You should not send money overseas to an exiled prince who promises to split his fortune with you. That is likely a scam. But if for some reason you do need to send funds overseas for legitimate reasons, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposed rule change could help get your money where it needs to be.

Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced a revision [PDF] to its international money transfer rule that would give banks and credit unions more time to implement consumer protections related to disclosures about fees and exchange rates for overseas money transfers.

The CFPB remittance rule creates comprehensive consumer protections for international money transfers, including the requirement of banks to disclose third-party fees and any exchange rate fees that may apply. Currently, an exception, set to expire in July 2015, allows federally insured financial institutions to estimate fees and exchange rates when providing remittance transfers to accountholders when they cannot determine the exact amounts for reasons beyond their control. 

Today’s rule revision would extend the exception until July 2020 and allow insured institutions to continue facilitating transfers across the world. Officials with the CFPB say that if the exception were to expire in 2015, some insured institutions would find it nearly impossible to know the exact fees and exchange rates associated and, therefore, would not be able to send transfers to certain parts of the world.

The CFPB says the extension would give insured institutions additional time to develop reasonable ways to provide consumers with exact fees and exchange rates for all remittance disclosures.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Proposes Revision To Rule Protecting Consumers Sending Money Internationally [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau]

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