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Contents

Welcome to my Offshore World 5

Where and What is Offshore? 9

Why Go Offshore? 11

Is it Legal? 14

Bank Secrecy and Reporting Requirements 15

Getting Started Offshore 18

A Special Note for US Citizens and Residents 19

A Special Note for EU Citizens and Residents 25

Do You Need a Trust, Corporation or Foundation? 28

Do You Need an Intermediary to open an Offshore Account? 29

How Q Wealth Can Help You 30

Choosing the Right for Your Offshore Account 31

Understanding the Products on Offer 36

Opening Your Offshore Account 40

Operating Your Offshore Account 42

Appendix A: EU Savings Tax Directive, Table of Jurisdictions 44

Appendix B: Q Wealth Recommended 47

Appendix C: Q Wealth’s Free Bank Referral Service 58

Personal Account Application Form 59

Welcome to my Offshore World: from the desk of Peter Macfarlane

The Practical Offshore Banking Guide is now in its eighth year, and we are approaching the twentieth year that I have been writing specifically on offshore banking matters for Q Wealth readers. The changes we have seen, even since I last edited this guide in December 2013, are startling.

During 2014 we saw FATCA really starting to bite. If you are a new reader who is not yet familiar with FATCA, it is briefly explained later in this guide. The startling reality of several bank we have regularly dealt with for years, is that they have found themselves completely cut off from the global banking system, unable to receive wire transfers in any currency (not just dollars). This is not the direct result of any law, but simply of ‘policy decisions’ by big global banks, who are under pressure from their respective governments and ultimately from Uncle Sam.

Last summer, such a policy decision to withdraw from the “Money Service Business” market by Bank in London saw Somalia basically cut off from its lifeline of remittances from Somalis abroad, since the licensed money transfer businesses specializing in Somalia were no longer able to transfer funds through the banking system. This would naturally have caused genuine hardship, as well as forcing people to use illegal, unlicensed money transfer services. In the end, political pressure was brought to bear and Barclays relented.

There’s a very close parallel, however, between these two cases. The offshore banking sector is also considered “risky” and many banks in the offshore world are in the same position as the Somali remittance businesses. The difference is that nobody is going to stand up and apply political pressure to help them keep their correspondent accounts. On the contrary: recent scandals involving HSBC , FBME, Caledonian Bank and Banca Privada d’, to name just a few, have seen the populist press “exposing” the private information of account holders who are assumed guilty until proven innocent.

The offshore sector is therefore also becoming polarized: the dirty money will head closer to the fringes of illegality and unlicensed or non-compliant financial institutions; whereas the clean money is increasingly forced to ‘hide in plain sight’.

Whilst we certainly don’t want to dwell on dirty money here, there are still a few people out there who have hidden, undeclared accounts (often set up one or more generations back) and I would urge them to regularize them urgently. Don’t just sit there and wait for the inevitable to happen. There are some pretty painless ways to make things better it if you take good professional advice. A few years ago at our firm we saw Americans trying to regularize their situations: now it is the turn of Europeans.

And, in the of pure entertainment, frankly Q Wealth readers always have a fascination for the slightly seedier side of things: at conferences everybody wants to know where to find those non- compliant institutions. My take on this? There’s a very high probability that non-compliant institutions will simply steal your money sooner or later. If you want to take on the system and win, you might be better off seeking out non-compliant bankers within compliant institutions! I will say no more.

Anyway, getting back to the polarization, I’ve borne in mind on my travels during the past eighteen months, during which I’ve visited many new banks. I’ve been looking for banks that don’t look, smell or feel offshore, but offer the kind of discreet international services readers want.

I’ve also, by popular demand, been looking for modern, forward thinking offshore banks that will take on the business of our younger readers. These people may not have much net worth yet but are tomorrow’s successful internet and trading entrepreneurs. They want to do it right and build their fortunes offshore from the beginning, rather than trying to extricate themselves from tax nets later. They need banks that open accounts with low deposits, are happy to carry out commercial payment and e-commerce type transactions, and have first class IT and internet banking infrastructure.

I’ve found a few new banks in each category.

In an ironic turn, the offshore banking market is definitely hotting up – some banks have now already made their FATCA policy decisions and are once again keen to attract even US citizens, something unthinkable just a year ago. However, they are trying to be more discreet and low profile than ever.

While this discretion clearly benefits the banks and their clients, it presents me with something of a dilemma. Many of the best offshore banks I deal with refuse flat out to have their names published in a manual like this one - even though it circulates to a selective, limited audience. In spite of this I’ve done my best and actually succeeded in substantially expanding our listing of banks this year. However, more than ever before, I would urge readers to “read between the lines” and make use of the free contact form at the end of this guide. There are things we can say in private emails that we simply cannot put in print.

“Ultimately, what you choose to do with your money will have a lot more influence on government than how you vote! That’s not how it should be, but it’s the reality.”

Peter Macfarlane

So how do I see offshore banking in 2015-2016? A lot of pundits are saying that private offshore banking is dead. Well, maybe that’s what they want you to believe, but nothing could be further from the truth.

There has certainly been a crackdown around the world on . But offshore banking is not about tax evasion. There are plenty of ways to reduce your tax bill legally using offshore structures, though the precise details depend a lot on your citizenship and residence. You’ll find plenty of information on this in The Q Wealth Report, as well as contact information for many honest and reputable specialists who can help you through this maze.

