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Having an offshore account is becoming more and more common these days. There are many reasons why one may choose to open an offshore banking account, however there are three main reasons why an offshore account is a must for many people. These three reasons are protection, profit and privacy. If any of these reasons are important to you when it comes to banking, then opening an offshore account is definitely an option you should pursue.

3. Protection-Higher Levels of Protection for Your Assets

Contrary to popular belief, having an offshore bank account is neither illegal nor immoral. Offshore banking often seems to conjure images of crooks and criminals trying to hide money from the government. The fact of the matter is, having an offshore account offers you a level of protection that you can’t find with any other type of account. Those who are highly concerned about the protection of their assets and finances do quite well with offshore banking.

Offshore accounts have a higher level of protection from both business and government entities, and you are guaranteed that both your personal and financial information is kept secure. Offshore banks will not release your information to anyone, and many offshore jurisdictions offer heavy fines and lengthy jail terms for those that would disclose your information to others, which greatly aids in deterring those who have access to your account from releasing it.

2. Profit-Higher Returns and Profits on Your Money

Profit is another reason why many people choose to open an offshore account. In many places, there are a wide variety of taxes that must be paid when banking. This is not so with an offshore account. Standard banks not only charge a bank account debt tax and financial institution duty tax, but also tax any interest you may earn on your account. With offshore banking, you do not have to worry about these taxes. You eliminate the factor of having to pay these taxes to your banking institution, which in itself is a way to save money and profit. However, when you also factor in that you will no longer have to pay tax on the interest you accrue, and that banking in an offshore account located in a tax neutral jurisdiction allows you to compound your earnings, you quickly realize that having an offshore account is extremely profitable and beneficial.

1. Privacy-Higher Levels of Privacy for Your Personal and Financial Information

Privacy is the final reason why most people feel having an offshore account is a must. The privacy that an offshore bank account offers goes hand in hand with the level of protection your assets receive. With standard onshore banks, your personal and financial information can be quite easily accessed by almost anyone. With minimal information, an individual could easily gain access to this information and do quite a bit of damage to your finances.

Additionally, by law onshore banks must disclose your information to the authorities should they request the information. Offshore banks offer a much higher level of privacy to their customers. Most offshore accounts are located in countries and jurisdictions that do not have such laws that they must comply with. Many offshore banks also offer what is called anonymous banking, which allows you to provide minimal personal information to the facility, which helps to increase the amount of privacy and protection you have.

There are of course various other reasons why one may decide to open an offshore account. These however are the top three reasons why most people choose to do at least some, if not all, of their banking in an offshore account. If protection, profit and privacy of your assets is important to you, having an offshore account is the only way to go.

Most people find themselves in a situation in which they realize that they cannot keep their savings under the mattress and that they should resort to a bank in order to deposit their money. In this case, it seems that the most convenient are the offshore banking accounts, due to the fact that they allow you to be in a low-tax regime.

The offshore bank is a bank situated outside the country of residence of the depositor, usually having low tax jurisdiction. It is certain that offshore bank accounts represent the most tax efficient way to handle huge amounts of money and many investors use offshore banking accounts in order to avoid taxes and to have some privacy regarding their accounts. Still, offshore banking can be quite expensive and if you are interested in such accounts we advise you to talk to a specialist before opening offshore bank accounts. Investors have at their disposal two modalities of using offshore facilities: either they open offshore bank accounts or they start an offshore company which will handle their assets.

The advantages of offshore banking accounts are numerous. The most important one is the fact that they are tax-efficient; your offshore bank account will not be liable to income tax and at the same time it is not subject to local litigation; thus you can protect your assets against all sort of creditors. Another plus is the fact that offshore accounts have less restrictive legal regulation, they allow an easy access to deposits and they protect you against local or financial instability. 

The downside of offshore banking accounts is the fact that they come at a fee and those of you who want to open such accounts need significant knowledge in order to deal with this process in an efficient and legal manner. Nevertheless, there’s no need to worry since there are many offshore consultancies that are willing to help you. Still, you need to understand that in the case of offshore bank accounts your investments will be protected from legal assault but you will not receive any legal protection if you happen to be the victim of a scam. This is why it is essential to talk to an offshore bank specialist before opening any offshore accounts.

Offshore legal banking accounts represent an important of the international financial system and financial experts claim that half of the world’s capital is in offshore centers. By creating offshore bank accounts, you will be able to reduce your tax liability by transferring your savings and investments into an offshore bank account. Furthermore, you will benefit from high confidentiality, security, convenience and global access. It looks like offshore banking accounts are being used by many individuals and organization from all over the world.

Why should you consider opening an offshore bank account? Because not only will it minimize your tax liability, but it will also help you protect your assets, plan your estate, enjoy confidentiality and have better returns. Some offshore institutions offer almost absolute anonymity and confidentiality and personal data is subject to modern data protection legislation.

