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’). Wahid Vizcaino Geller LLP is a lawyer paymaster. When dealing with commission payments on contracts dealing with large amounts of money (such as Oil, Gas, PPE, Steel, Iron, Gold, VG’s, T-Strips, and other instruments), most banks in the United States are very wary of handling such large amounts of money.

In addition, most buyers and sellers of such transactions want to place the money with a neutral third party for disbursement. In most cases, the buyer and the seller involved in the transaction require a paymaster be named to handle all incoming and outgoing funds. A paymaster is a neutral third party and has no knowledge of any particulars of the transaction. They handle the incoming commissions, and then disburse the funds accordingly. In return for their services the paymaster charges a small fee, which is paid directly to them out of the commission proceeds prior to disbursement.

OFAC is the United States Department of the Treasury Division known as the Office of Foreign Asset Control. This division places restrictions on financial institutions and others subject to the United States  jurisdiction in dealing with designated individuals , organizations, and business entities. Wahid Vizcaino Geller LLP has worked with OFAC to provide legal services to designated parties including removing such designation and freeing up seized assets .  We also challenge money laundering and compliance allegations that arise from suspect transactions under FINCEN and AML/BSA.