A decade and a half ago when I started writing about offshore banking, times were good and one of the main motivations for going offshore was, indeed, reducing . These days, with the world economy in chaos, taxes are a relatively minor part of the problem. For example, we have already seen governments in the such as Hungary and France seizing retirement funds in order to service government debt. Despite what the mainstream media would have you believe, in 2015 we are not out of crisis at all – we are deeper into it than ever. The evidence is all around you if you open your eyes to it.

Is there any good news for 2015? Yes, absolutely. Americans and Europeans still can – and in my opinion should, though time is running out – open offshore structures and bank accounts. When retirement accounts have been seized and full currency controls have been introduced, it will be too late!

Getting your nest egg safely offshore and diversified into different asset classes and currencies should be a priority – and you should do it while you still can!

Despite the political and economic pressures exerted by EU, US and some of the notorious international organizations like OECD and FATF, the leading offshore financial centres have lived through, adjusted, improved and are now doing better than ever. Maybe because so many people and businesses worldwide have voted with their wallets and have chosen to do business offshore. And this is actually the reason why offshore banking has become a political hot potato. Not because it’s been killed off, but because it’s doing so well and attracting smarter individuals.

We’ve also updated this guide generally, to reflect the fast pace of change in the offshore banking world. We’ve included new contacts and removed and/or updated some old ones. Remember that old information can be out of date and dangerous. That’s why it’s important as a member of Q Wealth that you keep an eye on our blog and Q Bytes email newsletters, as well as catching up on the more meaty topics in the quarterly Q Wealth Report.

What about the banker’s point of view? Running an offshore bank and dealing with the myriad of rules in various different countries is not easy. That’s why many banks prefer to concentrate on their domestic market and simply turn away business from other countries. Those that do international business need specialist international lawyers on their teams. The cost of banking offshore, in terms of fees and the like, has frankly increased a lot in the last few years at all the banks we work with. Unfortunately, this is a cost we have to bear. As the old saying goes, freedom is not free.

I can’t stress enough the importance of dealing with people who think like us. Our recommended bankers understand your motivation and will do everything they can to help you.

Anyway, enough ranting. The rest of this guide is – as the title suggests – practical information about offshore banking.

Contrary to the propaganda, going offshore is completely legal. There are numerous legitimate reasons for going offshore, and more individuals and major corporations are jumping ship every day to land up in secure banking havens. As governments get more vicious and seek even more ways to get at your money, you want to be offshore more than ever.

Bottom line? There are plenty of ways you can protect your assets offshore, especially against less obvious threats like stealth devaluation. This guide is an introduction to some of those methods. If after reading it, you have questions relating to your personal situation, you can talk to my firm or to your preferred attorney or tax expert.

No doubt offshore has an emotional side. We’ve all seen the movies. Offshore banking conjures up images of touching down in light planes on remote islands rimmed by crystal clear blue seas and white sand beaches, or of driving high up into the Swiss mountains around hairpin bends. I’ve certainly tried both, and my career has taken me to some interesting places. But in reality, most offshore banking these days is done in far less romantic places like London, Zurich or New York.

Another important emotional factor is what people around us think. There are those who suggest that taking advantage of other legal systems is somehow wrong. Personally I believe the opposite. I believe governments are parasites. That said, of course we must respect and operate within the laws of where we choose to live. After all, if we don’t like them, we can leave – right?

More and more people are doing just that – voting with their feet. Helping people with expatriation and second citizenship is an increasing focus of our efforts here at Q Wealth for 2014. It’s beyond the scope of this particular guide, but you will find more about it in the Q Wealth Members Area. Please read all of it carefully in conjunction with the information in this guide. In case you haven’t read between the lines, what I mean is that changing your residence and/or citizenship can change your banking panorama completely. Hint hint. Keep this in mind as you read the following pages.

This guide is a purely practical roadmap for taking those first steps in offshore banking – dipping your toes in the water. This is the how and the why... and the who.

The “who” – our list of recommended financial institutions – you’ll find in Appendix B.

However, I would ask you to please read this guide first, so you know what to expect. I’m sorry I have to say this, but based on experience from previous years, I must request: Please do not bother our banker friends unnecessarily, if you are merely curious, as they are very busy people: define your ideas clearly, take professional advice if necessary, and ONLY THEN contact the bankers when you are ready to do business. If you would feel more comfortable having your hand held, then take advantage of our free consultation offer, rather than trying to get advice from busy bankers. They are not call centers or salespeople – these are good, kind-hearted individual people who think like us, share our philosophies and want to help individuals like you, so we do not want them to be swamped by calls from people who have no real intention of doing any business.

I do hope you find this guide extremely useful, and I welcome your feedback as always.

Kind regards

Peter Macfarlane

Somewhere Offshore

February 2015

Where and What is Offshore?

Nobody quite seems to agree on where the word “offshore” first came from – but it most likely developed in the UK. The ( and ) went into the business soon after the end of the Second World War. Their unusual constitutional status gave them independence in all domestic affairs, including taxation and banking regulation. It didn’t take them long to realise that they could offer a safe, tax-free haven for moderately wealthy, middle class Brits who were being persecuted by successive Labour governments, desperate to pay off the debts of the Second World War.

During the 1970s, Labour governments in the raised taxes as high as 95% and restricted export of currency. Whilst the super rich had always looked to , the Channel Islands provided a convenient, close, English-speaking alternative for overtaxed Brits looking to move more modest wealth “offshore.”

