[HAVELOCK] Crypto Financial (CFIG) Official Thread

[Ninshatamoto]

I think it's important to note that they are looking to raise 3 million dollars of funds. Meaning that if Bitcoin's price were to spike then they could have a successful IPO much faster than you think, despite not selling all of the shares. (They might be anticipating this)

If that's their plan, that's SO MUCH WORSE.

I dunno, man. I hate to say it, but does anyone else get the feeling lately that Havelock is becoming more interested in the quantity of funds than the quality?

I think a big complaint from Havelock users in the past has been the lack of different funds to choose.  I applaud the fact that they are expanding, but would like for it to not get to the point that BTCT is at.

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[havelock]

If that's their plan, that's SO MUCH WORSE.

I dunno, man. I hate to say it, but does anyone else get the feeling lately that Havelock is becoming more interested in the quantity of funds than the quality?

I think a big complaint from Havelock users in the past has been the lack of different funds to choose.  I applaud the fact that they are expanding, but would like for it to not get to the point that BTCT is at.

We are looking grow Havelock and add more funds, but only quality funds.  This is why we perform due diligence on every applicant.  We do get more applicants that our users never become aware of, simply because they do not pass our due diligence. 

One of the great things about bitcoins and crowdfunding in general, is that it creates the opportunity for everyone to be a venture capitalist and raise funds for their innovative ideas, whereas previously this was mostly limited to people of means.  It's a new wave of entrepreneurship and Havelock is excited to be a part of it.

[nubbins]

We are looking grow Havelock and add more funds, but only quality funds. This is why we perform due diligence on every applicant.

Well, maybe:

The Labcoin passthru will be maintained and operated by Havelock Investments. Havelock Investments has not performed any due diligence on the underlying asset and individuals involved in managing Labcoin.

Every time people read something like that, the shine on your name grows a bit duller.

would like for it to not get to the point that BTCT is at.

I'd like that too! Unless you want to open a WeExchange account, or have floating withdrawal limits put on your money, Havelock is the only sensible choice for trading. A couple of poorly-planned or poorly-executed funds biting the dust could change all that.

VERY curious to know what deciding factors led to CFIG being listed.

[havelock]

We are looking grow Havelock and add more funds, but only quality funds. This is why we perform due diligence on every applicant.

Well, maybe:

The Labcoin passthru will be maintained and operated by Havelock Investments. Havelock Investments has not performed any due diligence on the underlying asset and individuals involved in managing Labcoin.

Every time people read something like that, the shine on your name grows a bit duller.

would like for it to not get to the point that BTCT is at.

I'd like that too! Unless you want to open a WeExchange account, or have floating withdrawal limits put on your money, Havelock is the only sensible choice for trading. A couple of poorly-planned or poorly-executed funds biting the dust could change all that.

VERY curious to know what deciding factors led to CFIG being listed.

When a company wants to list with Havelock, the basics are we review the business plan and confirm the identities of the operator(s).  Keep in mind we are not guaranteeing any listing on Havelock will be a successful enterprise and that everyone should invest.  It's up to each person to do their own due diligence as well, and if you are not comfortable then do not invest.

[Crypto Financial]

So please take the time to tell us what we are doing right. Tell us what we are doing wrong. How can we change the way we plan to do business to better
serve you, the Bitcoin community. There is no right or wrong answer. We promise you that any suggestion or criticism will be taken into account, and we will review
them and try to work to resolve them.

Let us work together in bringing Crypto Financial into the Bitcoin World.

Talk to us, we are listening..

Wow, I was really excited about this, but now I'm a bit confused and disheartened. Read:

Since Crypto Financial Company does not loan out or invest customer’s funds, our revenue will only derive from Fees of Inbound, Outbound wires, transfers to an Exchange of a Crypto Currency, Conversions fee of Fiat Currencies USD – EUR, EUR – JPY and another 20 Fiat Currencies., Commission on Trades of Crypto Currencies and Visa Debit Card related fees.

