The Black Box

[Chris McConnel]

From TheStreet.com:

"Patriot Crack"
Dan Fitzpatrick
10/28/03 10:08 AM EST

Anybody else try to switch brokerage firms recently? I'm now entering my fourth week of having my IRA in transition, and finally got sick of having my ACAT forms (acronym stands for "A Coupla Twits") repeatedly rejected. Finally decided last week to just sell all the stock in my portfolio and wire the cash as a distribution, choosing the IRS as the lesser of two evils to deal with. How's that for a Hobson's Choice?

And it still hasn't been done! My broker finally told me that the real problem is the Patriot Act. The Act is so cumbersome and vague, and the penalties are so onerous if they take money without verifying the source, that firms are interpreting the law differently. It makes transfers interminably long. It also makes transfers between certain firms downright impossible because of the way they interpret the Act. They require such specific information that is just about impossible to predict.

As usual, good politics makes bad law.