Security, Safety and Privacy of Banking Offshore & What to Look For

Chapter 5

Offshore banking sounds like an idea only reserved for the extremely wealthy. The truth is that it much safer and easier than the average person believes it to be. So what is it about offshore banking that attracts people to it? Well, when you research the answer you will find that it is not as complicated as you would think. Offshore bank accounts offer many advantages over domestic banking. Many offshore banks offer greater security, increased privacy and greater financial freedom and flexibility than do domestic banks. This helpful resource will provide you with some tips, hints and insights on this opportunity.

What is Offshore Banking?

Offshore banking is just as it sounds. It is banking in a depository institution that is located outside of the country of residence of the depositor. Offshore banking is not just limited to small nations such as Belize, the Caymans, and Cyprus. It also includes countries such as China and European nations, including Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Belgium among others. Each country has its own regulations that govern how their banks operate. But in the end they tend to accomplish very similar things. This includes a regulatory environment that helps insure the safety and security of the bank. Plus, they employ a due-diligence system to help keep out the bad guys.

Why Bank Offshore?

So does banking outside of your home country really provide you with any benefits?

The answer to that question is yes, there are many benefits to opening an offshore bank account. One of the most important and most valued benefits of offshore banking is privacy. In the United States, for example, there are laws such as the US Bank Secrecy Act of 1970. Later came the USA PATRIOT Act. They make the identity of all domestic bank account holders very easy to find. That makes banking privacy in local banks almost nonexistent.

Offshore banking regulations in many countries, in contrast, hold the privacy of their account holders in the highest regard. Thus, offshore banks in many jurisdictions are under no obligation to turn over account holder identities to any third parties. There are certain exception, of course, such as serious criminal matters like terrorism, smuggling, or money laundering. This level of privacy in offshore banking is not only an industry standard. But there is legislation in many of the the countries that mandate the privacy and confidentiality of account holders. This is ideal for people who have assets they wish to protect from civil litigation.

Offshore Banking for Lawsuit Protection

According the American Bar Association in 2006 the United States was home to more than a million lawyers. Moreover, civil suits increased 12% from 1993-2002. Today, the United States has the majority of the world’s lawyers. Specifically, 80% of the world’s lawyers practice in the US. It also has the majority of its lawsuits. In fact the US has a whopping 96% of the the world’s lawsuits. Many of them are frivolous in nature. This should make protecting your assets a priority.

As many people know, a frivolous lawsuit, even if it is blatantly false, can seriously harm a person’s financial wellbeing. This is the case whether the lawsuit is successful or not. The legal fees one needs to defend a lawsuit may be significant. As a result, it’s often cheaper to throw a financial settlement to the plaintiff to make the lawsuit go away. By placing your assets in an offshore bank account you are protecting yourself from vicious lawyers and frivolous lawsuits. This is because not only are your assets in a different jurisdiction than the one in which you reside. But very strict privacy laws govern the banks.

Protecting What’s Yours

The level of asset protection and privacy that offshore bank accounts provide is especially critical. This is a big deal to business owners who wish to protect the things they have earned. There is a combination of strict banking privacy and holding assets under the legal jurisdiction that is hard to reach. These two barriers would discourage many lawyers pursuing lawsuits against you. This is because of the extreme difficulty in obtaining “payday settlements.”

It is important to note that asset protection is not achieved solely with offshore bank account. The reason is this. If you hold the account personally, a judge can command you to bring funds back from your offshore account. If guy in the black robe holding the gavel gives the order, he may then compel you to do so.

Is protection from lawsuits important to you? If so, holding holds the account in an offshore asset protection trust with a licensed trustee is essential. That is, hold funds inside of your trust, guarded by a licensed, insured, reputable trustee. This is because when you do so you turn the tables. The trustee resides offshore. Therefore, the local judge does not have the jurisdiction to compel the foreign trustee to comply.

Financial Freedom

There are benefits in addition to increased privacy. Offshore bank accounts also provide a greater degree of freedom than domestic bank accounts do. Domestic accounts may prohibit you from engaging in certain wealth management services. But many offshore banks can open up these lucrative and beneficial financial opportunities. There is one main reason these investment opportunities are available to offshore banks and their clients. It is because there is significantly less government intervention in banking affairs in a number of regions.

Through an offshore bank account you can enjoy the benefits of utilizing international funds. You can do so in different currencies. Plus you can receive better exchange rates for those currencies. Possessing an offshore bank account opens up business opportunities that are not available in certain jurisdictions. So, offshore banking allows for easier investments in emerging markets and developing countries. This would often allow investors to receive a better return on their investments than what they could receive domestically. There are additional investment and business opportunities in some offshore bank accounts. This may involved holding a stock market portfolio and/or precious metals. In addition, oftentimes there offer more favorable interest rates they offer to their account holders.

