AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums Belize Life Living in Belize Atlantic Bank Problems

Is this a recent policy change?
I just did a transfer 6 months ago.
One day, done from local bank, didn't have to go to Coney drive.

Been with Atlantic Bank 11 years, no problems, we have a business and our credit card purcheses go through them, we are very happy with them.

Good to see someone who likes their bank.

I bank with Belize Bank. When a check from Atlantic comes in there is an automatic hold on it for 5 business days to clear. Not sure if this is an issue at BB or AB, but it's really annoying.

Diane, I have checking accounts with both BB and AB and I believe their policies on local checks are the same but I'm going by memory. I don't think that is too bad though. Banks in the USA put a 3 business day hold on another "in State bank" check and maybe a little longer on an out of State bank.

Banking in the USA is getting more and more difficult due to the last laws and regulations of Dodd/Frank. I can't see how anyone can get a mortgage in this atmosphere. I'm in the process right now trying to get a mortgage for a property I'm buying and without any exaggeration I've scanned a few hundred pages of documentation to send to the loan originators to get this approved. They just got back to me this morning for more clarification. I'll admit that my circumstances are different than most and don't fit into the cookie cutter situation the laws envisioned but let me say right now if I can't get a loan I don't see how anyone could. This will get approved I'm sure but this must be why the housing market in the USA is still in the dumps. All the banking people tell me the same thing....the new laws are killing housing and a lot of people give up on the process.

This morning there is an article where large banks are refusing deposits due to the new laws. I'm sure these regs effect banking in Belize and selling real estate in Belize. I know for a fact that "FATCA" laws are.

Thanks JIm - I'll back off on my local-bank rant. I've been out of the US so long I have lost my frame of reference on what is common elsewhere.


We're not supposed to re-start a crap thread, but this subject makes it really tempting to do so.
A wise man once said something like this to me --- "When you pass a law, take a dollar out of your pocket for every time it has to be enforced." Some laws are worth every dollar. Others are not. If we looked at laws as an economic issue we might get a simpler life and find it easier to be law-abiding in all the right ways.

Due to regulations imposed from the outside by governments somewhere, we're currently awash in requests for a remarkable amount of paper just to renew insurance policies on homes ..... and the list goes on.

With such requirements the ultimate loser is the customer who must spend hours assembling the paperwork, then kill some trees to print it (often so you can give it to a company that has otherwise chosen to go paperless and advertizes their dedication to the environment), and then pay higher rates to the service provider because of added staff necessary for them to comply with whatever idiotic regulation mandates all this.

Does anybody really really really believe that the world is safer because of this?! We're talking about electric bills and house insurance for heaven's sake, not a permit for an AK47 or a nuke in the back yard.

Even the government of a country we don't talk about passed a law some years ago called "Reduction of Paperwork Act". I guess they forgot what a good idea that was.

"Did you really think we want those laws observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them to be broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against... We're after power and we mean it... There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted - and you create a nation of law-breakers - and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Reardon, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with."

Ayn Rand quote from her book: Atlas Shrugged

Wealthy Buyer - that is one heck of a quote. Scary, scary and true, true.

It's a quote from a science fiction novel.
In the real world today I spoke with the US Embassy in Belmopan. Atlantic Bank is the only bank in the country that the US has a direct deposit agreement with for US Social Security checks to accommodate recipients living in Belize. I asked why and was told their polices fit the requirements.
If you don't like FATCA you can easily give a formal renunciation of nationality at the Embassy, simply sign an oath of renunciation.

Many have renounced their citizenship in record numbers over financial reporting requirements in recent years. Of course, the cost of renouncing went up by 400% last year so they could get one more wack at you. Cost is now about $2,400 if I remember correctly.

My advice is that action is a little extreme for most of us and I would not advise it. Better to just suck it up and vent once in a while. By the way.....finally, mortgage approved and we only killed an acre or so of rain forest in the last two weeks.