The Money Remittances Improvement Act of 2014 (; ) is a bill that passed in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

during the

113th United States Congress The 113th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2013, to January 3, 2015, during the fifth and sixth years of Presidency of Barack Obama, Barack Obama's presiden ...

. The bill would "allow the Treasury secretary to use state examinations for certain financial institutions instead of federal reporting requirements." The bill would make it easier for nonbank financial institutions such as money service businesses to provide

remittance A remittance is a non-commercial transfer of money by a foreign worker, a member of a diaspora community, or a citizen with familial ties abroad, for household income in their home country or homeland. Money sent home by migrants competes wit ...

payments internationally.

Background

A remittance is a transfer of money by a

foreign worker Foreign workers or guest workers are people who work in a country other than one of which they are a citizen. Some foreign workers use a guest worker program in a country with more preferred job prospects than in their home country. Guest worker ...

to an individual in his or her home country. Money sent home by migrants competes with

international aid In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. Ai ...

as some of the largest financial inflows to

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...

. In 2012, according to the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

Report, $401 billion went to developing countries (a new record) with overall global remittances at $514 billion. Remittances are playing an increasingly large role in the economies of many countries, contributing to economic growth and to the livelihoods of less prosperous people (though generally not the poorest of the poor). According to

estimates, remittances totaled

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

414 billion in 2009, of which

316 billion went to developing countries that involved 192 million

migrant worker A migrant worker is a person who Human migration, migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant worker ...

s.The World Bank
Remittance Market Outlook
/ref> For some individual recipient countries, remittances can be as high as a third of their GDP. As remittance receivers often have a higher propensity to own a bank account, remittances promote access to financial services for the sender and recipient, an essential aspect of leveraging remittances to promote economic development. According to some social scientists remittances have social significance that extends well beyond the mere financial dimensions.

Provisions of the bill

According to a summary written by the House Republicans, "H.R. 4386 authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, with respect to complying with monetary instrument transaction reporting requirements, to rely upon examinations conducted by the relevant state supervisory agency if: 1) the category of financial institution is required by state law to comply with federal requirements; or 2) the state supervisory agency is authorized to ensure that the financial institution complies with federal requirements."

Procedural history

The Money Remittances Improvement Act of 2014 was introduced into the

on April 3, 2014 by Rep. Keith Ellison (D, MN-5). It was referred to the

United States House Committee on Financial Services The United States House Committee on Financial Services, also referred to as the House Banking Committee and previously known as the Committee on Banking and Currency, is the committee of the United States House of Representatives that oversees t ...

. The bill was passed in a

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding vo ...

on May 6, 2014. The

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

voted with

unanimous consent In parliamentary procedure, unanimous consent, also known as general consent, or in the case of the parliaments under the Westminster system, leave of the house (or leave of the senate), is a situation in which no member present objects to a prop ...

to pass the bill on August 1, 2014 and President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

signed the bill into law on August 8, 2014.

Debate and discussion

On May 6, 2014, Rep. Ellison said that "passage of the Money Remittances Improvement Act is cause for celebration for all diaspora communities, including the Somali and Hmong communities I am proud to represent in Minnesota." Rep.

Erik Paulsen Erik Philip Paulsen (born May 14, 1965) is an American businessman and politician who represented in the United States House of Representatives from 2009 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the Minnesota House of Representat ...

(R-MN), another supporter of the bill, argued that the bill would make it easier for American immigrants "supporting their extended families overseas" to help their relatives, while still "providing the necessary safeguards to ensure their money reaches its intended destination." The bill would help these people by "streamlining the remittance process and eliminating regulatory barriers to sending money home." The list of organizations who support the bill include the

Conference of State Bank Supervisors A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

Money Transmitter Regulators Association Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as ...

Oxfam America Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. History Founded at 17 Broad Street, Oxford, as the Oxford Co ...

African Development Solutions African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

(ADESO), the Somali American Remittances association, Tawakal Money Express,

Kaah Express KAAH-TV (channel 26) is a religious television station in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, serving the Hawaiian Islands as an owned-and-operated station of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). The station's studios are located on Smith Street ...

, Dahab-shiil,

Amal USA Inc Amal may refer to: * Amal (given name) * Åmål, a small town in Sweden * Amal Movement, a Lebanese political party ** Amal Militia, Amal Movement's defunct militia * Amal language of Papua New Guinea * ''Amal'' (film), 2007, directed by Richie ...

, and the

Somali Action Alliance Somali may refer to: Horn of Africa * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Proto-Somali, the ancestors of modern Somalis ** Somali culture ** Somali cuisine ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Somali, ...

, and The Confederation of Somali Community in Minnesota.

References

External links