Guide to Our Asset Protection & Private Banking Packages

Excellent Asset Protection

Hong Kong Corporation and Hong Kong Bank Account

This is for those that wish to sign on their own bank account and want to be in a world class trillion dollar bank with every possible feature an offshore bank could offer in a very secure and stable jurisdiction. Within these guidelines nothing can be found that is more private, stable or secure anywhere in the world.

Advantages - Hong Kong offers Anonymous Corporations, Bank Secrecy, No Tax Information Exchange Agreements, No Tax on Offshore Derived Income, No Capital Gains Tax, Stock Brokerage Accounts at the Bank, A Bank with One Trillion dollars in Deposits, Online Banking, Credit Cards, Accounts in 10 Currencies including Chinese Renminbi, Unlimited Government Bank Insurance, and you do not have to go to Hong Kong to have the bank account opened.

You do not need any bank reference letters, in fact no reference letters are required at all to open a bank account. A copy of the passport is required along with a utility bill copy all of which can be sent as scans in an email. This material stays with the law firm and goes to the bank. It is covered by attorney client privilege and bank secrecy. If this is not enough English is an official language of Hong Kong and the bank personnel all speak fluent English. Hong Kong relations with the US and in turn their allies are at an all time low. It seems very doubtful that Hong Kong would be sharing any information with the USA and/or their allies. Also remember the official language of Hong Kong is English and Cantonese. The features and benefits of using Hong Kong are extensive.

Disadvantages – Hong Kong has a big time difference from North, Central and South America, roughly 12 hours. The time difference between the EU and Hong Kong will be about 8-9 hours. This means you will be relying on online banking and email more but the customer service is excellent by email, phone, and fax.

For more information go here:
Hong Kong Bank Accounts and Hong Kong Corporations

Pretty Good Asset Protection

Belize Bank Account
with Panama Corporation or Foundation

Advantages – Belize is another jurisdiction that has not signed any Tax Information Exchange Agreements except for one with Belgium. They have small but excellent banks with good customer service and online banking. The official language of Belize is English so you can expect fluency in English at the bank. Their banks respect client privacy. Some clients use Belize as a jurisdiction to first receive money into and then move the funds to another account with a different corporation in another jurisdiction. Doing it the other way around also works. This breaks up the money trail. Belize and Panama are about equal in protection offered but the customer service is better in Belize, the due diligence requirements are less and the banks will not bother the clients with information requests on wires anywhere near as much as Panama. We prefer Belize due to the fact that English is the official language, the online banking is in English and no bank reference letter is required. You need a notarized copy of a driver license, passport and a reference letter from a lawyer for Belize. This stays with the law firm and is covered by attorney client privilege and goes to the bank where it is covered by bank secrecy. Panama requires bank reference letters, which can be construed as a suspicious transaction in some countries. Panama also requires documents to be notarized and apostilled. The apostille office is likely to ask what the apostille is being used for, again suspicious transactions. You do not need to use a Belize corporation to bank in Belize. Using a Panama corporation which does not require any uncomfortable due diligence is excellent for banking in Belize. The same thing can be accomplished using a Nevis LLC to bank with in Belize.

Enhanced Belize Banking – A Nevis LLC opens the bank account in Belize. The shares of the Nevis LLC are owned by a Belize trust. This makes such assets by statue exempt from the decision of any foreign court. This is a highly effective and complex structure that is best explained by giving us a call.

Another method to strengthen the structure is to have two corporate bank accounts using different corporations at the same Belize bank. One account is used to send and receive wires while the other account is used to hold funds. The excess funds are moved over from the corporation bank account into the other corporate account at the same bank using the banks internal transfer system to avoid any external wire transfer trails. If there is an attack from a financial enemy it will be launched at the corporation account that sends and receives the wires which has very little money in the account since this is all that is visible to the outside world. The real assets are not in this corporate account and when trouble is detected at this corporate account the assets can be relocated. Thus your funds can be kept safe and secure in the concealed corporate account without anyone knowing about this bank account unless you tell them about it. To make things even more secure and confusing for a financial enemy we can have both of these corporations owned by a Belize trust this exempting them from the decision of a foreign court. Additionally one of these corporations could be aBelize corporation and the other a Nevis LLC, both being anonymous bearer share corporations. We can structure a number of different scenarios to suit your needs, these are just some suggestions. Please feel free to inquire.

For more information go here: Belize Banking

Pretty Good Asset Protection

These structures are going to be effective but are not the best or most secure solutions available. The strength of these structures is that it is most difficult to determine who is the owner of the structure and bank account. This presents a major obstacle for financial enemies pursuing you. Some people use several of these jurisdictions and structures simultaneously to spread their risk out. This is referred to as diversification of their asset protection structuring and is an excellent tactic.

For more information go here: Multi – Jurisdiction Banking Accounts

Nevis LLC with Nevis Bank Account - A Nevis LLC is a fully anonymous corporation offering excellent asset protection. The owners name cannot be looked up in any database or registry. The LLC does not have any share certificates. Instead the LLC has membership certificates which look like share certificates and these can be titled to a trust, foundation or even another corporation for an extra layer added protection. So you are not the owner of the membership certificates. This can be cost effectively done with a trust for an extra $1000. The Nevis LLC and Nevis Bank account is $1995.