During the 1980s and the 1990s, dozens of Caribbean island nations renounced their status as colonies and broke away from Britain (and to a lesser extent France). On becoming independent sovereign nation states, they, too, saw as a way to quick profits. Within easy reach of North America, they focused more on the US and Canadian markets, offering “no questions asked” banking services for those wishing to hide cash. We’ve all seen the movies about so called “Samsonite banking.”

Although leftist or populist politicians sometimes still try to tar the image of offshore islands with the brush of money-laundering, and tax evasion, the fact is that these economies today are generally prosperous and well regulated international financial centres that contribute in a meaningful and beneficial way to oiling the works of global commerce. Things like hedge funds and captive insurance may be demonized by left-wingers, but in reality they are essential elements of the financial system, providing access and capital. And most of this business is done offshore.

Today most offshore centres prefer to be known as international financial centres, avoiding the “offshore” or “” appellations which they believe have negative connotations. While that may be true, the word “offshore” lives on.

Here at The Q Wealth Report we don’t want to give in to political correctness and we happen to like the word “offshore.” It’s become part of the English language and we see no reason to change it. Most people know what we mean when we say “offshore banking” and people understand something specific... unlike “international finance” which could mean almost anything!

Anyway, getting back to our theme, although the word “offshore” was originally coined because of the small island nations involved in the business, today it has become generally accepted as meaning any place outside your home country. For example, to Brits the USA is offshore, and vice versa. Landlocked Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Andorra don’t have any sea shore at all, but they very much fit into our modern definition of offshore banking.

Tax Avoidance or Tax Evasion? An important difference to understand

According to a formulation by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), an offshore tax haven is a jurisdiction which actively makes itself available for the avoidance of taxes which would otherwise be paid in a higher tax jurisdiction.

The keyword here is “tax avoidance”. There is another one: “tax evasion”. Tax avoidance is legal, while tax evasion is a crime. Basically, tax avoidance is structuring ones’ business affairs in such a way that minimum possible amount of tax is payable, without breaking the law.

An offshore jurisdiction is one that offers attractive instruments or opportunities for tax avoidance, and for personal financial privacy, and for asset protection.

In a judgement that formed the basis of US tax avoidance law for decades, Judge Learned Hand famously wrote: "Any one may so arrange his affairs that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which will best pay the Treasury; there is not even a patriotic duty to increase one's taxes… " Gregory v. Helvering, 69 F.2d 809, 810-11 (2d Cir. 1934).

Why Go Offshore?

Every client has a slightly different motivation for going offshore. Frequently, asset protection may not be motivated by tax at all, although both are related: protecting your assets against depletion by taxation or inflation is every bit as important as protecting against attacks in court. Bottom line: If you don’t feel comfortable with what your government is doing at home, if you don’t trust the politicians not to steal your hard-earned assets... it’s just safer to be offshore!

Conservative banks that don't need constant bailouts, strict statutory secrecy regulations supported by stiff criminal penalties for those who might breach them, blanket confidentiality provisions for trust and company firms, zero information on public files such as bureaux, and the ease of opening multi-currency and precious metals accounts are only some of the reasons why your assets might be better protected offshore than onshore – even though you will declare the account to the tax authorities in your home country if you are required to do so.

Credit bureaux, in particular, have become a scourge on modern society. While they certainly serve a useful role by allowing people to qualify for credit if they want to, there is simply no way you can opt out of them if you are not interested in borrowing money. This is plain immoral in my view. Despite unenforceable ‘privacy protection’ laws to the contrary, this means that basically anyone with internet access can check your bank balance at any time – sometimes with disastrous consequences. Unless, of course, you only use offshore accounts – which never report to anybody.

The Offshore Safe Haven

A lot of offshore investments used to come from countries where political turmoil and civil strife threatened the wealth of productive people. For example, Miami became a major regional financial centre because it offered the security, safety and stability of the of America to businessmen and wealthy families from Latin America at a time when the region was characterised by devaluations, government thefts and ruthless dictatorships who imprisoned people for victimless crimes.

Today, however, the tables are turned. Today we see lots of Americans and Europeans (besides those same wealthy Latin Americans) seeking a safe haven for their money outside the US and the European Union, as they see the economy imploding and the dollar losing its value. In a twist of irony, a lot of that Miami money is heading today the other way to 'safe havens' like , Nevis, Uruguay or the .

Smart money doesn’t want to depend on the economy of just one country or indeed one currency. Small offshore havens – neutral countries with very conservative economies – are able to offer the necessary safety and security. For example, no Swiss bank has collapsed ever in history, ever! Whereas since 2007, according to bankimplode.com, nearly 600 onshore banking institutions have collapsed and counting... most of them in the USA.

We’re not saying that you will lose money in major western banks today either. To take the example of the USA, even though it is well known that the FDIC does not have adequate reserves to cover a major bank failure like Citigroup or Bank of America, the government would likely bail out the depositors.

But therein lies the problem as well as the solution. Having the same bank balance before and after your bank collapses doesn't help you if that balance is then worth less. Every time the Fed or the ECB fire up the printing press, the dollar and the euro are worth less. That is why you need to hold a diversified currency portfolio including precious metals. And that, dear reader, you can do much better offshore.

Offshore Expertise

In a global economy, you need global expertise. Where do you find it? In countries that rely on international business for their livelihoods. Would you prefer to buy a watch made in Australia, the US or Switzerland? You would probably go for the Swiss because of their worldwide reputation for “superlative” quality (to coin a phrase from Rolex).

Well, banking services are the same. Switzerland and London are much more international in their outlook than New York or Paris. The service is simply better and more sophisticated. Unfortunately, I fear that London's days as a financial centre are numbered – because the British government's populist policies seem intent on bashing successful bankers and attacking the framework of the system. Financial capital is less important than populist political capital.

