{ "id": "R43217", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "R", "number": "R43217", "active": true, "source": "CRSReports.Congress.gov, EveryCRSReport.com", "versions": [ { "summary": null, "sourceLink": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/details?prodcode=R43217", "source_dir": "crsreports.congress.gov", "type": "CRS Report", "formats": [ { "sha1": "979c9d1adba92194a310b4067cafdcd36b887703", "format": "PDF", "url": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R43217/15", "filename": "files/2023-05-10_R43217_979c9d1adba92194a310b4067cafdcd36b887703.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/2023-05-10_R43217_979c9d1adba92194a310b4067cafdcd36b887703.html" } ], "title": "Remittances: Background and Issues for the 118th Congress", "source": "CRSReports.Congress.gov", "retrieved": "2023-06-11T04:05:12.043410", "date": "2023-05-10", "typeId": "R", "id": "R43217_15_2023-05-10", "active": true }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 610338, "date": "2019-12-02", "retrieved": "2019-12-13T15:09:09.235625", "title": "Remittances: Background and Issues for Congress", "summary": "This report focuses on remittances, the transfers of money and capital sent by migrants and foreign immigrant communities to their home countries. At over $700 billion, remittances sent home by international migrants to developing countries are larger than official development assistance (ODA) and more stable than private capital flows to these countries. \nThe United States is the destination for the most international migrants and is by far the largest source of global remittances. The World Bank estimates there were $56.3 billion in official remittance outflows from the United States in 2014. As remittances have ballooned, banks, traditional money transfer companies, and entrepreneurs have responded to increased demand by increasing the remittance channels available to migrants; these now include mobile, internet, and card-based options. \nThe dramatic rise in the importance of remittances to global capital flows has also led to greater interest from Congress and other policymakers. Key remittance issues for Congress include:\nRegulation of Remittances. Members may want to review the regulatory landscape for remittance providers. Effective regulation of remittances can help reduce corruption, enhance transparency, and facilitate a more robust business environment. At the same time, additional regulatory requirements, such as consumer protection requirements included in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Consumer Protection Act, may raise concerns about the compliance costs for remittance providers and consumers. \nCongress may also want to consider whether current federal and state regulation are appropriate for new and emerging payment methods such as mobile and digital payment options, which are starting to capture part of the remittance market. Members may also want to review recent efforts to improve foreign regulatory and supervisory mechanisms. Remittances are often sent to recipients in developing countries with weak regulatory systems, increasing the risk of money laundering and possible financing of terrorism. \nImpact on U.S. Development Policy. Remittances represent a substantial percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) in several developing countries. Whether remittances can be leveraged to support U.S. foreign development policy is another issue of concern to some Members of Congress. Some analysts argue that since remittances are private transfers between family members and friends, U.S. efforts should be directed at reducing the transaction costs involved in remittance transactions. Others note the potential beneficial development aspects of remittances, including promoting investment and access to financial services, and encouraging government programs to help stimulate these positive effects.\nRemittances and U.S. Immigration Policy. Members may want to consider the interplay of U.S. remittance policy and U.S. immigration policy. A major goal of U.S. policy on remittances is increasing the attractiveness of regulated remittance systems to potential remittance customers, without regard to their legal status. Thus, U.S. Treasury officials allow remittance providers to accept certain foreign-issued means of identification to meet their customer identification requirements. Some Members argue that policies like these could undermine U.S. immigration laws and they advocate restricting remittances to those with legal status under U.S. immigration laws. Others argue that more restrictive identification measures would only push remittance flows toward high-risk, unregulated, and underground channels.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43217", "sha1": "8f6484cca9a0bba202a6b15bf933f213c83101b9", "filename": "files/20191202_R43217_8f6484cca9a0bba202a6b15bf933f213c83101b9.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R43217_files&id=/0.png": "files/20191202_R43217_images_d6779bb42881b0f4d5933241ac1b664a57150c37.