Comments on: Banks will more closely monitor financial transactions

By: expatin paradise

expatin paradise — Thu, 03 Oct 2013 21:03:00 +0000

This article says that Costa Rican government-issued identification is needed, so I assume that a cedula juridica would be of no value for such transactions. I wonder how this will affect foreign investments. If one must present identification in the form of a CR cedula card, how can one transfer funds to CR banks in the absence of legal residency? Many expats or potential expats buy property here with funds transferred to CR banks from US banks before they have established residency (I did).

By: Ken Morris

Ken Morris — Thu, 03 Oct 2013 02:14:00 +0000

Wow, that last paragraph finally gave me a sense of the magnitude of the problem (and what is depressing the value of the dollar). If my math is correct, 2012 saw 850,000 cash deposits worth in the aggregate of over $2.3 billion in CR banks. Not much of this is legitimate business. Maybe supermarkets and casinos sometimes make cash deposits over $10,000, but I can’t think of many other businesses that would. The sale of a house, car, boat, or business might involve a large cash deposit, as also might insurance claims, occasional stock purchases, and a few other things, but it’s hard to believe that there are over a couple thousand of these legitimate cash transactions everyday. A few expats may make deposits in excess of $10,000, but I think most of us are of more modest means. In all, it looks like there is a hell of a lot of money being laundered in CR, which pisses me off–not only because of the crime involved but because it is costing me money in my lousy exchange rate!

By: rusty jones

rusty jones — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 16:55:00 +0000

Obamas IRS is looking to see who they can tax