I think they just want to make sure you aren't a columbian drug runner. ;)

Ummm, they just want to ensure your company is remaining profitable. From a bank standpoint, small businesses come and go fairly easily. And getting commercial credit in Canada for a small business is extremely difficult. Very annoying. We've had a bunch of problems with our biz visa's as well.

So I actually use my personal one as it was easy to get a higher limit on it and submit an expense report and just pay it off every month. Hope CCRA doesn't figure out a way to count airmiles as taxable benefits.

there's no money in SEO

I know one person who got nailed pretty hard by the CCRA for using their Amex points for personal use.
WG

That's the way my bank is treating me :)
WG

The banking system sucks pretty much everywhere these days. Banks are terrified since 9/11 -- especially banks that do business in the US, of the Patriot Act and the other money laundering laws.

In the US, cash or instruments of cash, transactions that are more than 10,000 require a Cash Transaction Report to be filed with the government, including gambling winnings, cashiers checks, etc. There is also a form called the Suspicious Activity Report, which is filed on transactions over 5,000. What exactly constituted suspicious activity is pretty much a mystery to everyone at every bank and to most regulators. I was just reading an article in the business section last week about how the system is now inundated with so many SARS that the government can barely process them all -- basically banks are turning them in right and left in order to make sure they don't allow anything that might be considered suspicious go through without the form...

Can't you get a brokerage account somewhere, like a Merrill Lynch or a Morgan Stanley? Most brokerage houses offer programs that are identical to standard banking, usually with cheaper rates and more bells and whistles too...

So every check (or financial instrument) that I deposit over 10k gets filed with the government? Wow, they must have quite a few records from me. I can imagine that a lot of my deposits would be considered a Suspicious Activity as well since a lot of sponsors pay from offshore companies or from holdings companies.

WG

I don't know exactly how Canada handles it, but if there are US banks involved, I would guess there is some co-operation between the banks and the governments.

Frankly I think its shit of your bank to ask you for financials when you're not asking for credit per se, but I'm guessing they are aware of the audit and they see all the deposits from all over the world, and they want to make sure you're not doing something illegal... :(

In that case, I would imagine it is under US jurisdiction. Even though the account is up here in Canada, the actual transactions are settled in First National Bank in New York. I'm pretty sure the actual bank transactions occur in is in New York and I just deal with my local bank for convenience. That would probably explain why USD accounts here are not FDIC insured either.

WG

It's part of their legal inquiry. It sounds ok unless a person has somethign to hide.

Get a Virtual VISA in a Latvian Bank, e.g. www.parex.net - you can spend whatever is on your account, like with debit cards. Some More Latvian banks here:

http://www.rietumu.lv

http://www.paritate.com

http://www.lbb.lv

http://www.multibanka.com

http://www.unibanka.lv

Ah yes, Latvia, that bedrock of banking.

open several safetly deposit box's in switzerland

LOL, I'm sure after my 2 year audit, opening offshore accounts will go over well.
WG

Not sure about you but I would rather a bank has my tax returns then all of the sponsors who have my social security number.

I'm just being overly cautious as these documents indicate profit/loss, income sources, assets, etc. While something like this is not a big deal for a bank, in the wrong hands it could be.
WG