International Trust Agreement Banking

Introduction – International Trust Agreement banking is a means of maintaining additional privacy in your banking relationships. An international trust agreement is entered into with the Guatemala Law Firm. You are the "Trustor" or the “Grantor” and the Law Firm is the "Trustee". The Trustee holds assets on behalf of the beneficiary. The Trustee actually is the one listed on the bank records, your name never appears in any bank records or bank documents.

You are not the signatory nor are you the beneficial owner of the account. The Trustee does need to know who you are so identity documents are required such as a notarized copy of a driver’s license and passport sent by scan or courier. These documents never go to the bank. Bank reference letters, which are often treated as reportable suspicious transactions, are never required. The identity documents also serve to protect you as well from anyone claiming to be you.

We also have additional safeguards against this that are confidential. You have a written agreement with the Trustee detailing all the terms of the agreement. You direct the Trustee to disburse funds, move funds, and invest funds etc as you wish according to the terms and conditions of the international trust agreement. The Trust Agreement is covered by attorney client privilege. The bank cannot turn over any information on you because they have none.

Information Requests – If there is a request for information regarding a civil matter (judgment, divorce, bankruptcy, etc) the request will be ignored and put in the paper shredder. In the event that a request for information is made to the bank under a tax treaty or a MLAT treaty from a national government this is what will happen. The bank will have to turn over the account information listing the signatory and beneficiary owner as the Guatemala law firm. Banks have no options, they must comply. The law firm will be contacted and refuse to reveal any information about the client (you). The matter will eventually wind up in a Guatemala court if the requesting government wishes to pursue the matter and spend the time and money to do so.

They often do not have the funds, time and resources to this and instead will chase the other low hanging fruit where there is a greater chance of recovering money for their government. As soon as the law firm is aware of any request for information you will be contacted and most likely you will want your funds moved to another jurisdiction rapidly and such a request we would be obliged to comply with. The requesting nation would need to come to Guatemala if they are so inclined to try and find out whom the client is. They will hire local Guatemala counsel to represent them and attempt to use the courts to force the law firm to reveal who the client is. They will argue suspicions and try to get the records that way.

The usual offenses are fraud, conspiracy, and of course money laundering (Guatemala has restructured their money laundering laws to prevent frivolous money laundering actions) and such allegations require evidence, not just suspicions. Rarely does evidence exist. Tax only matters are not going to fly. The law firm is not a bank that has to comply. Breaking attorney client privilege is a very serious matter in Guatemala and it will take evidence of a major crime like kidnapping, blackmail, extortion, murder, narcotics trafficking, slavery, forced prostitution or child pornography.

Without evidence the action will fail. The lawyer sent by the requesting country will start testifying about how bad they need this information and how sure they are that once they get it they can make their case. This does not work in Guatemala. The attorney from the requesting country will immediately be accused of testifying (lawyers are not supposed to testify in court) and asked to waive his or her diplomatic immunity exposing them to charges of perjury and contempt of court. This is where it will normally end since the attorney from the requesting country is not going to expose himself to such charges.

International Trust Agreements – The Trust Agreement can be custom designed to provide you with the flexibility, convenience, security and privacy that you require. Wire requests, bank check requests, payments etc. can be transmitted to the Trustee securely for prompt execution using a secure encrypted email address on one of our servers that we supply clients with. These servers are encrypted and kept under armed guard plus technical surveillance 24/7. The Trustee can be removed or replaced at any time by the Trustor. The Trustor is able to revoke/cancel the international trust agreement at anytime and take legal control and or ownership over all corporations and bank accounts and all other assets included in the international trust agreement with 24 hours notice. The trustee can be directed to manage investments according to any agreed upon criteria. For example the Trustee can invest funds into bonds, real estate, and other businesses according to your specific instructions contained in the agreement. The Trustee cannot reveal the name of Trustor and the Trustee in writing agrees to maintain absolute identity secrecy of Trustor and there is attorney client privilege to assure this does not get pierced. This is the only way we know to protect the privacy and security of the client in this day with all the intrusions into banking privacy.