Most offshore banks focus their non-resident services in just one or two offices (per country, in the case of multi-jurisdictional banks) where their best people are put to work as a team. This is in contrast to or onshore banks who try to serve clients through hundreds or thousands of branches, and call centres in India or the Philippines. Of course both groups will give you advice (in return for commissions) but you cannot expect anything like the same level of expertise.

Can you imagine a banker in Philadelphia who is qualified to advise you on how you can gear your returns by taking a in Japanese Yen then investing the loan proceeds in South African bonds for a higher return? There might be a few, but don’t hold your breath. This kind of expertise is routinely found in offshore private banks, even in small offices. Channels of communication in offshore banks are much shorter.

Offshore Access

You may not have realised this, but if you live in a country like the USA or UK many of the most attractive investments in the world are off-limits to you because of regulatory requirements. We’re not talking about dodgy “high yield prime bank off balance sheet trading schemes” here. We are talking about mutual funds run by the divisions of big American or British banks, or smaller niche funds that allow smaller investors to participate in hugely successful funds such as Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway.

Complicated regulatory approval procedures and complying with legislation such as Sarbanes-Oxley and now FATCA make it impractical for many foreign businesses to do business with Americans and Brits. Most of the world’s smart money is already offshore, and it’s easier for many banks simply to reserve their best investments for sophisticated offshore clients, while preparing ‘sucker funds’ for their domestic markets.

The UK is another case in point. The recent “ Regulations” statutory instrument has driven a lot of expat and non-resident trust business offshore. London used to be a major international financial centre for the offshore world, a safe haven where wealthy foreigners knew they could rely on English common law to protect the confidentiality of their business transactions. Under the new rules, however, businesses such as company formation agents, trust providers and even accommodation addresses (maildrops) are required to keep confidential information on their clients available for inspection any time – no need for warrant or even just cause – by inspectors of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. Due process has become a thing of the past.

The good news is that even today, it is quite simple to change the country of origin of your funds. How? By using an or trust. This makes your funds let’s say Panamanian, then any international bank will be able accept your funds without regulatory problems. It’s not quite that simple, but that is the principle. We’ll look at this in more detail shortly.

Is it Legal?

Aren’t all offshore havens used by crooks and money-launderers?

Well, aren’t London, New York or Miami banks used by them, too? Offshore tax havens have for decades been the target of blackmail and slander campaigns by the governments of the powerful high-tax jurisdictions. Your government would most assuredly like you to believe that offshore tax havens are only used by fraudsters and criminals – but that’s completely unjustified.

While there will be a rotten apple in any basket (especially if the basket is big enough), 99% of all business transacted through offshore companies is completely legitimate. In fact, due to the inherent need to keep their reputations squeaky clean, most of the leading tax haven countries nowadays have much better systems to detect and prevent financial crime and money-laundering than the big, powerful nations who criticise them. Study after study carried out by the bureaucrats reinforces this point.

Bank Secrecy and Reporting Requirements

Bank secrecy is a fantasy full of myth and legend!

Yes, it does still exist! There are plenty of jurisdictions around the world where you can reasonably expect your to remain secret.

Let’s be clear on one thing: We don’t recommend at all that you rely on this as a means of failing to declare your accounts, if you live in a country where you are required to declare them. Such activity would be a recipe for problems. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t seek private banking opportunities if you’ve done nothing wrong. There is no reason why you should not have bank secrecy as one of your levels of asset protection, providing you comply with all applicable laws.

As long as you comply with all laws, you are fully entitled to hide your money as much as you like. Even today, even in restrictive countries like the US and the UK, there is no law that prohibits hiding your own money. You are innocent until proven guilty, unless you are a terrorist suspect. And if, like us, you are uncomfortable with government snooping intrusion in your financial affairs, then bank secrecy is still going to be a priority for you in 2015-2016 - on moral grounds if nothing else. The good news is that you can still find it.

On the other hand, there is nowhere on the planet where bank secrecy will stand up against specific attacks from major Western governments. I repeat: nowhere. Forget what you might have heard about some governments “selling out” and others not.

Obviously, if someone just walks in off the street to ask about your account, they’ll be given a cold shoulder. But nobody serious will waste their time doing that. If anyone ever asks your offshore bank about you, the person doing the asking be a representative of the local government in the offshore haven, who has been persuaded to do so by some foreign authority, likely under the terms of an Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) or a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT)

You can spend days searching around to open your account in the jurisdiction with the strictest privacy laws and with the fewest treaties. However, if someone with official authority is on the warpath against a specific name or account number, it really won’t make an iota of difference. Treaties are really just for show. Any bank, anywhere in the world, will co-operate. Your privacy advantage (and it’s a big one) is that the government will first need to know that the account exists, under what name, and in which bank. Without that information, investigators can get almost nowhere.

Banks might claim that they will respect your confidentiality. They might even hold out for a while. If you have taken the time and trouble to maintain an excellent relationship with your bank, they might tip you off that someone was asking questions... but in the end, they will reveal all. I promise you.

I thought Liechtenstein had some of the strictest privacy laws. In fact it did, and still does. But, if someone breaks those laws, the fact that they are wanted for a criminal offence in Liechtenstein probably won’t be of much comfort to you. That’s exactly what happened in a famous case you have no doubt heard about, when a former bank employee sold a list of account holders to German and British tax authorities for five million euros. Another more recent case involved data stolen from HSBC Bank in Geneva, passed to the French and British tax authorities, and later to the public at large.

