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We see web sites out there offering offshore services like assisting with bank account openings that offer to be the signer on the bank account for the client. This frequently results in trouble for the client. It does not matter if this takes place in Panama or anywhere else although I believe this is no longer allowed in Panama. In most jurisdictions if there is a professional like a lawyer or accountant signing on the bank account it needs to be revealed to the bank. Let us discuss signatory services in detail.
Trust Agreement Signatory Service – There is no good way to do this. The scenario involves the signatory at the bank to not be you. The bank does not know who you are. Someone else has complete control over your money. There are different manifestations of these all using some sort of a written instrument which the banks will not recognize as valid. You would have to go to court to get access to your money if you had trouble with the signatory. What would happen in court, how long would it take, what would it cost, what due diligence would be requested from you are all unknown variables. It is safe to assume going to court would be a miserable experience.
Does Attorney Client Privilege Help? - No it doesn't. If there is a request for information it will be form a government agency. If the lawyer or law firm refuses to acknowledge that he or she is acting for a client then they could be held responsible for the money. The money may be ill derived. No sane lawyer is going to conceal the client and take the potential fall. The signatory service no matter what it is called is just illusory providing no real asset protection just a lot of extra risks and extra fees.
How a Signatory Service Works – They have numerous clients usually at the same bank they are familiar with. They might be signing on 100 bank accounts. These accounts may be in the name of corporations, trusts, foundations etc. The point is that it is the same signatory on all the accounts. If one of these clients sends in dirty money then the trouble starts. The bank locks down the signatory bank accounts, all of them. Banks worry about themselves not clients. Think about it. When there is a criminal inquiry every account the signatory has at the bank will be frozen pending an investigation. People may have to wait a long time to get their money back. They may never get it back. They may have to go through due diligence investigations to get their money back. You can get caught up in a nightmare because of something another client of your signatory service did.
Trust Agreement Alternatives – As you can see the Trust Agreement or signatory service is more of an illusion than a serious asset protection vehicle. Trust agreement banking, international trust agreement banking and a signatory service are essentially the same thing. The risks are high, the fees high and well anything works if there are no inquiries doesn't it. The Belize Trust is a serious alternative, see below.
Belize Trust – The Belize Trust is immune from the decisions of foreign courts as long as the assets are in Belize. This is printed in their laws and we have these laws on our Belize Trust webpage:
http://www.panamalaw.org/belize_trusts_and_belize_bank_account.html
Your assets in Belize would be protected against civil judgements, divorce decisions, fraudulent conveyance, bankruptcy etc. There would be no ability to execute a foreign court decision against your assets in Belize that are owned by a Belize Trust. This scenario works if there is a corporation that has a bank account in Belize that is in turn owned by the Belize Trust making the corporation and its bank account an asset owned by the Belize Trust. Belize has no Tax Information Exchange Agreement with the USA. This is the best trust and only one protecting against fraudulent conveyance. We combine this with the Nevis LLC Corporation because Nevis does not even maintain a public registry for corporations and you are not listed as an owner of the corporation anywhere in Nevis. Your financial enemies will not knows this. If they try to bring an action in Nevis to discover ownership or something else they will have to post a $25,000 cash bond which they will most likely lose. They would also need to send their home country lawyer to Nevis to work with the Nevis lawyers which would be expensive. You can learn more about using Nevis LLC corporation in Belize here:
Now you have strong statutory asset protection, anonymous corporations, bank secrecy, complete control over your funds and no percentage fees to pay to any signatory service. Additionally you have peace of mind since you are in control and do not have to be concerned about what sort of problems other clients of the signatory service may create for the signatory service that spill over onto your money. Which do you think is a better solution?
Feel free to call, Skype of email to discuss asset protection needs with us.
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*Offshore Legal Associates Law Firm.We have no legal ties or associations with any other law firm or corporation with similar or like sounding names anywhere and should not be so confused with any other entity having a similar or like sounding name.