Search Articles:
Free Articles on Finance and many related topics

A Top Quality Free Finance Article For You

Home | Finance


12 Offshore Banking Myths Busted

By:

Offshore bank accounts are mostly used by spies and criminals -- It would be silly to say that this does not happen, but the reality is that most of the funds kept offshore are deposited by fortune 500 companies shielding their asset base as part of their risk management strategy. I personally know a TV personality that every person reading this knows, and He banks in Panama among other countries to reduce his risk and protect his assets.

Offshore banking is too complex for the average person -- Nothing could be farther from the truth. All the complicated work is done by your offshore professional and only takes about a week to complete. Typically an offshore setup includes a bearer share corporation. The combination of a bearer share company and an offshore bank account is roughly equivalent to the old numbered swiss bank accounts of the past.

Only a rich person can afford an offshore asset protection setup -- This is totally false. The basic package, which is adequate for 90% of clients, costs less than $2000 US. The basic package includes an offshore bank account and a Panama bearer share corporation. It has proven time and again to be a very solid protection mechanism for our clients and is very useful for tax planning as well.

Since 9/11 there is no such thing as bank secrecy. -- This is simply false. Several offshore jurisdictions like Panama have bank secrecy laws that impose prison sentences to those who violate your bank secrecy. In addition, Panama also has bearer share corporations that just a private as the infamous numbered Swiss bank accounts.

To open an offshore bank account you need to visit the country in question -- This is a falsehood. We open bank accounts regularly for our clients without ever seeing them. Everything is done by fedex, phone and fax.

Offshore banking has been destroyed by the MLAT treaty -- If you are engaging in serious criminal activity this statement is true. For most people just trying to protect their assets this statement is totally false. In fact, countries like Panama, only comply in serious criminal cases, and deny many requests. The requesting country has to show that they already have strong evidence that a crime has taken place AND the activity in question has to be a crime in Panama too. So tax evasion, for example, is not a crime in Panama and so Panama would not entertain MLAT requests for information relating to tax evasion.

All the countries share tax information now. -- Many tax treaties have been put in place but offshore countries like Panama do NOT have a tax treaty with anyone. In fact they have bank secrecy laws on their books to prevent this kind of information sharing.

Someone will find out about my offshore bank account -- Not if you don't tell them. Most offshore accounts are managed over the internet using secure encryption. This is the same encryption used by banks and e-commerce sites around the world. It is secure, trusted, and well tested.

Offshore banking doesn't protect me from a lawsuit because the judge will just order me to bring the money back. -- If you were to open a personal bank account offshore this would be true. However, an offshore bank account is typically owned by a bearer share corporation and or a foundation. In the example of a foundation, if you donated money to the foundation you cannot get the money back. The foundation can only give money to the purposes set in its governing documents. That does not include giving money to you. Basically the money is out of your control legally speaking and so you can't bring the money back.

It's impossible to move money offshore without someone being able to track down where it went. -- Moving money to a secret offshore bank account is done by passing the money through a second offshore jurisdiction. For example, if the money is wired to a bank the Cayman Islands and the money is wired again from the Cayman Islands to Panama, it is impossible for anyone to know the money is in Panama.

Offshore bank accounts can be used to do all the same activities as an onshore account -- This is almost true. The only exception is online bill payment. This popular feature doesn't make sense offshore and to my knowledge no offshore banks offer it. Typically, the money held offshore is not used onshore anyway. Having said that, most offshore banking clients have a bank card that allows them to withdraw funds anywhere in the world. The card only leads back to the corporation which owns the bank account (and would require breaking bank secrecy even to find that out). The corporation is usually a bearer share corporation which means that it's ownership is anonymous anyway.

Americans, Canadians, and Europeans can't own an offshore account legally -- This is totally false. This mis perception is based on the fact that these jurisdictions now require an individual to report his/her worldwide income. Offshore bank accounts almost always come with a bearer share corporation or a foundation, which means the individual does not legally own the money. When the money is paid from the corporation to the individual then it becomes taxable income.

Article Source: http://www.article-exposure.com

If you have a business or have money that you don't want to lose to an ex-spouse or a lawsuit consider reading more of Doug Snarder's teaching on the Offshore Banking Account and Offshore Asset Protection

Please Rate this Article

 

Not yet Rated

Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Finance Articles Via RSS!
Additional Articles From - Home | Finance


 
Web www.article-exposure.com

Home | Finance

Authors

Already Registered?

Please Login to submit your Articles

New Authors Wanted!
Sign Up Today and submit your Articles for FREE!

Submit Articles
Submission Guidelines
Terms of Service
Home
Link To Us

Email Marketing

Don't miss out on this explosive 71-page, step-by-step guide. Learn all you need to know about utilizing the power of autoresponders; the killer strategies to making your product irresistible & much more. PLUS an 8-part autoresponder mini-course that you can copy word for word & adapt to any product - and all for the price of a burger!! Learn More >>>




Publishers

Silent Sales Machine on eBay

So many people are trying to build a web-site and then trying desperately to get traffic to their web-site. Find out how to become part of the $24 Billion eBay boom? Discover the Silent Sales Machine HIDING on eBay.... you'll be amazed!
Read More >>



FAQs

Other Resources


failover hosting

Reliable, Failover Hosting.
Host Unlimited Domains On One Account For
One Low Price!
More >>


 

 

 

 
Article Exposure » Copyright © 2007




Terms of Service | Submission Guidelines | Contact Us | Link to Us| Privacy Policy | About Us

Powered by Article Dashboard