| 07 August 2008
Nothing is permanent and world business practices change every day. A couple
of years ago it was much easier to find a banker you can trust. Now, as Swiss
banking giant UBS faces a federal investigation into its private banking practices
and under recent Liechtenstein banking crackdown, most investors are shocked
and someway paralyzed. However their needs for secure and reliable offshore
banking remain vital as never before.
When one bank is collapsing the others make use of the situation. Everyone
looks so nice, well established and reputable trying to attract new investors.
How to ensure you entrust your money to somebody who will keep it safe? Any
advice is never extra.
You have to extend your efforts further from relying only upon the world known
name of the banks or their belonging to a recognized banking jurisdiction. First
class banks with business history of many years have accumulated too much of
clients and capital, they are a tidbit for tax and other supervisory authorities
of any country and can become a target any moment. In unexpected consecutive
mess even a square John can get into uncalled-for troubles with grave consequences
for his business and reputation. Going for a smaller and/or less known bank
can be wiser and still same beneficial.
Besides obvious things like location, language, fees and charges, internet
banking facilities and other stuff mostly referring to external comfort of working
with that particular bank, take your time to check if the bank is credible enough
to let you sleep quietly. A well established bank is to have sufficient balance
and/or respected parent company and/or other guarantees for a case of going
bankrupt.
Ensure the bank legislation of jurisdiction corresponds world standards of
the industry. Check if the Bank is obliged to share information on its customers
with your country's authorities and under what circumstances.
Remember also that a real well established and reputable bank will always request
all due diligence information about you and your business to ensure it has nothing
in common with money-laundering or terrorism financing.
Obviously, don't put all eggs in one basket. Consider different options for
saving, investing and trading.
And last but far not the least, no matter how much privacy you wanted and found,
don't rely upon secrecy when banking offshore. Those times are in the past.
Do your business legally. There are always ways.
You have been reading an entry on the following blog:
Offshore Advisor
Mary is a consultant and blogger at Offshore Advisor - free online consultancy on offshore services covering asset protection, offshore banking, second citizenship and more. Contact Mary via mary@isla-offshore.com.
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