Asset Endangerment & Distress Clause – The Trustee may or may not be authorized to take protective measures in the event that your assets become endangered or at risk. The risk factors can be specifically detailed in the Trust Agreement. The protective measures the Trustee is authorized to take can also be specifically detailed in the International Trust Agreement. A number of different protective scenarios can be accomplished depending on the potential risk factors and potential financial enemies. Such an asset endangerment clause may read as follows:

The Trustor specifically agrees that in the event that possible legal problems may occur that the Trustee may do any and all legal acts to protect and secure the Trustor’s Asset and Person. The Trustee specifically agrees to immediately notify the Trustor of any and all such bank account and or assets jurisdictional and or location transfer and all details as may be required by the Trustor.

If you are under duress the Trustee may be directed in the Trust Agreement to take protective measure to secure your assets until you are out of duress. The definition of duress can be spelled out to include things like lawsuits, bankruptcies, divorce, medical incapacitation and other events. The documentation of such events can be detailed in the agreement as well as the documentation required for the distress even to be considered to be over.

Trust Agreement Records – The Trustee shall maintain and make available to the Trustor as required all accounting records, which shall be maintained in a safe and secure location covered by attorney client privilege.

Judicial Seals – As an additional measure a Judicial Seal from a Magistrate can be placed on the bank records and the Trust Agreement. The Judicial Seal makes it harder for anyone to get into those documents even using the court and legal system. The Magistrate that executed the seal must release the records or a higher court can do so. This is a most unlikely event in Guatemala.

What is a Trust Company – This is a company that is not a law firm that can sign on bank accounts for clients in some countries. There is usually a license and a cash bond required. Anyone can start a trust company, one need not be a lawyer or even have a high school education. There is generally no test required. A trust company does not have attorney client privilege to protect the client. The key to the International Trust Agreement banking is the attorney client privilege. A trust company signing on the bank account for the client will have to provide source of funds documents to the bank on a substantial incoming amount of funds. They will have to reveal who the client is and show the underlying contracts etc. Do not be deceived, a trust company affords nowhere near the amount of privacy and protection that a law firm with attorney client privilege can provide.

Banks We Use – We only use quality banks not in any jurisdiction considered to be an offshore tax haven. The bank will have online banking in English and Spanish. We use banks in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mexico and Ecuador. Accounts can be held in US Dollars, Euros and other currencies, inquire. The attorney client privilege in Guatemala is extremely strong, world class. Guatemala is not known to cooperate with any other jurisdiction when it comes to sharing information for any reason other than major criminality like: terrorism, murder, genocide, blackmail and kidnapping.

Offshore Derived Income Taxes – Offshore derived income is not taxed by the countries we bank in.

Identification – We need a notarized copy of a passport and driver license sent by scan attached to an email, or sent by courier or fax. Fax must be readable. We DO NOT need any bank references or utility bills. If there is difficulty with these requirements feel free to discuss your unique circumstances with us. We cannot work without a passport copy notarized.

Time Frame – From start to completion including a bank account can be accomplished in one week or less. We can allow one to wire money into our attorney client trust account in as little as 24 hours. Then the money will be moved over to your corporate bank account when ready. We can make arrangements to wire funds in to our attorney client trust account in as little as 24 hours.

Fees – The fees for the Trust Agreement Banking are $8000, which includes an anonymous corporation (we use corporations formed in the same country as the bank for simplicity and this does not weaken the structure at all), the international trust agreement including a distress clause, and a bank account. There is an additional 4% to 5% charged on all funds deposited into the account. Questions welcome. The law firm is responsible for those funds and wishes to be compensated for this. We know of no other safe secure and private way to bank in the current legal environment with all the new treaties being signed around the world.

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