MTRA INAUGURATES SCHOOL IN JUNE AND PLANS ANOTHER ONE FOR AUGUST
7 May 2007 - Twenty-five state examiners have registered for MTRA's School for Money Transmitter Examiners to be held in San Francisco, California on June 18-22, 2007. The school will run Monday through Friday noon at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites, 373 S Airport Blvd, San Francisco, located close to the SF Airport. The school will be limited to 25 state examiners. Due to high demand, another session of the school will be held in Annapolis, Maryland, August 20-24 at the Historic Inns of Annapolis.
The curriculum of the school has been developed by Robert Mbama, a former money transmitter supervisory examiner at the California Department of Financial Institutions and a group of supervisory examiners headed by MTRA directors Robert Venchiarutti of California and John Bishop of Ohio. Six instructors will cover topics such as planning the exam, analysis of financial statements of money transmitters, discussion of the core exam, discussion of the MTRA rating system, and anti money laundering and OFAC compliance.
ALLEN OF KANSAS AND STONE OF NEW YORK APPOINTED TO MTRA BOARD
1 May 2007 - The MTRA Board of Directors appointed Sonya L. Allen of Kansas and Regina A. Stone of New York to fill two director vacancies on the MTRA board effective May, 2007. They will serve on the board until election time on October 9th 2007. Ms Allen is General Counsel., Office of the Kansas Bank Commissioner and Ms. Stone is Deputy Superintendent, New York Banking Department. Both have long regulatory service and have been active with MTRA. This brings the number of MTRA directors to ten.
GODDARD OF INDIANA RETIRES FROM PUBLIC SERVICE AND FROM MTRA BOARD
30 April 2007 - The MTRA Board of Directors accepted the resignation of board member Philip Goddard of Indiana effective April 30, 2007. Mr. Goddard is retiring from the Indiana Department of Financial Institutions (IDFI) after 32 years of service. Prior to joining the IDFI, Mr. Goddard was a senior attorney for the Indiana Legislative Services Agency. He continued drafting legislation at the IDFI modernizing most of the statutes affecting the financial industry, and rising to the position of General Counsel and Deputy Commissioner. Mr. Goddard was elected to the board of directors of MTRA in 2001 and president for a two- year term in 2003. He was reelected to the board as director in 2005. Praising his service, current MTRA president Joseph Rooney stated that Phil will be remembered for his foresight, courage, and leadership at a time MTRA's services to the states were much in demand.
ANNUAL MTRA CONFERENCE DATES AND LOCATIONS ANNOUNCED
24 January 2007 - The MTRA Board of Directors is pleased to announce the dates and locations for the 2007 and the 2008 MTRA annual meetings and conferences. The 2007 MTRA Annual Meeting and Conference will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina and the 2008 Annual Meeting and Conference will be held at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend:
2007 MTRA ANNUAL MEETING AND CONFERENCE
The Blake Hotel
Charlotte, NC
October 9-11, 2007
2008 MTRA ANNUAL MEETING AND CONFERENCE
Snow King Resort
Jackson (Hole), WY (near Teton Nat’l Park)
September 3-5, 2008
MTRA BOARD MEMBER GONZALES APPOINTED TENNESSEE BANKING COMMISSIONER
20 January 2007 - The MTRA Board of Directors congratulates board member Greg Gonzales for his appointment to fill the position of Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions. Greg was named Commissioner and to the cabinet by Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen and took the oath of office during the Governor's second inauguration on January 20, 2007. He is the Department's 18th Commissioner.
Gonzales has served as the Department’s Acting Commissioner since December 2005. He has worked for Financial Institutions since 1986, and his duties have included serving as general counsel, as well as directing budget, human resources and legislative efforts for the Department. Gonzales is a Tennessee Technological University graduate and holds a law degree from the University of Tennessee.
"I am grateful to Governor Bredesen for his confidence in me," Gonzales said. “After serving more than 20 years in the Department of Financial Institutions in a number of different roles, including most recently as Acting Commissioner, I am honored to lead this agency. I will continue the Department's work in ensuring that Tennessee's financial institutions remain safe and sound for the people of Tennessee."
The Department of Financial Institutions is responsible for monitoring the safety and soundness of all state-chartered depository financial institutions and for ensuring that licensed non-depository financial institutions comply with governing laws and regulations.
Gonzales has been an active member of the MTRA board of directors for many years, and more recently served as Vice President. He was instrumental in drafting legislative guidelines for money transmission laws, used widely by many states in modernizing their money transmission laws. He was also instrumental in drafting an interstate cooperative agreement, executed so far by 34 states that regulate money transmission.
ARIZONA JUDGE BARS WESTERN UNION SEIZURES
11 January 2007 - Western Union Co, Englewood, Colorado, won a court ruling that bars Arizona from seizing funds sent by customers in other states to Mexico as part of a probe into drug and immigrant smuggling.
Arizona Atty. Gen. Terry Goddard obtained a warrant in September to intercept transfers of $500 or more between 28 U.S. states and 26 places in Sonora, Mexico, so he could look for criminal ties. The Superior Court in Maricopa County ruled that Arizona lacked authority over transactions from other states or enough cause to suspect wrongdoing. Goddard, however, promised to appeal. The decision does not affect the legality of similar warrants that Goddard's agency uses to seize money sent directly to or from Arizona
Western Union had contended that the program was unconstitutional and threatened its relationship with customers. The warrants forced the intended recipients of money transfers to call and talk to a police officer on a financial task force, who decided whether a transfer was legitimate. |