BB&M International Corporation Shares New Advice for Investing in High-Risk Currency

BB&M International Corporation — a foreign-licensing, consulting company — recently developed advice for investors regarding the many obstacles in place to effectively make an informed decision on investing in currencies in emerging regions such as Iraq, South America and Africa.

Las Vegas (EMWNews) August 21, 2008 –- BB&M International Corporation — a foreign-licensing, consulting company — recently developed advice for investors regarding the many obstacles in place to effectively make an informed decision on investing in currencies in emerging regions such as Iraq, South America and Africa.

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“Our company’s main objective is to let the buyer beware that the easiest way is not always the best,” said William Burbank, of BB&M International Corporation. “Complying with laws in the country you are investing in is of primary importance in the investment process.”

Burbank says that investing in exotic foreign currency is risky business. However, if it is done correctly, the payoff is more like winning a lottery than a securities investment.

“The track record of winners to losers is not that impressive,” Burbank said. “Many unstable countries change their currency every few years to help control runaway inflation and often to curb corruption. The African country Ghana just looped off three zeros in their currency. This was done more to help control the rampant illegal diamond business in that country than to help inflation. There was an estimated 25 percent of the currency in criminal hands outside the country’s banking system. The turn-in period was short — only 60 days — and the customer turning in old currency had to have an existing bank account.”

He said there have been three very notable winners in the past few decades.

One is the Russian ruble, said Burbank. The ruble was not on the international market until the late 1980s. There were many speculators in neighboring areas like the Baltic States, Finland and Northern Europe. These people could buy a ruble for less than a penny — usually about 10 rubles to the penny — but the market was totally outside the banking system and it was not legal under Russian law to move rubles in or out of the country. To invest legally in the currency was very difficult, but was successfully done by one private Forex investment company called Saxo Forex in their Midas Forex fund. The difference between a private and public Forex fund is that a public one must be registered and regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and can publicly advertise. The private Forex is just like most hedge funds and is self-regulated. The Saxo Corporation had to move their company to Estonia where it was legal to open a Russian bank account. At that time, it was illegal for a U.S. or European citizen to open a Russian bank account.

“When the ruble became an international currency, the first thing the Russian government did was print new currency and give only 90 days to turn in old currency to convert to new currency,” Burbank said. “They also put a temporary freeze on new bank accounts being opened during the turn-in period. This left all the tens of millions of rubles outside Russia as worthless. A successful investor made several thousand percent in just the first year.”

The next case was the Kuwaiti currency, Burbank said. It had a fourth and fifth printing after the first Gulf War and skyrocketed several thousand percentage points from a few pennies to more than $3 per dinar. This proved very difficult due to the fact a bank account in Kuwaiti dinar was needed to benefit from the currency’s rise. Very few U.S. citizens actually made money on this investment. Those who did realize success had to have bank accounts United Arab Emirates (UAE) where banks offered CDs in the Kuwaiti dinar, or with other Arab nations that offered the same service.

The third winner is the Mexican peso, he said. Most people do not know that the peso went out of U.S. banks when they first printed the new peso — minus three extra zeros — in the late 80s. This is the only case where the currency was not reprinted and went up in value over the next five years, and was eventually allowed to be traded internationally in the same form.

“Today investors are interested in the Chinese yuan, the Vietnamese dong and the Iraqi dinar to name a few,” Burbank said. “The lesson learned is to make sure you comply with the issuing countries’ laws on their currency and business.”

For example, in Iraq – where BB&M International Corporation is the only licensing/Forex company currently in operation – the country currently has a closed policy on their currency and only allows 60,000 dinar (about $50 USD) in or out of the country. Iraq also recently stopped foreign banks from buying dinar with dollars directly from the Central Bank of Iraq.

“To safely invest in any of these countries, you need a state-approved business license,” Burbank said. “Because we do licensing in Iraq, we do make it easier to do business there, where licensing has gone up dramatically for foreign companies. Often times it is better to wait until the currency actually makes it to the international market before investing or doing business.”

For more information, please visit www.bbmone.com/index.htm.