Capital Controls

Birds fly in the eyes of the faithless daughter
Broken at the bitter end
Wasted sacrificed for a new nirvana
Night time sends us on our way
--Icicle Works

This missive posits that the greatest risk racing those who own financial assets is not the risk of a bad investment. Instead it is exposure to political risk--primarily in the form of capital controls.

Capital controls are legal restraints placed on moving and trading financial assets. They include outright confiscation.

Evidence is offered of growing interest in capital controls among public officials. Personally, it was the Cyprus situation early last year the heightenend my awareness of this risk.

While managing such risk is not easy, going thru the exercise is a prudent one. One day you could wake up and find some or all funds confiscated from your bank account.