The LLC is used to open a bank account with a Nevis bank. If you have a civil enemy and they wish to “try” pursuing you to Nevis they would have to first hire a Nevis attorney. The attorney will be most discouraging and probably charge high fees, think $25,000 retainer. He will say the chances of a recovery are very slight. Next, they would need to post a $25,000 cash bond with the court to bring the lawsuit. If we stop right here it is obvious that this Caribbean Island jurisdiction is a little known sleeper that has some excellent asset protection features. Nevis has English as its official language. The bank offers online banking and Visa and MasterCard plus debit cards. You can have an account holding USD, Euros and Pound Sterling with the Nevis Bank. The time to form the LLC and open the bank account is two to three weeks. The due diligence requirements notarized copy of passport and driver license, bank reference letter and professional reference letter from a lawyer, accountant or business that knows you and has done business with you.

Advantages – Being in a jurisdiction where someone not only has to hire an expensive local attorney (not a lot of lawyers in Nevis) to sue you but also has to post a $25,000 cash bond with the court for court costs if they lose is a definite deterrent to having someone sue in this jurisdiction. If they did wish to sue you it would be extremely difficult for them to prove you were the owner of the corporation used for the bank account since the LLC is so very anonymous. Then comes the bank secrecy blocking efforts to get bank records. Nevis has a lot of excellent features making it a cost effective asset protection jurisdiction.

Disadvantages – Nevis has signed some Tax Information Exchange Agreements. This means they will share information based solely on taxes. The countries it has signed with so far are: Belgium, UK, Netherlands Antilles, Netherlands, New Zealand, Denmark, Aruba and Lichtenstein. People from these counties should be aware of this and act accordingly. If this bothers you the same LLC can be used to open a bank account in Belize who has only one tax treaty with Belgium. If one wished to open up the corporate records in Nevis they would still have to post the $25,000 cash bond to the Nevis court. Nevis is a small island and thus can be subject to hurricane causing power outages, which could last for a few days.

For More Information go here: Nevis LLC Information and Laws

Panama Anonymous Corporation With Panama Bank Account

NOTE: Due to recent changes in the Legal Environment we no longer use Panama for anything.

This information is just for archival purposes and is not current.

Advantages – The Corporation is anonymous in that the owner’s names do not appear in any public registry or database. When wires come and go in the name of the corporation it is impossible to determine whom the natural persons are who own the corporation. This structure is good for conducting business in an offshore tax haven with privacy.

Disadvantages – The due diligence requirements required by Panama Banks is grueling and privacy invasive. The official language of Panama is Spanish and the bank personnel may or may not have English. The customer support is not what people from North America, Europe or Asia are used to and will find it frustrating. Bank personnel will not answer the phone if they are with someone and they can have a line of people in the branch waiting to see them. They often do not answer emails. This leaves you relying on online banking only. The banks are very quick to challenge wires asking for documentation regarding the wires. This can cause delays in accessing funds. Panama allows the US Coast Guard to interdict ships in their sovereign waters. They allow the US military to patrol their jungle border with Columbia. They allow the US Navy to use four bases in Panama. The IRS intends to open an office in Panama. This tends to make clients uncomfortable regarding banking in Panama.

A Word on Panama Corporations - We prefer Panama Corporations to be used for banking outside of Panama since no one knows who owns them except the lawyer who formed the corporation. It is rare to ever see an information request for a corporation since the corporation can be transferred to another person without having to tell the lawyer, making it possible to have a Panama Corporation and no one knows who owns it.

A Word on Panama Foundations – The Panama Private Interest Foundation is another asset protection tool that is anonymous in that the owner’s names are not filed in any public registry or database and in fact the government does not know who owns them just like the Panama bearer share corporations. A Panama foundation is not allowed to engage in business directly. If it does so it can be set aside as a non-legal structure. The best use for the Foundation is to own corporations that can engage in business without penalty. A Panama Foundation bank account by itself should only be used as a savings account or holding account not for business transactions directly.

For more information go here: Panama Bearer Share Corporation

Civil Only Asset Protection

Saint Vincent Grenadines Banking
With A Panama Corporation or Foundation

The bank in this jurisdiction will turn over account information only at the direction of the courts in Saint Vincent Grenadines. This is only for those who just want civil only asset protection. Any transaction incoming or outgoing over $5,000 needs to be explained and possibly documentation will be requested

Advantages – Small but responsive banking. Easy solution to going offshore.

Disadvantages – Small island jurisdiction with hurricane possibility.

For more information go here: Saint Vincent Grenadines Banking

Trust Enhancement

Trust Addition for Enhancement of Asset Protection Structure – You can strengthen any corporation or foundation banking package by adding in an International Asset Protection Trust. The trust is formed under the laws of Anguilla or we can use a Belize Trust. The trust can be the beneficiary owner of the shares of stock for the offshore corporation. The trust can also be used as a beneficiary of another Trust thus making the trail even more confusing and difficult to follow. The Anguilla Trusts are non-recorded trusts that do not appear in any public registry or database at all to make them even more secure. Belize Trusts appear in registries to show they exist but precious little other information is revealed.

For more information: International Asset Protection Trust