How can you protect your account against such data theft? This is a very important question – even more important, in my view, than looking at treaties.

Think... why did the Germans buy records from Liechtenstein, and the French from Geneva? Because they know people are lazy. People go to the obvious offshore banks in nearby places that speak the same language. By banking on the other side of the world, you can substantially reduce the risk of your bank being subject to a data theft like this.

Also, be sure to ask your bank about their data protection policies. Not all banks are created equal. The best offshore banks offer numbered accounts where your name appears nowhere in the computer system. It is kept only on paper, in a safe. While malevolent employees or moles placed by governments may gain access to data stored on a computer, it is very hard for them to gain access to a physical safe.

In another recent UK case, it was shown that it was actually easier for the British to obtain information on a bank account on the offshore island of Guernsey, than it was from a bank in the mainland UK! Guernsey now bends over backwards to appear co-operative.

Local courts there will just rubber stamp any application for co-operation they get from places like the UK or the USA without giving them serious attention.... Whereas in the mainland UK, judges still sometimes actually ask some questions and demand to see real evidence of a crime before allowing the police to conduct a fishing expedition into a suspect’s banking records.

And in case you think that’s an isolated example, it’s symptomatic of the attitude in all the ‘British’ havens.

I heard of one case in Jersey where the local authorities were so keen to sell out one of their clients that they actually offered to send one of their investigators to New York and back to hand carry the documents, as they were concerned that a regular courier company would be too slow. This, please note, was not requested by the American authorities but was offered by Jersey!

So much for offshore confidentiality!

Beyond that, there is another very important, and relatively cheap and simple way, that can protect against both data theft and government snooping. That is by keeping your account in another name. No, I don’t mean you need to get a fake passport, Jason Bourne style. You can put your account in the name of a company, LLC, trust or similar entity created especially for this purpose. All records will then be held in the name of this entity, rather than in your personal name.

You must verify that there are no routine reporting requirements between the bank where you opened your account and any tax authority that has any possible in you. If they do not file any reports, the bank will not be a source of any leaks – until and unless somebody asks them directly about your account. If that happens, you should always assume the worst case scenario – that they will spill the beans immediately.

It is therefore up to you to tell absolutely no one about your offshore account. Jealous ex-spouses and business partners are a major threat to your offshore accounts – besides having every other kind of damaging information on you. Everything may be fine now, but who knows what will happen to your relationships over the next few years. If you want to keep your account secret, you have to keep your mouth shut. Never leave any records of your secret accounts where others can access them.

We repeat: the only real way to keep a bank account private is to tell absolutely no one about it. Keep any electronic records encrypted.

The best offshore banking jurisdiction for you will be determined by the type of bank you need and the services you require. The rest of this report will help you make the right decision. You should read this in conjunction with personalised advice from a competent professional who is familiar with your situation.

Getting Started Offshore

Opening a bank account offshore may appear, at first glance, to be a very paperwork-intensive process. It’s certainly no longer just a matter of filling out a form on the internet then mailing off a copy of your passport, as it was back in the eighties and early nineties.

But don’t despair. You’ll need a good dose of patience. Please don’t get angry with your banker! He or she will ask lots of questions about your financial affairs that even you may not know the answers to! You will also need to be able to follow step-by-step instructions precisely. If you can do that, and your money is clean, you are in.

People sometimes forget that banks are in business to receive deposits! The main thing constraining them from doing business with you is bureaucracy and 'reputational risk'. Banks want clients and they will look for ways take your deposit if they possibly can do so, within the regulatory framework they have to abide by.

The more substantial your business, of course, the more accommodating they will be. By this I don’t mean that banks are corrupt. I just mean that if you want to invest a thousand dollars, bankers naturally have to apply a systematic, cookie-cutter approach administered by low-level personnel – in the trade it’s called “check the box compliance”. If you don’t fit in to that, they will just refuse your business.

On the other hand if you have even a hundred thousand or a few million to invest, they will take the time to look more fully at your personal circumstances and can afford to dedicate more high level, better qualified staff time to dealing with you. Your account application will be reviewed directly by the people who have the power to make decisions and the will to accommodate you as best they can.

It’s worth mentioning that some readers in the past have wanted to open an account with the minimum balance, with a view to making a much larger deposit later if they are satisfied with the service. While that might make sense in most business relationships, in offshore banking it is probably not a good strategy. If the banks see serious money you will get better service from the start.

A Special Note for U.S. Citizens and Residents

(If you are not American, I recommend you read this section anyway – you’ll then see why it could still have a big impact on you!)

The USA is the only country in the world to tax its people based upon their citizenship rather than their “residency”. Therefore while a US person is abroad, they continue to be subject to US taxation in addition to being taxed by their new country of residence.

US ‘persons’, as they are called in tax jargon, are therefore a very special case. The term US ‘person’ refers to all citizens and green card holders (also US resident aliens… even illegal aliens!) They are subject to US Federal Taxation on their worldwide income, regardless of where their income is earned, what currency it is in or where the income is deposited to. The only way to escape this liability is by renouncing the citizenship or green card as the case may be, and of course physically departing from US territory. Doing so is outside the scope of this banking report, but it’s an interesting option for many that is amply covered elsewhere in Q Wealth materials.

Even then, there is much talk of an “exit tax” for Americans who exercise their constitutional right to renounce citizenship. Such a statute does exist on the books, but we believe it is more for show than anything else.

