International banking services are those facilities provided by various banks around the world in order to deal with other banks and companies around the world. Generally such banks will have their headquarters in one country but branches or offices based in other countries around the world.
They offer such services relating to both commercial and investment banking as well being able to deal with all foreign currency issues. They are able to provide their clients with foreign currency, wire transfers, drafts as well as being able to cash foreign currency drafts that their customers receive. But what is common to any international bank is that they are all governed by the same international banking laws.
Certainly international banking has become extremely important to industrialized nations such as the USA and China. This is because as they expand the areas in which they trade, they are then also competing for the same business around the world. It is through the use of an international bank’s services that these industrial nations can then diversify their markets even further.
Although these banks are regulated by international banking laws they do not in fact get covered by the same regulations that are used by a country’s domestic banks. So if you have a problem with them you need to speak with someone who is well conversed in international banking laws rather than domestic ones.
A lot of banks who now offer their customers international banking services are in fact trying to prevent the elimination of travellers checks. This is because, along with both tourist and foreign business market capabilities being reduced, these can in fact be carried out by another bank in the country where the person is traveling or where the business will be trading.
Also having a branch in another country will thus help a bank to keep it transaction costs much lower and the risks related to foreign currency exchange also reduced. Plus those banks which set up international banking services are then provided with the chance of tapping into a new market as their chances of obtaining new customers in their own country have become somewhat limited. Also many banks know that their earnings are likely to become more stable through diversification on an international basis.
Filed under International Banking by International Bank Notes
Mark Cella on Enormous United States Oil Reserves
United States Oil Reserves have the Potential to be Massive but OPEC-Backed Environmentalists Help to Keep Prices High.
There is a lot of nonsense floating around about the decline in oil reserves around the world, and how reliant we all are on the Middle East.
The U.S Department of Energy is very keen to promote this notion, whilst actually covering up the fact that the United States oil reserves are plentiful.
In 2008 a US Geological Survey (USGS) assessment shows a 25-fold increase in the amount of oil that can be recovered, compared to the agency’s 1995 estimate of 151 million barrels of oil.
An area known as the Bakken Formation lying in North Dakota and Montana has an estimated 3.0 to 4.3 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil.
The term technically recoverable oil means resources are producible using the technology and practices already employed by the oil industry.
Mark Cella on Enormous United States Oil Reserves
No-one but the USGS provides publicly available estimates of undiscovered technically recoverable oil and gas resources.
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported the find as “now the highest producing onshore oil field found in the past 56 years.
The potential of this find could mean United States oil reserves far out-scoring the numbers found in the Middle East.
Oil exploration on United States landhas for many years now been given up for dead as the major players in oil exploration went in search elsewhere.
In fact in 1985 20 percent of America’s oil came from overseas, whereas nearly 25 years later that number has soared to almost 60 percent.
Advances in technology mean this commodity could be extracted and hugely bolster United States oil reserves so their dependency on other resources would be eliminated, whilst also lowering fuel prices.
Mark Cella on United States Oil Reserves
Well so one would think, and in spite of the find and the capability to extract such a huge resource, it hasn’t been taken advantage of.
In the last few years of fluctuating oil prices, mainly to the detriment of consumers, a potential huge pool of oil more than adequately meeting demand would surely have dragged the price down.
Tapping in to this unused resource has been prevented by environmental concerns including the usual arguments about air pollution, damaging the land and its wildlife. These are arguments that have most likely been given strong support financially by none other than OPEC.
Seeing a huge increase in United States oil reserves is the last thing OPEC would want as it would significantly lower the price.
Preventing these large quantities of oil from being produced only serves to make oil scarcer and more expensive.
Mark Cella on Enormous United States Oil Reserves
Preventing oil production in countries like the United States is of course in the best interests of OPEC, as it only serves to increase their stake hold in world supply, and enrich its members. That said, if the United States Government had the will to do so, they could easily defeat the environmentalists and start producing billions of barrel loads of oil.
The fact that they choose not to do so is that most probably they have a deal with OPEC, and the environmental concerns are just a front. The U.S doesn’t want to cut in to its own resources with the potential dangers and damage to the environment when they have a slice of the Middle East action already.
U.S companies are thriving in most OPEC countries. The US Government has huge influence over Middle Eastern Governments and their oil reserves. The other problem is the greedy Oil Companies are only interested in making huge profits, and are therefore reluctant to invest in exploring the untapped potential.
Legal battles with the environmentalists, exploration costs and converting certain types of potential reserves in to usable oil drive these companies away. The benefit of more United States oil reserves is of no interest to the likes of Exxon and Shell as they are serving only to provide large dividends to shareholders.
Mark Cella on Truth About US Oil Reserves
The sad irony of all this is that the United States, whilst it purportedly fights terrorism is also funding it through oil consumption. For example, Saudi Arabia is a huge breeding ground for Islamic extremists. Iran is using its oil revenues to fund a nuclear program. The United States has been happy to get back in to bed with old foes such as Libya.
The bottom line is that the U.S Government, OPEC, huge oil companies are all conspiring to make oil prices much higher than they need be. The losers are the consumers, who are paying ridiculous prices in a time when the world is suffering economically.
Learn more about Mark Cella. Stop by Mark Cella’s site where you can find out all about Mark Cella and his work.
Filed under Finance and Investing by Mark Cella