Nowadays, many small countries offer offshore banking accounts services without needing to make a substantial investment. The local laws can limit or even eliminate taxes which are placed on traditional banking accounts and this is why many companies and individuals prefer to open offshore bank accounts which allow them to remain anonymous. Moreover, due to electronic banking, offshore banking accounts holders can easily make the desired transactions without having to travel abroad.

Many investors are puzzled by the various terms used by bankers in describing ways to protect their money. Here is a short list of some of the most common ones.

Asset Protection Trust (APT) is an irrevocable trust, usually created (settled) offshore for the principal purposes of preserving and protecting wealth against creditors. Title to the asset is transferred to a trustee. It is used for asset protection and usually tax neutral. Its function is to provide for the beneficiaries of the APT. A trust is a contract affecting three parties, the settlor (who sets up the offshore trust; also called the grantor in U.S. or IRS terms), the trustee and the beneficiary. A trust protector is optional but recommended, as well. Through the trust, the settlor transfers asset ownership to the trustee on behalf of the beneficiaries.

Business trust is created for the primary purpose of running a business. These trusts are treated as persons under the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). It must have a commercial purpose and actually function as a business.

CARICOM is theCaribbean Common Market. Its members consist of 14 member countries of the Caribbean community, including Antigua, Bahamas, Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Surinam, Trinidad and Tobago. The purpose of this organization is to encourage free trade and free movement of labor. Conspicuous by their absence are the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands, the two major players in international banking and finance, which did not wish to be regulated by a small local community because of greater international ties.

Discretionary Trust is a grantor trust in which the trustee has sole discretion as to who among the listed beneficiaries receives income and/or principal disbursement. The trustee has full authority over the fund, or it would cease to be a discretionary trust. A letter of wishes, or side letter, can provide guidance to the trustee without having any legal and binding effects. The letter(s) must be carefully drafted, as the trustee cannot be seen as a pawn of the beneficiaries or there is basis for the argument that there never was a complete renouncement of the assets.

Estate is the sum of personal interests in real and/or personal property.

Flight Capital is money which flows offshore and likely never returns. It is exacerbated by a lack of confidence in government fiscal management.

GmbH is a German form of a limited liability corporation.

High Net Worth (HNW) Person is any individual with more than $1,000,000 in liquid assets.

International Business Company (IBC) is a corporation formed (incorporated) under the Company Act of a tax haven, but is not authorized conduct business within that country. It is intended to be used only for global operations. It is owned and operated by members and/or shareholders, just like other corporations.

Limited Company is not an international business company. May be owned by a resident of the tax haven and is set up under a special corporate law with a simpler body of administrative laws. A Limited Liability Company (LLC) consists of member owners and a manager, at a minimum. It has tax advantages and operational flexibility found in a partnership, operating in a corporate-style structure, with limited liability as provided by the state’s laws. A LLP is a Limited liability partnership, a form of the LLC frequently used for professional associations, such as accountants and attorneys. A LLLP is a Limited liability limited partnership, intended to protect the general partners from liability.

Member is an equity owner of a limited liability company ((LLC), limited liability partnership (LLP), limited liability limited partnership (LLLP) or a shareholder in an IBC.

NRA is a nonresident alien of the U.S. An NRA is not a U.S. person as defined under the Internal Revenue Code (IRC).

Offshore is an international term meaning not only out of your country, but also out of its tax jurisdiction.

PLC is a UK public limited company.

The Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1995 proposed changes to the Internal Revenue Code affecting foreign trust reporting, among other changes.

Securities are shares and debt obligations of every kind, including options, warrants, and rights to acquire shares and debt obligations.

Settle. To create or establish an offshore trust. Done by the settlor (offshore term) or the grantor (U.S. and IRS term).

Settlor. One (the entity) who (which) creates or settles an offshore trust.

TCI are the Turks and Caicos Islands, a popular tax haven.

Trustee is the controller of a trust fund. This person is independent of the settlor or grantor and has the fiduciary responsibility to manage the assets of the fund as a reasonable prudent business person would do in the same circumstances. The trustee must defer to the trust protector when required in the best interest of the trust fund. The reporting requirements of the trustee are defined at the creation of the trust include how often, and to whom, the trustee will respond to instructions or inquiries, investment strategies and fees for the trustee’s services. The trustee may have full discretionary powers to distribute the fund to beneficiaries.

Uniform Partnership Act (UPA) is one of the uniform laws adopted by some states or used as a baseline for other states.

Vetting is the process used by the offshore consultant for evaluating whether a prospective client is a good candidate for offshore asset protection.

World Bank was formed to be the lender and technical advisor to developing countries, utilizing funds and technical knowledge from member nations. It has often been criticized for promoting austurity programs in indebted third-world nations.

Hopefully this short guide will help investors seeking asset havens and offshore banking facilities.