This report is about banking not tax planning, an important distinction... so we won’t go into depth here; suffice to say there are certain exemptions, deductions and the like which make this situation not quite as bad as it sounds. For a start, if you become non-resident, the first $190,000 or so of earned income is tax free for a couple, which is a nice start. All of these exemptions naturally require work in terms of filing papers and making claims.

What does this mean in concrete terms when it comes to offshore banking?

First of all, many offshore banks simply will not deal with US citizens. It’s nothing personal! The paperwork and hassles they get from the IRS are just too hard to deal with so it is just not worthwhile from a business point of view to deal with Americans. Of course, that is exactly what the American government wanted in the first place.

Other banks will accept US citizens but on less attractive terms – for example demanding that they voluntarily waive bank secrecy, or severely restricting the products they can choose. They might be allowed to hold just CDs rather than mutual funds, for example.

The simple workaround used to be to use a foreign corporate entity, such as an LLC, corporation, trust or foundation, or an . In that way, the US citizen is not the legal owner of the account, even though they might control the entity and be the beneficial owner and/or sole signatory. This workaround could still work, depending on the flexibility of the bank involved. However, more and more banks will not accept US citizens at any price. But still many, as of 2015, will accept corporations owned by US citizens even though they won’t accept personal accounts from US citizens.

We should stress again that we are not giving tax advice here. Holding a foreign account through a corporate entity probably won’t make any difference to your tax obligations either way while you remain beneficial owner. As a US person, you are still required to declare to the IRS your income and gains, even if they are obtained through a company you control – a so-called Controlled Foreign Corporation. The offshore LLC is particularly attractive to Americans in this regard since it allows for simplified ‘pass through’ tax reporting.

Besides facilitating the account opening, using a corporate entity will add a strong layer of privacy to your financial affairs at a stroke. Your name will be in the bank’s internal files, of course, but it will be subject to local bank secrecy laws which you won’t have to waive, and on all transactions only the company name need appear.

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)

The following information on American legislation affects offshore banks worldwide, and whether or not you are American, if you are looking into offshore banking you need to pay serious attention to the following information. So read carefully!

In March 2010, around the time that the media was distracted by the controversial provisions of Obama’s healthcare bill, a seemingly innocuous act was presented to the US Congress. Congressmen – as is well known – typically vote on legislation without bothering to read it. It was called the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act, and – as its name suggests – it was supposedly concerned with helping restore employment. In fact, buried in this legislation was what has since

been renamed FATCA: the most far reaching extra-territorial legislation ever attempted on the global financial services industry by any government.

When I read it, I was shocked. As of January 2014 this legislation has still not yet come fully into effect and there is still a lot of confusion. The US government delayed its implementation, but now looks set to implement it this year.

FATCA has the potential to stretch IRS resources to such an effect that the IRS becomes dysfunctional. They are basically asking for detailed disclosure of every single financial transaction in the world! However, these doubts aside, the US Treasury is pressing ahead with its implementation.

What are the Provisions?

The part of FATCA we are interested in includes new far-reaching disclosure requirements. Under FATCA, non-United States banks and financial institutions, referred to as foreign financial institutions (FFIs), are faced with draconian new disclosure requirements about their account holders, whether or not those account holders are Americans.

This new law will have a large impact not only on US persons, but also on the global financial system including banks, financial service companies, asset managers and fund managers who will be responsible for satisfying the new law’s disclosure, reporting and withholding requirements. The US government apparently assumes these institutions will devote sufficient resources, processes and personnel for flawless execution of these demands.

The definition of an FFI includes not just banks, but also any business that holds financial assets for the account of others as a substantial portion of its business (like trust companies or brokerages), or is engaged primarily in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities, commodities, and the like.

Here’s the basic carrot-and-stick rule: All FFIs have two choices. To be compliant they must agree to comply with the new requirements to report directly and electronically to the US government all accounts of their United States account holders. Information to be reported includes name, address,

taxpayer identification number (TIN), account balance, gross receipts and withdrawals from the account.

If the FFI chooses not to be compliant, then as of next year they will be subject to a 30% withholding tax on all payments made to them.

Let’s be clear, we are not talking about 30% withholding tax on gains or interest here. The definition of a withholdable payment is broad. It includes, but is not limited to, interest, dividends, rents, remuneration and compensation including salary and wages, premiums, annuities, fixed or determinable annual or periodical gains, or profits where the payment is US-sourced.

Clearly, for FFIs, losing 30% of their own or their clients’ money is not an option. So effectively the choices boil down to full compliance with US demands (foreign laws prohibiting such disclosures being the problem of the FFI not the IRS) OR a complete divorce from anything whatsoever to do with the USA.

Impact of FATCA

One likely result of FATCA is that foreign banks and brokerages will simply deny US clients opportunities for investment due to the highly complicated, thorough, and invasive reporting requirements. The IRS will now need to know the names and information of directors and shareholders of any company in the world with US owners, customers, or clients. The privacy implications of FATCA are beyond dramatic. There will obviously be substantial ramifications for foreign investment in the United States.

One particularly draconian provision is that a compliant FFI (one that has made the required agreement with the IRS) must deduct and withhold 30 percent of any payment it makes to a so- called "recalcitrant account holder" or to another FFI that does not have a similar agreement with the IRS (a "noncompliant FFI").

A "recalcitrant account holder" is defined as an account holder who does not provide information enabling the FFI to determine whether the account is a US account; or an account holder who fails to waive foreign privacy or confidentiality laws that prevent the FFI from reporting account information to the IRS.