So every fiat <-->crypto trade that happens on your "Excahnge Platform" through my [hypothetical bitcoin business] gets a fee tacked on by you? Even if I am making the market, not you? What is that fee/commission exactly? Is there a scenario where you would be willing to waiver the fee and instead we give you a lump sum of cash to be agents of your license autonomously? (in that scenario we would set our own fees and do KYC/AML ourselves and send you the details when audited - in this case our customers do not have your debit card or a bank account with you, they simply trust us with the funds). That is a response to this:

Any Crypto Currency sold on the exchange could be funded back directly to the customer’s private account instantly and then these funds may be withdrawn from the account which can be accessed worldwide via a Visa Debit Card issued on behalf of the customer.
...
In essence the Exchange platform will serve our customers when it comes to trading Fiat to Crypto Currency and vice versa, the same way a Stock trading platform company provides the software, but the Financial Services Company (“Broker”) represent the customers and takes care of the regulation side of the business.
...
Since Crypto Financial Company does not loan out or invest customer’s funds, our revenue will only derive from Fees of Inbound, Outbound wires, transfers to an Exchange of a Crypto Currency, Conversions fee of Fiat Currencies USD – EUR, EUR – JPY and another 20 Fiat Currencies., Commission on Trades of Crypto Currencies and Visa Debit Card related fees."

Thank you.

If your company provides an Exchange Software Platform to our customers, we work through a profit sharing agreement where we will charge a small fee. That fee will be the same amount charged to all of the Exchanges that work with us. It is up to the Exchange to determine their own Fees.  For example a very simple "low budget" yet secure type of Exchange Software will offer their services at X dollars, but a more powerful, faster Exchange Platform with more data, charts and trade tools may offer their service for Y dollars. The same way many Commodity, Forex and Stock platforms operate today. You get what you pay for. It will be up to the general public to decide which platform they choose to use and will encourage fair competition between the exchanges.

Also, the exchanges will not need to or be able to handle any AML/KYC and open an account to their customers directly. In order to so they would need to be individually licensed to become a Financial Service company, an  "MSB" or a Money Transmitter.  They can't handle customers funds directly without this license as this license provides the liability necessary by them to handle and manage third party funds. And, even if an Exchange was directly licensed many Bank would choose not to work with them as the liability of any transfers in and out would still lie with the Bank. The due diligence always falls on the Bank. By creating an incentive to where both parties profit, it provides a solution to the issues facing exchanges today. Which is why we believe our solution to have a "Clearing House" approach will let Exchanges operate freely and concentrate on what they do best and that is to offer the best Trading Exchange Platform they can to our customers. We hope that by encouraging this option we will be able to grow the volume of daily trades and in turn lower the fees that are currently charged in the market place.

By the way, we will also let Business similar to Bitinstant or Coinbase where they directly exchange Fiat to Bitcoin and Vice Versa operate with us. So that any customers that just want to directly exchange will not need to place a Bid or Ask in an Exchange Trading platform, but will be able to quickly and easily convert funds directly with those type of business.


Let us answer the Valuation question in a better more direct way, without diving to deep into forward looking statements: 
Does anyone out there believe that a company only needs about $100,000 or even $3 million in assets to be able to operate an International Fiduciary Financial Services. To provide an Online banking platform, open accounts in several currencies, issue debit cards, comply with all International bylaws and regulations. If you live in that jurisdiction let us know, as we would love to move there and operate from there. Think about what it is that we are offering the Crypto Currency world, a true smooth integration from Fiat to Crypto. It is your Bank account. There would be no $500 daily limit or can I send in $100 today or $100,000 tomorrow. It is your own account under your own name, Wire in, Wire out.

Imagine for a second this scenario: 
10,000 Active customers, with an average of $1,000 in each account. That is $10,000,000 that we will be responsible and liable for as a company. Who would issue us a license to operate internationally if we showed them that we only have $100,000.  Grantees must be put in place that we may not use as liquid cash to operate our company. We have been very open about the way we would like to operate and have been very forward with the release of our Business Plan for all to see and judge.  We realize that we are not offering the latest
in ASIC hardware or Gambling website. We believe that what we offer is a "Real Business" to service the Crypto Community. An office staffed with professionals here to serve you to the best of our ability. ASICMiner is great (Managed to buy some shares ourselves, unbelievable growth and returns compared to "Real" World investments, should have bought a lot more...)
But we offer a different kind of service to the Bitcoin community, we offer Financial Services. Now let us set aside any past valuations done on Bitcoin related companies where the Company would raise funds go out and purchase hardware, mined on their own, or sold the hardware for profit. Those are mostly (not all) but most, a short term, fast boom or bust type of investments, very reminiscent of the dot com era on NASDAQ in the late 90's. Some made fortunes while others went bust. All you needed was a domain and an Idea. Our company on the other hand is an actual business not just an idea, with Accountants and Lawyers and Account Managers that are required to be CPAs in order to handle your funds. But our long term potential for growth and profitability is limitless.

