Paul Blay wrote:
> <declan_murphy@hotmail.com> wrote ...
> 
>> Was expecting a bank transfer from a Pomgolian client.
> 
> [...]
> 
>> Where is the transfer? In Tokyo or did you send it back?
>>
>> "In Tokyo"
> 
> 
> Is that even legal?  I mean I would have thought the options
> are 1. Money goes into somebody's account or 2. Money goes back to 
> sender. (Not forgetting the ever popular side option of Bank tacks on 
> charges).

The international agreements on bank transfers permit the receiving bank 
to hold the transmission for "inspection" up to 30 days if they suspect 
that it is laundered funds or that the transfer is to a known dead 
account.  But they have to declare that in order to hold on to the money 
and you have recourse.  It used to be fairly common trick in Europe that 
if you knew you were due for a tax audit that you'd send off a big 
portion of your cash to a fake account so that it would be gone when the 
tax inspectors arrived and would come back after they were gone.  The 
"error" would cost you something like US$300 but that's a hell of a lot 
less than the IRS or Inland Revenue would ding you for.

But now, because they can, they report large transfers to your tax 
authorities if they think that's what you're doing and they hold it 
until the tax folks say it's okay to send it back.  See below for the 
main reason why they like to do that.

... and, yes, there are also an lot of other ways banks can hold on to 
your money but that is just one of the more common.

> 
> Option 3. Bank pockets transfer and doesn't bother to mention it to 
> sender or anybody else.
> sounds like the sort of thing that should result some lawyer(s)
> getting rich.

Someone is.  When you send money between banks, there is something known 
as the overnight borrowing market which provides overnight bridge 
financing to companies that need to have proof of cash on hand for stuff 
like loans (during the period between when a loan is approved and the 
bank actually outs the real money you can spend in your account).  The 
overnight market is unregulated and spot rates are circa 380% p.a.  So 
the money you sent doesn't have to be in the other bank account for 
three days (by law -- the banking laws are based on the days of the 
telegraph) and the bank has free money to play with from the time it 
arrives and the time they have to give it to you.  They loan it out 
daily and make money off it until they make it yours.  Okay, so 70 man 
isn't a lot of money, but they're doing this to around 30,000~40,000 
people at the same time every day for several tens-to-mans of man yen a 
day so there is definitely a reason why they want to play the game.

CL