Crofter -
Consider it tracking one's money instead of 'spying' on it. The amount of money that is transferred across multiple countries borders for illegal purposes (drug money, terrorist money etc) is absolutely mind boggling - amounting to billions and billions of dollars per year. The tracking is to try to control and eliminate the illegal activity, not to try to impede legitimate business.
As an accountant working for a company with international banking, before I retired, I had no trouble with the bank following proper procedures for moving money across the borders to pay for supplies etc. Yes, we transferred money in large amounts but they were backed up with proper documentation. The news report that is under discussion shows that a single individual tried to send not one but 5 bank drafts of $100,000. each to 5 separate individuals by common mail without any documentation to support the transactions. That would be like me sending you a transfer for $100,00 (I don't have it, you're not getting it...
) without any paperwork supporting why I'm sending it. It would most likely and most properly get tangled in bureaucratic paperwork as a possible drug or other illegal transaction.
As to your second question, as a Canadian, let me try to address it.
People all over the US live on less than $10,000 per year. More Americans live on that amount than Canadians do thanks to our more 'intensive', shall we say, social support system.
During the time I am in the US, I carry both my provincial health care coverage and my supplementary health care insurance in case I encounter a medical emergency. It would not be me that would be paying the rather large tab for my care. A known insurance company would be sending the payment to a known hospital accounting department with proper documentation showing what account it was paying for. Not likely to be caught in the Fintrac system because both insurance companies are well aware of international banking regulations. If I didn't have the coverage and was trying to pay for the care myself, I would be transferring the money from my Cdn bank to my US bank by electronic means and the bank would be submitting the paperwork as part of the normal transaction. It should be noted that I probably wouldn't be transferring in excess of $10,000 anyways at one time since I don't have access to that much money all at once....I wish!!
For those of us Canadian fortunate enough to have that kind of money available for house purchases etc. all we have to do is abide by Fintrac rules, ie submit the paperwork. Easy peasy.
The rules are not intended to impede international commerce, they are only meant to impede illegal commerce. Play by the rules, no problem.
It should be noted that it is '
per transaction' not per person, per rig, per day, per month or whatever. When I'm stateside in the winter, I regularly transfer money electronically between my two banks. I transfer enough for 1 months expenses at a time because my income is received monthly. Should I choose to transfer 6 months worth of expenses or a larger amount because of a large purchase then all I have to do is follow the rules. Actually, the Cdn bank has a bullt in limit of how much I can transfer without doing the additional paperwork.