Forward looking statement and may vary:
If only 30,000 Bitcoins are traded daily through all of the exchange platforms offered to our customers worldwide, this will translate to about 900,000 Bitcoins traded into Fiat. In today's market price for a typical exchange the fee from both side of the trade the Fiat and the Crypto side would generate about 0.8% or 0.4% for about 3,600 Bitcoins and $360,000 on the Fiat side, for a total of $720,000 per month, $8,640,000 per year. Our Exchange profits will be derived from this revenues and will result in about $3.8 Million on an annual basis.
With a 20% stake of our company, our shareholders through Havelock Investments will receive about $760,000 which translates to a 25% ROI via dividends per share based on our IPO price of 0.15 BTC.

This is a low estimate, as many of you remember that when it was easy to move money in and out of MtGox volume traded on that exchange alone was on average 80,000 to 100,000 BTC daily. We believe that by making it easy for new adopters and more importantly for merchants to accept Bitcoin the value and volume of traded Bitcoin would rise accordingly.

Sorry for the wall of text, but please understand that we can't just come on this forum and provide every little detail of our operation, and that they are many more great services
that we have in store. Many new and exciting business have already signed an NDA with us offering their services to our future customers. If your company is an Exchange or a Merchant that would like to work with us please feel free to contact us at any time.

Crypto Financial
Merging the Fiat and Crypto World

[jedunnigan]

So please take the time to tell us what we are doing right. Tell us what we are doing wrong. How can we change the way we plan to do business to better
serve you, the Bitcoin community. There is no right or wrong answer. We promise you that any suggestion or criticism will be taken into account, and we will review
them and try to work to resolve them.

Let us work together in bringing Crypto Financial into the Bitcoin World.

Talk to us, we are listening..

Wow, I was really excited about this, but now I'm a bit confused and disheartened. Read:

Since Crypto Financial Company does not loan out or invest customer’s funds, our revenue will only derive from Fees of Inbound, Outbound wires, transfers to an Exchange of a Crypto Currency, Conversions fee of Fiat Currencies USD – EUR, EUR – JPY and another 20 Fiat Currencies., Commission on Trades of Crypto Currencies and Visa Debit Card related fees.

So every fiat <-->crypto trade that happens on your "Excahnge Platform" through my [hypothetical bitcoin business] gets a fee tacked on by you? Even if I am making the market, not you? What is that fee/commission exactly? Is there a scenario where you would be willing to waiver the fee and instead we give you a lump sum of cash to be agents of your license autonomously? (in that scenario we would set our own fees and do KYC/AML ourselves and send you the details when audited - in this case our customers do not have your debit card or a bank account with you, they simply trust us with the funds). That is a response to this:

Any Crypto Currency sold on the exchange could be funded back directly to the customer’s private account instantly and then these funds may be withdrawn from the account which can be accessed worldwide via a Visa Debit Card issued on behalf of the customer.
...
In essence the Exchange platform will serve our customers when it comes to trading Fiat to Crypto Currency and vice versa, the same way a Stock trading platform company provides the software, but the Financial Services Company (“Broker”) represent the customers and takes care of the regulation side of the business.
...
Since Crypto Financial Company does not loan out or invest customer’s funds, our revenue will only derive from Fees of Inbound, Outbound wires, transfers to an Exchange of a Crypto Currency, Conversions fee of Fiat Currencies USD – EUR, EUR – JPY and another 20 Fiat Currencies., Commission on Trades of Crypto Currencies and Visa Debit Card related fees."

Thank you.

If your company provides an Exchange Software Platform to our customers, we work through a profit sharing agreement where we will charge a small fee. That fee will be the same amount charged to all of the Exchanges that work with us. It is up to the Exchange to determine their own Fees.  For example a very simple "low budget" yet secure type of Exchange Software will offer their services at X dollars, but a more powerful, faster Exchange Platform with more data, charts and trade tools may offer their service for Y dollars. The same way many Commodity, Forex and Stock platforms operate today. You get what you pay for. It will be up to the general public to decide which platform they choose to use and will encourage fair competition between the exchanges.

Right, I get that part.

