Ecuador Trust Account Banking

Introduction – This is the most secure way of banking. The bank does not know who you are nor does the bank have any identity papers pertaining to you. The bank account is through a corporation, which you do not own yet you can have all the control you want or do not want. Read below for more details.

About Ecuador – Ecuador is a country found between Peru and Columbia. They operate as a democracy and they use the USD as their national currency same as Panama. This means you can bank in USD with no currency conversion cost. There are no currency controls in Ecuador so one can transfer in and out large sums with no limitation. Ecuador is a sleeper in that it is not known to be an offshore banking or tax haven, flying under the radar so to speak.

The Ecuador Bank – The bank is over 100 years old with the same family owning it the entire time. Quito Ecuador is at a very high altitude and people have difficulties with oxygen deprivation that are not used to it. The bank we use is located on the coast at sea level so there are no issues with thin air and oxygen deprivation. There is a large airport in the city there is no need to go to Quito if you wish to visit the bank. You do not have to visit the bank to get an account. The bank has assets in excess of $100,000,000. The bank has online banking. They have English and Spanish speakers available to provide customer support by email, phone or fax. One can have an account in USD or Euros. The bank pays competitive interest rates. Rates fluctuate daily and vary according to principle, time and currency. Euro accounts will always pay substantially less. The bank offers secured Visa cards with only the corporate name on the card. The security deposit is 130% of the credit line. For a $10,000 credit limit card you would need to place a security deposit at the bank in the amount of $13,000 for as long as you have the card plus 30 days. The Visa card will work online, in ATM machines around the world and at any location displaying the Visa logo anywhere in the world. You can also get an ATM card without your name on it good at ATM machines around the world.

The Trust Account – What is done is a Panama Corporation is formed and purchased by the Guatemala Law Firm from the Panama Law Firm. You are not purchasing the corporation. Your name is in no way associated with this corporation. The corporation is a bearer share corporation which means whoever owns the share certificates owns the corporation. The owner’s names do not appear in any public registry or database and not even the Panama Government knows who owns the corporation. The owner is the Guatemala Law Firm by the way. The bearer share certificates can be made out in blank or made out in the name of another corporation or foundation. There is no obligation to report the sale or transfer of all or any of these bearer shares to any entity. The bearer share certificates can be kept anywhere in the world.

Now the Anonymous Panama Bearer Share Corporation open a bank account in Ecuador with the Guatemala Law Firm being listed as the beneficiary owner and signatory on the account. You have a written trust agreement with the Guatemala Law Firm. You can have a power of attorney for the corporation. You can get the online banking passwords for the bank account. You can have the secured corporate Visa card associated to the bank account. You can have the ATM card associated with the account. You can state certain terms and conditions in the trust agreement that are binding upon the Guatemala Law Firm like 24 hour termination notice, distress clause instructions etc.

Ownership Trails – You do not own the Ecuador bank account. The Guatemala law firm is listed as the beneficiary owner and the signatory not you. The bank account is in the name of an anonymous Panama Bearer Share Corporation that is not anywhere going to associate you with the corporation in any registry or database. The credit cards and ATM cards are not in your name or in anyway associated to you. The Guatemala law firm sends them to you not the bank so the bank does not even have your address.

Foundation Layering – There is a way to enhance control in a round about way that will probably be hard for an outsider to decipher. What is done is an Anonymous Panama Private Interest Foundation owns the corporation. Panama Foundations have no owners, just beneficiaries and protectors which are private not in any registry or database and the Panama Government does not even know who they are. So if you were is a deposition or asked a question as to who owns the corporation you could say a Foundation named XYZ. Now this is the bait, hang on and keep reading. Now the lawyer asks you if you are a beneficiary or a protector of this Foundation. This is making a large assumption that he or she understands foundations, which would be most unlikely. You of course say no because you are not the protector or a beneficiary. Then the lawyer would ask you if you sign on any bank account for this foundation and you say no because you do not sign on any bank account for this foundation.

The way you get and keep the control is as follows: The corporation is owned by the first foundation on which you are not a beneficiary or protector and you sign on no bank account for this foundation which in fact has no bank account. There is another foundation called foundation two. Foundation two is the beneficiary of foundation one and you are the beneficiary of foundation two and also the protector of foundation two. Foundation two should not have a bank account either. When there is a bank account you are going to be required to list yourself as signatory and beneficial owner, which can act against you in a court, so avoid it.

When the smoke clears what your financial enemies would see if the they ever took you to court in your home country is this: A corporate bank account in Ecuador that you do not sign on and you do not own the corporation. This might come up from following wire trails from your home country bank accounts whose records can be easily produced under court order. You can have a written agreement from the corporation signed by the nominees directors, notarized and apostilled showing that you are employed by the corporation as an investment manager. Then they might find out from you that a foundation owns this corporation or maybe they never even get this far. You do not own this foundation you do not sign on any bank account for this foundation and you are not listed as the beneficiary owner or signatory at any bank, you are not the foundation protector nor are you a beneficiary of this foundation. For them this is a dead end trail. The fact that there is a second foundation should never come up. If asked who the beneficiary of the first foundation is you say ask that foundation, why are you asking me. Your lawyer will jump in and the judge will end this line of questioning quickly since the other side is just wildly fishing at this point with nothing factual to go on. He will not be looking for a second foundation, why should he? Remember his questions need to be relevant to the case and those facts, he cannot ask you anything he wants.

Additional Layers of Protection and Privacy – The Ecuador bank has a trust account, which can be used to wire money into the bank. There is no need to wire the funds directly to the corporation bank account although this is certainly something you could do. The trust account receives the money and then you send the information pertaining to the wire asking the bank to internally move the money into the corporate bank account.

Money In, Money Out – This is an offshore banking term relating to the act of moving money into a bank to obscure the trail and then move the money to another bank the next day. This is something no bank anywhere wants to do. They do not make any money and probably lose money on such transactions. You must keep 30% of the funds in the Ecuador bank for 90 days minimum or the account will be closed.

Costs – The fee to set up a Panama Corporation with a Trust Agreement and Ecuador bank account is $5,000. The minimum deposit is $25,000 or if a Euro Account $25,000 Euros. A $5,000 or 5,000 euro minimum must be maintained at all times at the bank. There is a monthly fee of $1000 for each month the account is open if the account has less than $1,000,000 in it. If it exceeds $1,000,000 and is under $3,000,000 the monthly fee is $1500. If it is in excess of $3,000,000 up to $5,000,000 the fee is $2,000. Over $5,000,000 the fee is $3,000 per month. This fee is deducted from your bank account automatically each month. You can do your own wires from the online banking platform as well as check for incoming wires, balances and history. You will receive any bank interest applicable in full and of course be responsible for any bank fees like wire fees. If you wish to add in two foundations without bank accounts to the structure the cost is increased by an extra $2500 bringing it to $7500. Questions are welcome.