What’s Safer? US Banks or Offshore Banks?

Another benefit that comes from having an offshore bank account is that in many jurisdictions the banks are very stable. Now I know what you may be thinking now: “How is that possible?” The plain truth of the matter is that between 2008 and 2012, there were 465 US banks that failed. Moreover, the most recent annual in-depth analysis by Global Finance found this. Of the world’s top 50 safest banks only three (3) US banks made the list. There was not even one US bank in the top 30 safest banks. Not one. According to this list, the top 10 safest banks in the world were all located in Europe.

Now this is not to say that the US banking industry is on the verge of imploding. That is, an economic meltdown is not necessarily right around the corner. These statistics simply show that there are countries offshore that provide more banking stability than does the US. This is often through banking regulations that require stronger balance sheets. Plus many of these institutions offer better returns to account holders and provide for a wider array of investments. This level of stability allows the account holders to diversify their assets. It also gives them the opportunity to better protect those assets and guard their financial privacy.

Offshore Banking Simplicity

Finally, most people have the idea that getting an offshore bank account is a long, arduous, and complicated process. They think it is only reserved for the few; for those who can afford to pay high priced lawyers and fees to set up offshore accounts. This may have been true decades ago when setting up offshore bank accounts were horrendously difficult. Additionally, they were expensive due to the need to travel to the bank. But then came the birth of the digital age and the use of computers connected to the internet. So, today, obtaining and monitoring offshore bank accounts are almost as easy as operating domestic bank accounts.

In this day and age just about any adult person can apply for an offshore bank account. It is a simple matter of contacting an eligible introducer such as our organization. The internet has removed the exclusivity of offshore bank accounts. It has thusly created an environment where anyone can apply. Just about any person can maintain an account without having to pay exorbitant legal and processing fees to lawyers. Plus there is not a requirement to travel to the location of the offshore bank in many jurisdictions. The services that offshore banks provide are now more accessible to about everyone. Therefore, it is far easier to apply for an offshore bank account and reap the benefits than one may think.

Offshore Banking: Is It for You?

Offshore bank accounts have been surrounded by a lot mystique over the past few decades. The average person believes that banks reserve these benefits for only the wealthiest of individuals. As such, they perceive that all of the potential benefits are only for the other guy. That is one belief that we are happy to state is untrue. There are benefits for you, too.

The benefits of privacy, asset protection, institutional stability, and flexibility in offshore banking are available to everybody. Are you are a business owner who is looking to protect his business assets? Are you someone who wants to enter into lucrative investment opportunities in foreign markets? If so, many asset protection experts strongly suggest looking into obtaining an offshore bank account.

Offshore Banking Privacy and Security

Banking privacy and security is a major concern. It is a priority that you and your money are safe. OffshoreCompany.com regularly recommends banking institutions that participate in a central banking system. The system is highly regulated. It implements stringent accounting practices, which provides a stronger infrastructure and independent oversight for local offshore banks.

Many institutions provide secure and private offshore banking accounts to American and foreign corporations and local government officials. The institutions provide employment and support the local economy. That is, their economies depend on the financial services sector. As a result, the privacy and financial safety laws are a longstanding and stable. It is critical that all prospective clients make the right choice of jurisdiction. We perform extensive research on many of the top offshore bank account providers. Moreover, we are glad to provide you with helpful information to aid you in making the proper choice.

Offshore banks in some countries participate in mandated financial protection insurance systems. They take security and privacy very seriously. Regulators strictly enforce offshore banking security. They strongly enforce the statutes. That is, the law limits which information banks share with third parties, including foreign governments. Naturally, laws permit offshore bank account providers to share information in cases of severe criminal acts or terrorism. They do not take banking privacy lightly.

Swiss Banking Privacy

In Switzerland, for example, the law severely punishes any employee violating a customer’s privacy. This includes stiff fines and jail time. So, they take depositor privacy very seriously. It is also important that the foreign bank not have a domestic branch. This is because the domestic branch can be subjected to fines until the foreign branch coughs up the money. Which banks have the best combination of safety, security, online access and openly accepts foreign clients? That’s where a company like this one comes in. Use the number or form on this page for help.

Jurisdictions

Here are some jurisdictions that are private banking financial centers:

Antigua
Bahamas
Barbados
Channel Islands (Jersey and Guernsey)
Dominica
Gibraltar
Hong Kong
Isle of Man
Labuan, Malaysia
Liechtenstein
Montserrat
Nauru
Nevis
Singapore
Seychelles
Switzerland
Turks and Caicos Islands

OffshoreCompany.com has developed long standing relationships with offshore banks. We perform regular reviews, due diligence and in-person meetings. Doing so helps ensure that the offshore bank accounts that we help clients establish are likely safe and secure. Reach out to us for more information or to open an account in a secure offshore bank.

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