美高端房產成爲重要洗錢渠道
US real estate’s reputation as a favourite destination for interNational money launderers has grown after a Treasury investigation confirmed fears that top-end property in New York, Miami and other cities is being used to channel illicit wealth.
在美國財政部一項調查證實了紐約和邁阿密等城市的高端房產正被用來輸送非法財富的擔憂之後，美國房地產作爲最受國際洗錢者青睞目的地的名聲更響亮了。The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a Treasury unit, found that one in three buyers who used shell companies for cash purchases of luxury property in leading cities had had the alarm raised about their financial dealings.
財政部下屬機構金融犯罪執法網絡(FinCEN)發現，在藉助殼公司以現金在主要城市購買豪宅的買家中，有三分之一買家的金融交易已引起警覺。The role of US mansions, penthouses and beachside residences as a haven for tainted wealth has been under increasing scrutiny in recent years as it emerged that buyers had included figures such as Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar and the son of Equatorial Guinea’s president.
近年來，美國豪華別墅、豪華頂層公寓和海濱住宅作爲非法財富避風港的作用受到越來越嚴密的審查。有消息稱，買家包括哥倫比亞大毒梟帕布洛?艾斯科巴(Pablo Escobar)，赤道幾內亞總統之子等人物。
FinCEN said on Thursday it had unearthed a string of dubious buyers using a new disclosure rule to probe all-cash deals undertaken through shell companies. The purchasers included some suspected of being involved in corruption in Asia and South America and one who engaged in $160m of suspicious activity, officials said.
金融犯罪執法網絡週四表示，其利用一條對藉助殼公司的全現金交易實施調查的新披露規則，發現了一連串可疑的買家。官員們表示，買家包括一些涉嫌在亞洲和南美洲參與腐敗的人，和一個從事規模達1.6億美元的可疑活動的人。The US market in existing housing alone — which excludes commercial and newly built property — turns over $1.6tn a year, according to the National Association of Realtors. About a quarter of buyers pay cash, with the proportion rising to half of foreign buyers. These account for only 4 per cent of all purchases, but this means some $32bn a year flows into US real estate from abroad in cash transactions that, until a year ago, could be conducted anonymously.
全美房地產經紀人協會(National Association of Realtors)的數據顯示，單單美國存量住宅市場——其中不包括商業和新建房地產——每年的交易額就高達1.6萬億美元。大約四分之一的買家支付現金，外國買家的這一比例更高，爲二分之一。這些只佔總購買量的4%，但這意味着，每年通過現金交易從國外流入美國房地產的資金達約320億美元，直到一年前，現金購房還是可以匿名進行的。
Since the Patriot Act was introduced after the September 11 2001 terror attacks, mortgage lenders have been subject to “know your customer” rules designed to stop terrorists and other criminals using agents, shell companies and other subterfuges to move illicit money into the US. But cash purchases were excluded.
自2001年9月11日的恐怖襲擊之後《愛國者法》(Patriot Act)實施以來，抵押貸款機構始終遵守“瞭解你的客戶”(know your customer, KYC)規則，該規則旨在阻止恐怖分子和其他罪犯通過代理公司、殼公司和其他伎倆將非法資金轉移到美國。但現金購買不受此規則的影響。A year ago FinCEN, which collates information reported by banks and others on their clients and makes it available to law enforcement agencies, moved to plug what it believed was a major conduit for dirty money.
一年前，金融犯罪執法網絡（負責整理銀行和其他機構彙報的客戶信息，並提供給執法機構）行動起來，堵住了其認爲輸送非法錢財的一條主要管道。It introduced a rule requiring identity disclosure for cash buyers using shell companies to purchase top-end property in Manhattan and Miami. The rule was later extended to the whole of New York City, more of Florida and Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and San Antonio.
金融犯罪執法網絡引入了一項規則，要求借助殼公司在曼哈頓和邁阿密以現金方式購買高端房產的買家披露身份。該規則後來擴大到覆蓋整個紐約市、佛羅里達州更多地區，以及洛杉磯、舊金山、聖地亞哥和聖安東尼奧。