Let’s say you are a Swiss citizen going about your business in Switzerland with a Swiss bank account, you are still expected to waive Swiss banking privacy laws or else your bank is supposed to take 30% of any payments to you. The same applies to a Chinese citizen banking in China, assuming that Chinese banks will want to be compliant, so as not to lose 30% of the country’s income from the US. Is this workable in practice? Or is it the straw that will break the camel’s back? We will see.

Actually, the US lawmakers have a solution to this problem. If reporting or disclosing any information is prohibited under foreign law, the FFI must attempt to obtain a valid and effective waiver of the privacy law from the account holder allowing disclosure of any information required by FATCA. If a waiver cannot be obtained, the FFI must close the account. Simple really, isn’t it?

An FFI can avoid entering into the agreement with the IRS if it complies with procedures prescribed by the IRS to ensure that it does not maintain any U.S. accounts and with any other IRS requirements regarding accounts the FFI maintains with other FFIs. The IRS may also exempt certain FFIs as a class if it determines that FATCA's information reporting goals are satisfied through other means. This exemption may, for example, be available to institutions in countries that already share information with the IRS.

FATCA withholding does not apply to payments made to non-financial foreign entities that are regularly traded corporations (or their affiliates), foreign governments, international organizations, foreign central banks, certain entities organized in U.S. possessions, and other categories that may be exempted by the IRS.

New Reporting Requirements for US persons

For tax years that began after March 18, 2010, FATCA introduces new, much more detailed, reporting obligations. Uncle Sam now no longer needs to know about your foreign bank accounts. There can be no doubt at this point that the US government is serious in its wish to know everything about

everything you own, anywhere in the world.

The ‘clear and present danger’ from this bad news is to Americans, but this matter is very much of global significance because where America treads, other countries like the UK, Australia etc tend to follow.

Why does the US want this information? The only reason they could legitimately need this information would be for capital or exchange controls, and the imposition of a wealth tax.

A wealth tax, for those who are not familiar with the term, is a kind of tax imposed in certain European countries – France being the most prominent example – where the tax is on the savings and capital of citizens, irrespective of income. It is not like that you only pay on profits. Wealth tax is a form of tax that has never been known in the US.

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS BECOME MUCH MORE INTRUSIVE: INTRODUCING FORM 8938

In December 2011, the American IRS and Treasury Department published guidance notes regarding a new form, that will replace the old FBAR (Foreign Bank account Reporting) form TDF 90-22.1 that all Americans with foreign bank accounts are (one hopes) familiar with.

This is not an IRS form. Collecting the information requested in this form would clearly be outside the limits of the IRS’s constitutional remit, which is to ensure collection of taxes.

Neither is it a Treasury Department form like the old FBAR form. The Treasury Department’s remit is amongst other things to prevent money laundering, and it was under that guise that the FBAR form was required.

Form 8938 is a joint IRS and the Treasury Department that demands complete information on all of your foreign assets – no longer just offshore bank accounts.

The exact terminology used on the FBAR form and its accompanying notes often left open to debate what constituted a “financial account.” For example, it was never really clear whether gold bullion stored offshore in a vault constituted a “financial account.”

The notes accompanying form 8938, however, make it clear to us that the US government is no longer satisfied with taxpayers merely filing their taxes accurately and paying on time. They now want to know everything about everything you own, even if it is not taxable. The sheer scope of this invasion of privacy is just breathtaking. For readers with offshore assets, the old questions of definition have been rendered moot with form 8938.

WHERE TO FROM HERE?

Are the concepts of offshore asset protection, offshore investing and offshore banking for Americans dead? Should Americans at this stage throw in the towel, give up the fight to protect what is rightfully theirs, keep all their assets at home in dollars and rely on the US government to ‘protect’ them?

I think you know my answer to that already. And if you have read this far, the chances are you agree with me.

As much as we at Q Wealth like American values and what America originally stood for, it’s clear that the US government doesn’t have much faith and credit left anymore. The US is already bankrupt.

Keeping your assets entirely in the US or in US dollars at this point would be equivalent to financial suicide. Diversification into hard assets, outside the grasp of a hungry US government, is the only way to protect your savings and business.

At Q Wealth our focus is always on positive solutions. This one, we admit, is difficult to solve. We have said for a long time that we believe a point will be reached, at some point in the not too distant future, where compliance will be impossible. But, let’s stay positive… here are our thoughts.

THE WATER IS GETTING HOTTER

You’ve certainly heard the boiling frog analogy. If a frog is thrown straight into hot water, it will jump out to save itself. But if you put it in cold water and slowly turn up the heat, it will eventually boil to death.

You can see how this analogy fits with what is going on now. The heat has just been turned up a notch on all Americans who have assets worth protecting, or even the American dream of building up such assets one day.

Yes, dear readers, the water is getting really, really hot! Some of America’s smartest frogs have already jumped out, obtained foreign citizenship and expatriated. That’s the only way of making a clean break and legally escaping all the hassles. But for most people, this option is still not practical.

Kevin Brekke writing in Mountain Vision says:

“Whatever the IRS has in store for US taxpayers, the only way to fight back is to keep what you have. And to do that means complying with reporting requirements no matter how offensive, intrusive, maddening, or unjust they are. Penalties are now defined by the IRS as a revenue raising measure. The new mindset is clear: If we can´t tax them, we will penalize them.

“Unfortunately, a new era for individual privacy is upon us. We must sacrifice our financial privacy for our financial security. We will accomplish this by staying compliant with reporting requirements and safeguarding our wealth from confiscation via seizure and penalties.

