Somalia receives more money from migrants abroad than from humanitarian and development assistance and foreign direct investment combined. Now, these remittances to Somalia are under threat. Somali-American Money Transfer Operators (MTOs), a critical link to a country that has been mostly cut off from the international banking system, need bank accounts in the United States in order to complete money transfers to Somalia. Though these MTOs have invested significantly in compliance, banks in the US have steadily closed their accounts and declined to open new ones. Further account closures for Somali-American MTOs would be disastrous for Somalia's recovery and would dramatically reduce the transparency and security of remittances
