Offshore Accounts – Additional Jurisdictions to Consider

In our earlier articles, we discussed some of the most famous jurisdictions for opening an offshore account. Besides these jurisdictions there are many other jurisdiction around the world which offer the services for an offshore account. Most of these jurisdictions have some common features:

Privacy: Privacy is considered a one of the main benchmarks for offshore accounts and one of the most common reason for people to concern opening an offshore account. However whereas the information of the account holder is kept confidential, the banks are required in almost all offshore jurisdictions to complete an entire background check of the applicant and review the account constantly to protect against money laundering and other illegal activities.

Taxation: Most Offshore jurisdictions are heavily dependent on the foreign investment for their development.  In order to encourage investment n their financial sector, most offshore companies offer various tax incentives which can range from total exemption on earnings including interest earned on funds to very small taxation and various double taxation treaties to help better management of taxes for the account holders.

Prohibition to engage in local commerce: Most offshore companies prohibit offshore companies and investors to engage and local commercial activities. For this reason there is a clear demarcation between local and foreign banks and the the laws including tax laws differ for local and offshore companies.

Some of the other noteworthy jurisdictions for opening an offshore account are listed below:

Panama: Panama is probably the only country which is yet to sign any information exchange treaties. Being home to the strategic panama canal, the country has a lot of bargaining power with USA because of which it has managed to keep the strictest privacy laws in the world even n the post 9/11 scenario. The rules for secrecy and confidentiality of the affairs of the bankers are a part of the constitution of Panama. Furthermore there are no income or capital gains tax.

Singapore: Singapore offers great incentives to non resident companies and offshore accounts holders in terms of tax and privacy and also provides access to the Chinese market for investment in trading and investment activities. The companies are not considered offshore however tax is exempt on international income. Singapore has gained popularity as one of the man financial hubs of Asia and been the main competition for Switzerland.

Cyprus:  Cyprus is an island in the Mediterranean sea with access to norther Africa, Southern Europe and Middle East. It has historically been a prominent tax haven but has modified the terms of its business since entering EU. Cyprus however still offers the lower tax rates in EU and many double taxation treaties which can be used effectively to manage tax. Even though the popularity of Cyprus as a destination for offshore companies is decreasing, many companies and individuals still prefer to keep their offshore accounts in Cyprus because of its professional European environment, high level of secrecy and professional banking services..

A non exhaustive list of offshore companies is given below:

Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua, Aruba, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belize, , Bermuda ,British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Djibouti, Dominica, Ghana[2][3], Gibraltar, Grenada, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Isle of Man, Israel, Japan, Jersey, Labuan Malaysia, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, London, Luxembourg, Macau, Malta, Marianas, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia, Montserrat, Nauru, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Panama, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Samoa, Seychelles, Singapore, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Switzerland, Tahiti, Tangier, Thailand, Turks and Caicos, United States, Uruguay, Vanuatu

An offshore account however depends as much on the bank as the country and even though many countries offer better attractions to open an offshore account, it is very important to evaluate your need and consultation with experts before deciding on where to open an offshore account. In the coming articles we will discuss the main considerations and procedures while opening an offshore bank account.

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This article is brought to you by the DeltaQuest Group. For more information on Offshore Bank Accounts and How to Open an Offshore Account, please visit My Offshore Companies.