Also, the exchanges will not need to or be able to handle any AML/KYC and open an account to their customers directly. In order to so they would need to be individually licensed to become a Financial Service company, an  "MSB" or a Money Transmitter.  They can't handle customers funds directly without this license as this license provides the liability necessary by them to handle and manage third party funds. And, even if an Exchange was directly licensed many Bank would choose not to work with them as the liability of any transfers in and out would still lie with the Bank. The due diligence always falls on the Bank.

Okay, so you will not let people be agents of your license directly. That is a possibility in the real world, just to let you know.

By creating an incentive to where both parties profit, it provides a solution to the issues facing exchanges today. Which is why we believe our solution to have a "Clearing House" approach will let Exchanges operate freely and concentrate on what they do best and that is to offer the best Trading Exchange Platform they can to our customers. We hope that by encouraging this option we will be able to grow the volume of daily trades and in turn lower the fees that are currently charged in the market place.

By the way, we will also let Business similar to Bitinstant or Coinbase where they directly exchange Fiat to Bitcoin and Vice Versa operate with us. So that any customers that just want to directly exchange will not need to place a Bid or Ask in an Exchange Trading platform, but will be able to quickly and easily convert funds directly with those type of business.

Okay, but it is still not clear to me: if I ran Coinbase, for example, would all my customers need a bank account at your bank? Where do the KYC details get put? On our site then they are sent directly to you? Or do our customers have to go to your site first, set up a bank account, then they can use our services? This does not sound very appealing.

[Crypto Financial]

Okay, so you will not let people be agents of your license directly. That is a possibility in the real world, just to let you know.

By creating an incentive to where both parties profit, it provides a solution to the issues facing exchanges today. Which is why we believe our solution to have a "Clearing House" approach will let Exchanges operate freely and concentrate on what they do best and that is to offer the best Trading Exchange Platform they can to our customers. We hope that by encouraging this option we will be able to grow the volume of daily trades and in turn lower the fees that are currently charged in the market place.

By the way, we will also let Business similar to Bitinstant or Coinbase where they directly exchange Fiat to Bitcoin and Vice Versa operate with us. So that any customers that just want to directly exchange will not need to place a Bid or Ask in an Exchange Trading platform, but will be able to quickly and easily convert funds directly with those type of business.

Okay, but it is still not clear to me: if I ran Coinbase, for example, would all my customers need a bank account at your bank? Where do the KYC details get put? On our site then they are sent directly to you? Or do our customers have to go to your site first, set up a bank account, then they can use our services? This does not sound very appealing.

Unless they operate in Panama they will not be able to operate under our license. Either way it will still create two companies that will need to handle the AML/KYC portion so that just doubles the work and something that we want to avoid.

If you operate for example like Coinbase, we will open a Bank account for you and any of our customers will be able to sign up for your service with a click of a button and without the need to provide you with any of their personal information, just a quick transfer from their account to your account and you will send the cusotmers Bitcoins or vice versa where they send you coins and you transfer fiat to their account. You just link your account with them. All AML/KYC is kept on file with us. Coinbase will just be responsible of transfers within our Bank. The way it used to be when you wanted to purchase Bitcoins directly but without the Lag or them needing to verify your identity since it will all be pre-approved. Quick form of exchange without the Bid and Ask trade.

[jedunnigan]

If you operate for example like Coinbase, we will open a Bank account for you and any of our customers will be able to sign up for your service with a click of a button and without the need to provide you with any of their personal information, just a quick transfer from their account to your account and you will send the cusotmers Bitcoins or vice versa where you send them coins and they transfer fiat to your account.

Okay, so our customers will need a bank account with you. I understand now, this is not nearly as flexible as I had hoped. Good luck guys, just don't expect my business.

[Crypto Financial]

Okay, so our customers will need a bank account with you. I understand now, this is not nearly as flexible as I had hoped. Good luck guys, just don't expect my business.

How would you operate the transaction differently?

[jedunnigan]

Okay, so our customers will need a bank account with you. I understand now, this is not nearly as flexible as I had hoped. Good luck guys, just don't expect my business.

How would you operate the transaction differently?

Well if you are not comfortable allowing us to handle KYC then report them back to you, there is no other option.

In our scenario the optimal outcome would be as follows: you audit our system, check our credentials and we set up a way for you to view the legitimacy of our business and our dedication to following regulatory guidelines. We would do daily, weekly, or whatever frequency of audits of KYC/AML you would require to maintain this relationship.

