U.S. bank restrictions have exacerbated the troubles of Somali money services businesses to the point that companies and individuals alike are resorting to complex workarounds to send money to the East African nation.
U.S. financial institutions may be left to sort out the ultimate destination of billions of dollars in Libyan assets frozen in February in retaliation for the African government's brutal crackdown on protestors.
The U.S. Treasury Department Tuesday sanctioned three more Libyan banks, bringing to a dozen the number of financial institutions cut off from the U.S. financial system since Libya was first targeted for economic sanctions at the end of February.
A White House executive order issued late Friday in response to violence in Libya called on financial institutions to freeze the assets tied to the North African nation's government, but failed to specify one thing: how were compliance officers to know which accounts to block?
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