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R43217_files&id=/3.png": "files/20191202_R43217_images_a95e3c0087425b24cd19db2e76c781a607dcc8e9.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R43217_files&id=/1.png": "files/20191202_R43217_images_29d18a897d69866f6efdd161e00481b2f5e742d2.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R43217_files&id=/2.png": "files/20191202_R43217_images_05c12ef12eeb7af8c996326f166a06ce074b6b93.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43217", "sha1": "acc6f26be4a6cd4de7d3652be99d699fbad5b6fd", "filename": "files/20191202_R43217_acc6f26be4a6cd4de7d3652be99d699fbad5b6fd.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4878, "name": "International Terrorism, Trafficking, & Crime" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4923, "name": "International Financial Markets" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 589189, "date": "2016-05-09", "retrieved": "2019-05-03T15:51:04.715290", "title": "Remittances: Background and Issues for Congress", "summary": "This report focuses on remittances, transfers of money and capital sent by migrants and foreign immigrant communities to their home country. At over $432 billion in 2015, remittances sent home by international migrants to developing countries are larger than official development assistance (ODA) and more stable than private capital flows to these countries. \nThe United States is the largest destination for international migrants and by far the largest source of global remittances. The World Bank estimates $56.3 billion in official remittance outflows from the United States in 2014. As the market for remittances has ballooned, banks, traditional money transfer companies, and entrepreneurs have responded to increased demand by increasing the amount of remittance channels available to migrants, including mobile, Internet, and card-based options. \nThe dramatic rise in the importance of remittances to global capital flows has led Congress and other policymakers to take a greater interest in these flows. Key issues for Congress include:\nRegulation of Remittances. Members may want to review the regulatory landscape for remittance providers. Effective and proportional regulation of remittances reduces corruption, enhances transparency, and facilitates a more robust business environment. At the same time, additional regulatory requirements, such as recent consumer protection requirements included in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Consumer Protection Act, may raise concerns about the compliance costs for remittance providers and consumers. \nCongress may also want to consider whether current federal and state regulation are appropriate for new and emerging payments systems such as mobile and card options, which are starting to capture part of the remittance market. Members may also want to review recent efforts to improve foreign regulatory and supervisory mechanisms. Remittances are often sent to recipients in developing countries with weak regulatory systems, increasing the risk of money laundering and possible financing of terrorism. \nImpact on U.S. Development Policy. Remittances represent a substantial percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) in several developing countries. Whether remittances can be leveraged to support U.S. foreign development policy is another issue of concern to some Members of Congress. Some analysts argue that since remittances are comprised of private transfers between family members and friends, U.S. efforts should be directed to reducing the transaction costs involved in remittance transactions. Others note the potential beneficial development aspects of remittances, including promoting investment and access to financial services, and encouraging government programs to help stimulate these positive effects. \nRemittances and U.S. Immigration Policy. Members may want to consider the interplay of U.S. remittance policy and U.S. immigration policy. A major goal of U.S. policy on remittances is increasing the attractiveness of regulated remittance systems to potential remittance customers, without regard to their legal status. Thus, U.S. Treasury officials allow remittance providers to accept certain foreign-issued means of identification to meet their customer identification requirements. Some Members argue that policies like these may undermine U.S. immigration laws and advocate restricting remittances to those with legal status under U.S. immigration laws. Others argue that more restrictive identification measures would only push remittance flows toward high-risk, unregulated, and underground channels.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43217", "sha1": "7a2d320baef42c5399be90026afd37ce149c2045", "filename": "files/20160509_R43217_7a2d320baef42c5399be90026afd37ce149c2045.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R43217_files&id=/0.png": "files/20160509_R43217_images_d6779bb42881b0f4d5933241ac1b664a57150c37.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R43217_files&id=/3.png": "files/20160509_R43217_images_b5e413e95bb125cf60288e298f7619a84bc814be.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R43217_files&id=/1.png": "files/20160509_R43217_images_dc8445f75529a736d27f596377b88f0f49b5a0eb.