Donna Saslove And Simon Lugassy - JO LEE Magazine

FEATURE
Offshore Banking
By Zakarov Malinsy
Zurich – Switzerland
Photograph by Zack McCarthy
There are several reasons why people
choose to open offshore bank
accounts. Developing countries are
often characterized by political and
economic instability, so people look
for a safer place to keep their wealth,
and this is where the offshore bank
account comes into action.
In other cases, it may be that offshore
banking centers offer those banking
products and services that are not
available in an account holder’s home
country. Also, in many instances,
people seek to save on taxes through
offshore bank accounts. But be
careful; ensure that through an
offshore bank account you are
not violating your home country’s
legislation.
Offshore banking services provide
a wide range of benefits and open
up distinct opportunities. Opening
such an account provides a powerful
tool for keeping money secure and
making it exempt from taxes. Using
an offshore bank account provides
opportunities that are not available
to domestic banking users. The most
important of those are bank secrecy,
confidentiality and, exemption from
taxes on gains. Income generated in
form of interest on deposits is not
subject to income tax. Customers
also get the possibility to invest
globally.
Offshore banking countries
have designed their laws so that
individuals conducting offshore
investment in these countries
are guaranteed by the effective
legislation that their identity shall
not be disclosed to anyone. Such
secrecy and confidentiality does
not mean that offshore investors
are engaged in criminal activities,
terrorism financing or that they have
something to hide. Client identity
can be disclosed if a client is linked
to trafficking, money laundering,
terrorism and other unlawful
activities. On the other hand,
offshore investing can be a great tool
for those investors who fear that their
asset ownership is threatened due to a
potential lawsuit or excessive debt.
Offshore investment gives a great
opportunity to diversify investments
and portfolios. Accounts used for
offshore investing are highly flexible,
allowing investors to trade in
international markets in any currency
they desire.
Offshore investing is about investing
tactics and taking advantage of
opportunities that are available
outside the country where an investor
resides.
There are several advantages of
offshore investing. Very often
investors choose to invest abroad
(usually in offshore banking centers)
because the host country’s business
environment offers tax advantages
that are not available in the investor’s
home country.
To put this in another way, businesses
making offshore investments set up
a corporation in the host country
and in this way shield their money
from high tax rates effective in their
country. Often the condition for
low or no tax burden is that these
corporations cannot conduct any
transactions in the local market.
To know which tax haven would
be the best is difficult to answer.
It depends what exactly you are
looking for. If it is bank secrecy,
then Panama may be a good choice.
If you are a resident of the UK and
want to go offshore, then you may
want to choose services provided by
the Channel Islands (Jersey, Guernsey
and Isle of Man). The answer
varies according to your priorities.
Offshore bank accounts are provided
by both local banks operating at
offshore banking centers and also
by reputable international banking
institutions, such as HSBC and
Lloyds TSB.
JL
Jo Lee Power 2011 59