Opening an account for NPOC, NCUC and NCSG in Estonia

[Stephanie Perrin]

Thanks Sam, this is very helpful.  Prior to the inception of this discussion, I was going to propose that I open, in similar fashion, an account at the Royal Bank of Canada (Canada's largest bank, with many ways to interact with it overseas, and an active presence in the US).  I was going to scout out a volunteer to be a co-signator, probably from Canada because that would be the easiest method.  As Farzi says, I need to have an account to send potential funds to, in the event that PIR wants to fund NCSG.  Frankly, I think that the Estonian idea is a bit too cutting edge, and I would be more confident using a very large internationally recognized banking institution (for obvious reasons).  I will propose this at the next FC meeting and if there is no disagreement, proceed accordingly.

I realize this looks like a Canadian takeover, but we do have very good well regulated banks, and several Canadian members I plan to rope in to help out as cosignators in the event of my departure.  As Sam says, proper procedure is for no transactions to transpire without the signature of the leader of the group (in our case, validated by the NCSG EC) so really the banking piece is or should be a relatively straightfoward process....a modest role for someone who wishes to help out.   For the amount of money we have and transactions we process, I suspect this will suffice for this year.  For those who want to continue to research e-citizenship and banking options, by all means do so, but I really think we should be focusing our financial smarts on the open comment on the 5 year plan, and the excellent work of the SCBO.  Oh and the ABRS, which are due shortly.

Stephanie Perrin

On 2019-01-07 17:21, Sam Lanfranco wrote:
Dear Farzaneh et al,

I was going to post this early today but held back since it looked like all were hell bent for Estonia. The Canadian NPOC account story is as follows:

The Canadian banking system will accept setting up a bank account for an organization that either does nor does not have a formal legal status. For example, I am the treasurer for a local museum's volunteer support group. We have no formal legal status, but we do have a bank account with a major National bank (Bank of Montreal). Will share process below.

When Rudi in Belgium dropped out of NPOC/NCSG Joan and I opened a Canadian NPOC account, over a letter from NPOC at that time, stating the Joan and I would have signing rights (i.e., could write cheques and withdraw money). It took forever for NPOC to get funds transferred from Belgium and by then (last year) they went to Raoul in Finland, and I finally got the funds I had advanced to NPOC several years ago - Thanks).

The NPOC account exists but has never had a transaction. We set it up so either Joan or I would have signing rights, at a time when we thought the NPOC funds would be quickly forthcoming. Usually organizations have two signatures but Joan and I live 150km apart so that was not practical. The empty account requires only one signature. Online transfers are well developed for Canadian banks, but for cross-currency transfers there are service changers.

I was waiting for the NPOC/NCSG/etc banking issue to settle down and then get a letter from NPOC removing me as one with signature rights since I am no longer treasurer. I cannot just quit. The bank needs a paper trail.

So, the NPOC account could be enlisted, and additional accounts could be created. The one sticking point is that the signatures to create the account, and the signatures for those with authority over the account, have to be submitted in person, here in Canada. No problem for Joan and I since the extensive branch banking system of Canadian banks has branches everywhere.

Would that be a problem for NCSG? Not if there are one or two people to do the paper work here. Accountability could be maintained by only allowing withdrawals/payments on approval of the executive (normal practice). In my case with the museum, for transparency I share the monthly bank statement with the executive. Of course, for that to work one has to trust those involved..which is always the case in any event.

So, the NPOC account exists and always has had a balance of zero. There is scope for additional accounts. Oh! The Bank now charges a $3/mo service change,...unless the balance is zero (-:

Sam L.
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