美高端房产成为重要洗钱渠道

US real estate’s reputation as a favourite destination for international money launderers has grown after a Treasury investigation confirmed fears that top-end property in New York, Miami and other cities is being used to channel illicit wealth.

在美国财政部一项调查证实了纽约和迈阿密等城市的高端房产正被用来输送非法财富的担忧之后，美国房地产作为最受国际洗钱者青睐目的地的名声更响亮了。

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a Treasury unit, found that one in three buyers who used shell companies for cash purchases of luxury property in leading cities had had the alarm raised about their financial dealings.

财政部下属机构金融犯罪执法网络(FinCEN)发现，在借助壳公司以现金在主要城市购买豪宅的买家中，有三分之一买家的金融交易已引起警觉。

The role of US mansions, penthouses and beachside residences as a haven for tainted wealth has been under increasing scrutiny in recent years as it emerged that buyers had included figures such as Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar and the son of Equatorial Guinea’s president.

近年来，美国豪华别墅、豪华顶层公寓和海滨住宅作为非法财富避风港的作用受到越来越严密的审查。有消息称，买家包括哥伦比亚大毒枭帕布洛?艾斯科巴(Pablo Escobar)，赤道几内亚总统之子等人物。

FinCEN said on Thursday it had unearthed a string of dubious buyers using a new disclosure rule to probe all-cash deals undertaken through shell companies. The purchasers included some suspected of being involved in corruption in Asia and South America and one who engaged in $160m of suspicious activity, officials said.

金融犯罪执法网络周四表示，其利用一条对借助壳公司的全现金交易实施调查的新披露规则，发现了一连串可疑的买家。官员们表示，买家包括一些涉嫌在亚洲和南美洲参与腐败的人，和一个从事规模达1.6亿美元的可疑活动的人。

The US market in existing housing alone — which excludes commercial and newly built property — turns over $1.6tn a year, according to the National Association of Realtors. About a quarter of buyers pay cash, with the proportion rising to half of foreign buyers. These account for only 4 per cent of all purchases, but this means some $32bn a year flows into US real estate from abroad in cash transactions that, until a year ago, could be conducted anonymously.

全美房地产经纪人协会(National Association of Realtors)的数据显示，单单美国存量住宅市场——其中不包括商业和新建房地产——每年的交易额就高达1.6万亿美元。大约四分之一的买家支付现金，外国买家的这一比例更高，为二分之一。这些只占总购买量的4%，但这意味着，每年通过现金交易从国外流入美国房地产的资金达约320亿美元，直到一年前，现金购房还是可以匿名进行的。

Since the Patriot Act was introduced after the September 11 2001 terror attacks, mortgage lenders have been subject to “know your customer” rules designed to stop terrorists and other criminals using agents, shell companies and other subterfuges to move illicit money into the US. But cash purchases were excluded.

自2001年9月11日的恐怖袭击之后《爱国者法》(Patriot Act)实施以来，抵押贷款机构始终遵守“了解你的客户”(know your customer, KYC)规则，该规则旨在阻止恐怖分子和其他罪犯通过代理公司、壳公司和其他伎俩将非法资金转移到美国。但现金购买不受此规则的影响。

A year ago FinCEN, which collates information reported by banks and others on their clients and makes it available to law enforcement agencies, moved to plug what it believed was a major conduit for dirty money.

一年前，金融犯罪执法网络（负责整理银行和其他机构汇报的客户信息，并提供给执法机构）行动起来，堵住了其认为输送非法钱财的一条主要管道。

It introduced a rule requiring identity disclosure for cash buyers using shell companies to purchase top-end property in Manhattan and Miami. The rule was later extended to the whole of New York City, more of Florida and Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and San Antonio.

金融犯罪执法网络引入了一项规则，要求借助壳公司在曼哈顿和迈阿密以现金方式购买高端房产的买家披露身份。该规则后来扩大到覆盖整个纽约市、佛罗里达州更多地区，以及洛杉矶、旧金山、圣地亚哥和圣安东尼奥。