The Editor, Sir:

The Bank of Jamaica recently imposed new restrictive regulations on Jamaican banks requiring that all persons sending foreign currency to their family's accounts at local banks must first have the recipients sign an authorisation certifying that the sender or senders are authorised to make that deposit.

So far, it seems a simple, yet stupid requirement. Who would want to make an unauthorised deposit to an account? Jamaicans on a whole get nervous when governments needlessly meddle in their financial affairs, and this would be no exception.

The implementation of the regulations by the banks caused confusion. Scores of Jamaican customers refused to send funds to their accounts in Jamaica, and those who did, had a difficult time complying with the new regulations.

New regulations

To appreciate the absurdity of the new regulations, here's an example. If you send US$50 to your wife, child or friend from Miami to Jamaica, to be picked up at the bank, the regulation does not apply, but if you send that US$50 to a local bank account, then you are at the mercy of the Bank of Jamaica.

The recipient is required to sign that authorisation certifying that your husband, or whoever sent you that money, is in fact authorised to do so. After signing, your problem is not ended. The bank teller must fax that authorisation to the main office, presumably the authorisation is exposed to a black list, and if all is well, the note is finally faxed back to you at the branch where you began. This exercise could take an hour or more sometimes.

The whole web of regulations is a perfect example of how the gifted bureaucrats at the Bank of Jamaica succeeded magnificently in creating a complex problem out of simple issues.

I am, etc.,

RON MARSHALL

Miami, FL. 33169