International Transactions / Paymaster Services
The law Firm Carlos A. Cespedes, P.A. provides legal and compliance services for international transactions, and acts as a paymaster for the receipt and distribution of funds.
The primary purpose of a paymaster is to receive fees in escrow by buyers in a large transaction and disburse to the sellers and brokers. A paymaster is usually, but not required to be, a lawyer (also known as a ‘lawyer paymaster’). The Law Firm of Carlos A. Cespedes, P.A is a lawyer paymaster. When dealing with commission payments on contracts dealing with substantial amounts of money (such as Oil, Gas, PPE, Steel, Iron, Gold, etc.), most banks in the United States are very wary of handling such substantial amounts of money for individual accounts as opposed to Attorney Trust Accounts.
In addition, most buyers and sellers of such transactions want to place monies with a neutral third party for disbursement. In most cases, the buyer and the seller involved in the transaction require a paymaster to be named to handle all incoming and outgoing funds. A paymaster attorney acts as a neutral third party to receive funds from any transaction between separate individuals or businesses. The paymaster attorney maintains an Attorney’s Trust Account (known as an IOLTA account) which is monitored and regulated by the state in which the attorney practices, which provides an additional measure of security for the handling of large sums of money. In return for their services the paymaster charges a small percentage fee, which is paid directly to them out of the commission proceeds prior to disbursement
The Law Firm of Carlos A. Cespedes, P.A. is a law firm that manages all legal aspects of international and domestic contracts and works in strict collaboration with an accounting firm for the preparation of accounting, legal documents and subsequent disbursement of funds to the Client, intermediaries and service providers in connection with the funds realized from international commodities transactions and investment platforms.
In addition, and most important, all such transactions must be compliant with federal authorities, including the U.S. Treasury Department, Homeland Security, EINCEN and BSA/AML. The law Firm Carlos A. Cespedes, P.A. will assist and work with such clients to ensure prompt payment of their fees within the guidelines of governmental authorities and regulations. As a result, we partner with a global third-party compliance company to ensure that the source of funds and the parties adhere to and are compliant with the U.S. Department of Treasury, OFAC, FEINCEN, and BSA/AML and its anti-terrorism and anti-money laundering guidelines as set forth by the U.S. federal government.