Is there a way to get the number of properties bought via a foreign entity? I'm sure with 3-4 different LLCs to shift cash through it's near impossible to tell.
$2T in Proceeds of Corruption Removed from China and Taken to US, AUS, CAN, NL
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Re: $2T in Proceeds of Corruption Removed from China and Taken to US, AUS, CAN, NL
#22This is a relatively big problem in Australia - there has been talk of a housing bubble in Australia for the last few years which in part has been propped up by Chinese grey money buying whole apartment buildings for investment, which drives up prices (they can just dictate prices) and keeps young locals out [1]. I cannot afford a house and I have a well-paying job. The government looks the other way since building i…
Chinese grey money buying whole apartment buildings for investment, which drives up prices
The nice thing about housing is that one can easily build a lot more of it, and it makes a great de facto investment: http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/05/19/exporting_hou.... The only thing stopping most municipalities from pursuing this reasonable outcome is politics and resistance from NIMBY incumbent landowners.
Re: $2T in Proceeds of Corruption Removed from China and Taken to US, AUS, CAN, NL
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
Except young Australians, who have to rent and cannot rely on real estate property for their retirement. This is orthogonal to the money laundering, but what's stopping the young people from investing for their retirement? Houses are not the only way to build savings.
Because you still have to pay rent - if you could buy, your housing costs would be earning equity.
It's not uncommon for it to be better financially to always rent and just invest the difference between rent and mortgage+maintenance+taxes. With interest first mortgages as they are it is generally a long time before you earn any equity at all.
Re: $2T in Proceeds of Corruption Removed from China and Taken to US, AUS, CAN, NL
#24In India, "grey income" is called "black money". It is a hot topic in India right now.
Recent activities on this:
Note ban (Nov 2016) => https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_black_money#Ban_on_1000...
Using analytics (today's news) => http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/i-t-...
Re: $2T in Proceeds of Corruption Removed from China and Taken to US, AUS, CAN, NL
#25Wonder why the British Isles isn't in there; unlikely to be EU stuff as NL is on there.
Re: $2T in Proceeds of Corruption Removed from China and Taken to US, AUS, CAN, NL
#26I thought around 500 times to buy myself a car on christmas and then I see this
Re: $2T in Proceeds of Corruption Removed from China and Taken to US, AUS, CAN, NL
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
Except young Australians, who have to rent and cannot rely on real estate property for their retirement. This is orthogonal to the money laundering, but what's stopping the young people from investing for their retirement? Houses are not the only way to build savings.
Because you still have to pay rent - if you could buy, your housing costs would be earning equity.
Especially when rent for young people is around one third to one half of their income (I would know, it's about 1/3 of mine). Would take me about 6-8 years to save for a deposit on an older apartment.
Re: $2T in Proceeds of Corruption Removed from China and Taken to US, AUS, CAN, NL
#28That's a big number, way too large for anyone to take personally in an emotional sense. But it's definitely big enough for a purge. Jailing, disappearances and more.
This is a pretty large economic tide. Almost twice the size of California's economy, all at once. Ranking it The Fifth Largest Economy, worldwide, if it's worth thinking in those terms.
Given that an approximate number of participating Chinese nationals have been enumerated, if they suddenly disappeared (and ~20,000 is certainly within the realm of possibility), what would a sudden halt of two trillion (legal or not) do to the rest of the world?
Re: $2T in Proceeds of Corruption Removed from China and Taken to US, AUS, CAN, NL
#29I study at Vancouver UBC and rented a room in a house in the nearby area. I could tell that the Canadian government has started to investigate the corrupted $ because one day a government official came to "my house" and asked the information about the previous landowner. It seemed that he used the corrupted $ to buy the real estate and make more $
Re: $2T in Proceeds of Corruption Removed from China and Taken to US, AUS, CAN, NL
#30Interesting point on the Vancouver angle: Q: In Canada, where does the money end up and why? A: Vancouver is the preferred destination, by far, because of perceived more relaxed anti-money laundering on-boarding compliance and more importantly, easier access to better schools and lifestyle for children of Chinese foreign nationals.
What's the source of their Vancouver assertion?
Don't know their source, but I can confirm that relevant Canadian laws are wide open for abuse due to both being toothless and because of near zero enforcement, at both federal and provincial (BC) levels.
You can google how CRA actively avoided auditing foreign buyers "for fear of racism allegations" (yeah right) or how people bring hundreds of thousands of dollars in paper bills on themselves and their children, paying only $2.5K if caught (cheaper than Western Union!).
Or the latest Vancouver 15% foreign investor tax designed to appease the population, but wholly ineffective because it relies on self reporting which no one ever checks and allows for other obvious loopholes. Much better proposals were ignored in favour of this purposely flawed one.
It's amazingly fucked up, I'm surprised Canadians are taking it so willingly.