Users would sign up for our site, we would confirm their identity/validate their credentials for AML/KYC and once complete they would send us either Bitcoins or a wire transfer (or some other method we have in place) to load their account. Our bank account with you would be a money market account, and our internal system keep track of where the money is allocated.

We would have scripts that checked for suspicious activity and we will have strict AML policing, down to the letter of the law in relevant jurisdictions.

edit: this is not to say they might not sign up for you bank at some point, but we would still handle the KYC/AML.

Okay, so our customers will need a bank account with you. I understand now, this is not nearly as flexible as I had hoped. Good luck guys, just don't expect my business.

I see it as a much better than what we have now.

Oh don't get me wrong, it is still a great service, just doesn't service the needs of my business.

[Crypto Financial]

Okay, so our customers will need a bank account with you. I understand now, this is not nearly as flexible as I had hoped. Good luck guys, just don't expect my business.

How would you operate the transaction differently?

Well if you are not comfortable allowing us to handle KYC then report them back to you, there is no other option.

In our scenario the optimal outcome would be as follows: you audit our system, check our credentials and we set up a way for you to view the legitimacy of our business and our dedication to following regulatory guidelines. We would do daily, weekly, or whatever frequency of audits of KYC/AML you would require to maintain this relationship.

Users would sign up for our site, we would confirm their identity/validate their credentials for AML/KYC and once complete they would send us either Bitcoins or a wire transfer (or some other mwethod we have in place) to load their account. Our bank account would be a money market account, and our internal system keep track of where the money is allocated.

We would have scripts that checked for suspicious activity and we will have strict AML policing, down to the letter of the law in relevant jurisdictions.

Okay, so our customers will need a bank account with you. I understand now, this is not nearly as flexible as I had hoped. Good luck guys, just don't expect my business.

I see it as a much better than what we have now.

Oh don't get me wrong, it is still a great service, just doesn't service the needs of my business.

I see your point! So what you are saying is that you will act as an "Agent" or a local branch in a way of our Financial Service company where you will be trained and certified to handle the AML/KYC of your own acquired customers in your region. We would need to check the jurisdictions requirements for each region as regulation can vary. But I will not rule it out as an option. As we stated before we are open to discuss any possible option with any one interested.

[jedunnigan]

Okay, so our customers will need a bank account with you. I understand now, this is not nearly as flexible as I had hoped. Good luck guys, just don't expect my business.

How would you operate the transaction differently?

Well if you are not comfortable allowing us to handle KYC then report them back to you, there is no other option.

In our scenario the optimal outcome would be as follows: you audit our system, check our credentials and we set up a way for you to view the legitimacy of our business and our dedication to following regulatory guidelines. We would do daily, weekly, or whatever frequency of audits of KYC/AML you would require to maintain this relationship.

Users would sign up for our site, we would confirm their identity/validate their credentials for AML/KYC and once complete they would send us either Bitcoins or a wire transfer (or some other mwethod we have in place) to load their account. Our bank account would be a money market account, and our internal system keep track of where the money is allocated.

We would have scripts that checked for suspicious activity and we will have strict AML policing, down to the letter of the law in relevant jurisdictions.

Okay, so our customers will need a bank account with you. I understand now, this is not nearly as flexible as I had hoped. Good luck guys, just don't expect my business.

I see it as a much better than what we have now.

Oh don't get me wrong, it is still a great service, just doesn't service the needs of my business.

I see your point! So what you are saying is that you will act as an "Agent" or a local branch in a way of our Financial Service company where you will be trained and certified to handle the AML/KYC of your own acquired customers in your region. We would need to check the jurisdictions requirements for each region as regulation can vary. But I will not rule it out as an option. As we stated before we are open to discuss any possible option with any one interested.

That's great to hear. For a point of reference Canada and the European Union have both said that Bitcoin exchanges can currently operate without MSB licensing. In the US licenses are required, and AML/KYC reporting is top down. It is this jurisdiction I need your services for, as CA and EU are more lax (although we would operate like an MSB, following all the rules in anticipation of policy change).

[Crypto Financial]

Okay, so our customers will need a bank account with you. I understand now, this is not nearly as flexible as I had hoped. Good luck guys, just don't expect my business.

How would you operate the transaction differently?

Well if you are not comfortable allowing us to handle KYC then report them back to you, there is no other option.

