somalia

Friday, 16 December 2011 12:06

Source: LA Times (editorial)

Cutting off funding sources for Islamic militants at war with the U.S. is an important priority, but there must be a way of doing it that doesn't end all remittances to and from innocent Somalis.

It's hard to imagine what could make the situation in Somalia, a desperately poor failed state that hasn't had a functioning government since 1991 and is in the midst of a deadly drought, even worse. But a Minnesota bank may have found something.

Read more: Shortchanging Somalia