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THE Reserve Bank has turned down applications by Standard Chartered Bank and Barclays Bank to keep over 25 percent of their Nostro account balances offshore as it emerged yesterday that some banks had partially complied with the directive to transfer 75 percent of their funds to onshore accounts.

RBZ Governor Dr Gideon Gono yesterday said the central bank will descend heavily on the truant banks.

Statistics show that Nostro balances for 22 banks stood at US$312, 6 million as of yesterday, instead of US$230 million had all the banks heeded the RBZ directive.

At least US$82 million was outstanding as of yesterday.

"The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe shall be meeting with banks that have not complied with a view to taking stern measures to ensure compliance," Dr Gono said last night.

Figures showed that as of yesterday, Standard Chartered had US$109, 3 million as its Nostro balance, instead of keeping US$28,4 million as per the new requirements.

The variance, therefore, stood at US$81 million.

The bank had its request for a dispensation to keep funds in excess of the 25 percent requirement turned down by the central bank.

Standard Chartered said it needed to keep the funds offshore to facilitate disbursements to clients.

Barclays had a Nostro balance of US$37,4 million as of yesterday, but had not complied.

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Zimbabwe: Offshore Accounts - Banks Defy RBZ

Westpac has confirmed plans to send 119 technology jobs overseas to cut costs.

A Westpac spokesman said staff working in the affected parts of the bank were told last week their jobs would go.

The decision to axe those roles, which supported IT development and systems maintenance, came after a review that started in November 2011.

Those affected would be offered retraining for redeployment into roles in other parts of the bank, if possible, or receive their full benefits and entitlements.

"We are committed to retaining our core highly skilled technology workforce in Australia," Westpac head of group media relations Paul Marriage said.

"But some IT roles can be more efficiently done by external specialists like IBM."

Mr Marriage said these 119 technology jobs, as well as seven positions in the collections area of the bank, was separate to Westpac's announcement in February of plans to cut more than 400 jobs and send up to another 150 offshore as part of a restructure.

Mr Marriage said Westpac had found 1500 new roles for staff in the past eight months as a result of internal changes.

The job cuts were first raised by the Finance Sector Union (FSU) on Tuesday morning, and national secretary Leon Carter said the decision was completely unjustified.

"The only reason they are losing their jobs is because our most profitable bank thinks it can now get the job done more cheaply offshore," Mr Carter said in a statement.

Excerpt from:
Union says Westpac to cut staff

SYDNEY: Westpac Banking Corp, Australia's third-largest lender, said yesterday it will send 126 roles offshore, as job cuts and offshoring ramps up with the nation's lenders slashing costs to protect profits amid slower loan growth.

Westpac's move to offshore roles comes on top of its announcement last month that 560 jobs would be cut. Smaller rival Australia and New Zealand Banking Group has announced that it would cut approximately 1,000 jobs in 2012.

Analysts predict that the Australia banking sector could see as many as 10,000 jobs lost over the new few years, or over seven per cent of the Australian financial sector workforce, as banks rein in costs.

Brian Johnson, a CLSA banking analyst, said that just as Westpac has done, many of the jobs that are cut will actually be moved offshore to reduce costs.

"Some of these workers have been in these jobs for years," said Leon Carter, secretary Finance Sector Union said in a statement.

"They have the skills to do the work, they've been loyal employees, and the only reason they are losing their jobs is because our most profitable bank thinks it can now get the job done more cheaply offshore," he added Australia's top banks, including National Australia Bank , Commonwealth Bank of Australia and ANZ, are among the country's largest employers with close to 40,000 employees each on their rolls.

While job cuts in the global banking industry are common in turbulent market conditions, Australian banks are coming off more than a decade of almost uninterrupted growth that saw them adding staff, growing assets and boosting profits several-fold. Reuters

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Westpac to move more jobs offshore

WESTPAC has sent more jobs overseas in a bid to boost profit levels.

The Finance Sector Union today warned that another 119 IT jobs were axed at Westpac as the bank sought to reduce costs.

Most of the jobs are based in New South Wales, with fewer than 20 positions in Victoria lost.

"Some of these workers have been in these jobs for years,'' FSU national secretary Leon Carter said.

"The only reason they are losing their jobs is because our most profitable bank thinks it can now get the job done more cheaply offshore.''

Mr Carter said the banks were involved in a race to the bottom, putting profits ahead of loyalty to skilled and long-standing employees.

A Westpac spokesman said today staff working in the affected parts of the bank were told last week their jobs would go.

The decision to axe those roles, which supported IT development and systems maintenance, came after a review that started in November 2011.

Those affected would be offered retraining for redeployment into roles in other parts of the bank, if possible, or receive their full benefits and entitlements.

"We are committed to retaining our core highly skilled technology workforce in Australia,'' Westpac head of group media relations Paul Marriage said.

Excerpt from:
Westpac sends more jobs offshore

At a recent town hall meeting in Maine, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was forced to defend the millions he holds in offshore bank accounts.

"Do you think it's patriotic of you to stash away your money in the Cayman Islands?"one woman asked.

Romney assured the audience he doesn't receive any tax benefits on his at least $8 million, but possibly up to $32 million, stowed away in the Caribbean.

But Romney is still getting other benefits --like lower management fees and foreign interest.

But these benefits might not last forever. The federal government is rolling out legislation meant to keep Americans from stashing their cash overseas.

In 2010, theIRSand theTreasury Departmentpassed legislation called theForeign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), and those regulations will force many foreign banks to divulge the identities and account information of U.S. customers with sizeable offshore accounts that until now may have remained hidden for decades.

Some parts of the legislation won't take effect for a few years, but this year, many American expatriates must divulge personal information about their overseas accounts to the IRS.

But let's back up a minute and lift the veil off those often scandalously portrayed offshore accounts, whether you have one, are considering opening one or just want to know more about them.

Offshore overview

An offshore account is essentially an account that you open in a foreign country, like a bank account or a brokerage account.

The rest is here:
Here's How The IRS Plans To Track Secret Offshore Accounts