In our scenario the optimal outcome would be as follows: you audit our system, check our credentials and we set up a way for you to view the legitimacy of our business and our dedication to following regulatory guidelines. We would do daily, weekly, or whatever frequency of audits of KYC/AML you would require to maintain this relationship.

Users would sign up for our site, we would confirm their identity/validate their credentials for AML/KYC and once complete they would send us either Bitcoins or a wire transfer (or some other mwethod we have in place) to load their account. Our bank account would be a money market account, and our internal system keep track of where the money is allocated.

We would have scripts that checked for suspicious activity and we will have strict AML policing, down to the letter of the law in relevant jurisdictions.

Okay, so our customers will need a bank account with you. I understand now, this is not nearly as flexible as I had hoped. Good luck guys, just don't expect my business.

I see it as a much better than what we have now.

Oh don't get me wrong, it is still a great service, just doesn't service the needs of my business.

I see your point! So what you are saying is that you will act as an "Agent" or a local branch in a way of our Financial Service company where you will be trained and certified to handle the AML/KYC of your own acquired customers in your region. We would need to check the jurisdictions requirements for each region as regulation can vary. But I will not rule it out as an option. As we stated before we are open to discuss any possible option with any one interested.

That's great to hear. For a point of reference Canada and the European Union have both said that Bitcoin exchanges can currently operate without MSB licensing. In the US licenses are required, and AML/KYC reporting is top down. It is this jurisdiction I need your services for, as CA and EU are more lax (although we would operate like an MSB, following all the rules in anticipation of policy change).

So if I understand correctly, the customer will wire funds to your Corporate Account with us. So we will offer you a "Bitcoin Friendly" Bank account.

[jedunnigan]

So if I understand correctly, the customer will wire funds to your Corporate Account with us. So we will offer you a "Bitcoin Friendly" Bank account.

Yes exactly! This is a hugely necessary thing for the crypto currency world

[Crypto Financial]

And as an European I wouldn't mind having an offshore bank account.

An as a Panamanian we wouldn't mine opening one up for you 

[MonkeyBear68]

It will be interesting to see how the price of a share of CFIG compares with the price of a share of mining stock in one years time. 

[MonkeyBear68]

Currently there is over a $20 difference between the price of a BTC on Virtex and the price of a BTC on MtGox. I could be making a fortune if I had an account with Crypto Financial right now. I could buy cheap BTC on Virtex and sell on MtGox for a $20 profit on each BTC. From what I can tell getting fiat on and off MtGox is very difficult as there is no easy way to link MtGox with your bank account. I wonder why some snowbird with a US account is not making some money on this huge spread between the two. The fact that there is such a large spread points to the need for an international Bitcoin friendly bank.

[bitfair]

CF,

Have you already discussed your planned "MO" with some potential (corporate) clients? How have they reacted?

Bitfair

Edit: And also, how does your offer compare to the Fidor+bitcoin.de or Aqoba+Paymium partnerships?

[ThickAsThieves]

Currently there is over a $20 difference between the price of a BTC on Virtex and the price of a BTC on MtGox. I could be making a fortune if I had an account with Crypto Financial right now. I could buy cheap BTC on Virtex and sell on MtGox for a $20 profit on each BTC. From what I can tell getting fiat on and off MtGox is very difficult as there is no easy way to link MtGox with your bank account. I wonder why some snowbird with a US account is not making some money on this huge spread between the two. The fact that there is such a large spread points to the need for an international Bitcoin friendly bank.

Once the gap can be closed, it will be closed permanently. Arbitrage exists BECAUSE of delays and obstacles, and to some degree, ignorance. Remove those and the arb goes with it.

[Crypto Financial]

Currently there is over a $20 difference between the price of a BTC on Virtex and the price of a BTC on MtGox. I could be making a fortune if I had an account with Crypto Financial right now. I could buy cheap BTC on Virtex and sell on MtGox for a $20 profit on each BTC. From what I can tell getting fiat on and off MtGox is very difficult as there is no easy way to link MtGox with your bank account. I wonder why some snowbird with a US account is not making some money on this huge spread between the two. The fact that there is such a large spread points to the need for an international Bitcoin friendly bank.

Once the gap can be closed, it will be closed permanently. Arbitrage exists BECAUSE of delays and obstacles, and to some degree, ignorance. Remove those and the arb goes with it.

ThickAsThives is correct as Day Traders and Market Makers will close the gap by profiting or losing based on any arbitrage between the exchanges.