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R43217_files&id=/2.png": "files/20160509_R43217_images_a5a374da77b4a25fbb7fab5784fb158b19d9ea01.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43217", "sha1": "e7e1d9286f2312c72a984ba445fd9c651cefadd0", "filename": "files/20160509_R43217_e7e1d9286f2312c72a984ba445fd9c651cefadd0.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4878, "name": "International Terrorism, Trafficking, & Crime" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4923, "name": "International Financial Markets" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 424235, "date": "2013-09-09", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T20:58:22.165935", "title": "Remittances: Background and Issues for Congress", "summary": "This report focuses on remittances, transfers of money and capital sent by migrants and foreign immigrant communities to their home country. At over $400 billion globally in 2012, up from $75 billion in 1990, remittances are the second largest resource flow to developing countries and are expected to exceed $500 billion by 2015. The United States is the largest destination for international migrants and by far the largest source of global remittances. The World Bank records $51.6 billion in official remittance outflows from the United States in 2011. As the market for remittances has ballooned, banks, traditional money transfer companies, and entrepreneurs have responded to increased demand by increasing the amount of remittance channels available to migrants, including mobile, Internet, and card-based options. \nThe dramatic rise in the importance of remittances to global capital flows has led Congress and other policymakers to take a greater interest in these flows. Key issues for Congress include:\nRegulation of Remittances. Members may want to review the regulatory landscape for remittance providers. Effective and proportional regulation of remittances reduces corruption, enhances transparency, and facilitates a more robust business environment. At the same time, additional regulatory requirements, such as recent consumer protection requirements included in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Consumer Protection Act, may raise concerns about the compliance costs for remittance providers and consumers. \nCongress may also want to consider whether current federal and state regulation are appropriate for new and emerging payments systems such as mobile and card options, which are starting to capture part of the remittance market. Members may also want to review recent efforts to improve foreign regulatory and supervisory mechanisms. Remittances are often sent to recipients in developing countries with weak regulatory systems, increasing the risk of money laundering and possible financing of terrorism. \nImpact on U.S. Development Policy. Remittances represent a substantial percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) in several developing countries. Whether remittances can be leveraged to support U.S. foreign development policy is another issue of concern to some Members of Congress. Some analysts argue that since remittances are comprised of private transfers between family members and friends, U.S. efforts should be directed to reducing the transaction costs involved in remittance transactions. Others note the potential beneficial development aspects of remittances, including promoting investment and access to financial services, and encouraging government programs to help stimulate these positive effects. \nRemittances and U.S. Immigration Policy. Members may want to consider the interplay of U.S. remittance policy and U.S. immigration policy. A major goal of U.S. policy on remittances is increasing the attractiveness of regulated remittance systems to potential remittance customers, without regard to their legal status. Thus, U.S. Treasury officials allow remittance providers to accept certain foreign-issued means of identification to meet their customer identification requirements. Some Members argue that policies like these may undermine U.S. immigration laws and advocate restricting remittances to those with legal status under U.S. immigration laws. Others argue that more restrictive identification measures would only push remittance flows toward high-risk, unregulated and underground channels.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43217", "sha1": "29681beb69b993aa026292c897395d96fabe41b1", "filename": "files/20130909_R43217_29681beb69b993aa026292c897395d96fabe41b1.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43217", "sha1": "d6e173977a5dc3b3ed5d2e4f7a110c2ddd04971d", "filename": "files/20130909_R43217_d6e173977a5dc3b3ed5d2e4f7a110c2ddd04971d.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 272, "name": "International Trafficking and Crime" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 3290, "name": "International Financial Institutions and Policies" } ] } ], "topics": [ "Economic Policy", "Foreign Affairs", "Industry and Trade", "Intelligence and National Security" ] }