“We will prevail by keeping our wealth outside the US and invested in assets that will protect and grow our wealth. That is the mission of today´s international investor.

We at Q Wealth would agree with this. As long as you can stay compliant you should, as penalties for non-compliance are substantial.

A Special Note for European Union (including U.K.) Citizens and Residents

Have you heard of the European Union Savings Tax Directive?

You certainly should be familiar with this directive before you open any offshore bank account anywhere in the world. Its name is deceptive since it reaches far beyond European Union borders.

Traditional bank secrecy jurisdictions such as Switzerland, Andorra, the Cayman Islands or the Turks and Caicos are all affected by this legislation. A full list of all the countries and territories affected by this directive is included in Appendix A at the end of this report.

If you as an individual are a citizen or resident of an EU Member State, and earn bank interest or other savings income on deposits or investments held in your own name in one of the signatories to this treaty, then it is likely that you will be affected by the Savings Tax directive and your account may be subject to reports sent to your home country.

One thing to be clear about is that Europeans, in stark contrast to Americans, are only in principle taxed on residence. If you live outside the European Union, even though you are an EU citizen, you can hold bank accounts anywhere and they will not be reported to your home country.

There is however a big caveat that you must be extremely careful of. And this is a nasty principle which shows European governments are keen to follow the American example, taxing based on citizenship not just residence.

For purposes of the EU Savings Tax Directive, the offshore bank must be very sure that for tax purposes you are resident outside the EU, and in these matters the standard of proof is quite high. For example, a utility bill is not enough to prove your residence abroad - a certificate from the tax authorities where you live is required. If the bank is in any doubt about your official tax residence, they must legally report your account by default to your country of citizenship rather than residence.

So, without making things too complicated, if you are a citizen of the European Union and you want to ensure that your privacy is respected and your offshore account is not reported to any foreign authorities, you have two alternatives:

• Open your account in a jurisdiction not subject to the EU Savings Tax directive – that is, one not listed on the Table in Appendix A.

• Open your account using a corporate entity such as a company or foundation, or a trust.

Fortunately, the Savings Tax Directive only applies to individuals, not to companies. I doubt this will last much longer, as regular company accounts will be brought under the scope of the Directive soon – the first stages of this are already to be seen in Switzerland’s treaties: see the section below on the Rubik Project.

Foundations, however, are a different animal, since they do not necessarily have beneficial owners. This is not a legal textbook, suffice to say that if you would like further information on Panamanian Foundations, contact my office via www.petermacfarlane.info Panama Foundations are one of my favourite banking and asset protection vehicles, with good reason!

The bad news, of course, is that companies and foundations – like anything else – cost money. But what price your privacy?

By using a foreign corporate entity, such as a corporation or foundation, or an offshore trust, you as the EU citizen are not the legal owner of the account, even though you might control the entity and be the beneficial owner. This is an important distinction.

Just as for the US persons, we should stress that we are not giving tax advice here. Holding a foreign account through a corporate entity probably won’t make any difference to your tax obligations. Tax laws vary depending on the country you live in, but as a rule of thumb you will still be required to declare your income and gains, even if they are obtained through a company you control rather than directly in your name.

What it will do, however, is add a strong layer of privacy to your financial affairs. The offshore bank will no longer be required to treat you as a person from your country of citizenship. Instead you will be, say, a Panamanian corporation, and the whole range of investment opportunities will be open to you, without any requirement to waive your right to banking secrecy. Your name will be in the bank’s internal files, of course, but it will be subject to local bank secrecy laws which you won’t have to waive, and on all transactions only the company name will appear.

You’ll find more information on corporate accounts in the next section.

What You Need to Know About the Rubik Project

The following information applies only to Swiss bank accounts, not to accounts held in any other countries.

A Swiss plan called the “Rubik Project” is about to impact British, German, Spanish, Greek and other residents who hold accounts at Swiss banks. However, we expect this eventually to be expanded to other countries, especially those within the European Union and likely also Australia, India and a few other jurisdictions that have been particularly vociferous about Swiss banking secrecy recently.

The Rubik Project is little known and not widely understood. Even Swiss bankers I talked to told us they had not as yet received any guidance on the subject as of January 2012. Here are some of the highlights:

• The Rubik Project is originally a Swiss initiative. The Swiss have designed it as a way of appeasing other governments while (a) keeping full bank secrecy in place and (b) keeping their own access to important financial markets like London and Frankfurt unhindered.

• The Swiss banks offer to create and administer a flat rate tax on behalf of foreign governments, starting with the British and German governments, though this project is designed to be expanded to other countries. A retroactive tax is explicitly permitted, so that is a particular point to watch out for.

• The Swiss bank will automatically collect tax by deducting from the client’s account. Initially in the case of the UK the amount will be between 19% and 34%, depending how long the account has been opened. The payment will be transferred first to the Swiss federal tax administration, then to the respective foreign government. In other words, the tax payments are calculated by the banks but the payment is completely anonymous. Account holders do have the option to opt out of the anonymous tax collection, by proving that they have fully declared the funds to their home tax authority.

• In return for this, the account remains completely anonymous, full bank secrecy is preserved, and the account holder is no longer obliged to declare the account on his or her tax return.

Notably, this applies not just to natural persons resident in a treaty state, but also to legal entities of the personal/offshore holding company type, where the beneficial owner is a natural person resident in a treaty state. This includes offshore companies, trusts, foundations and the like that do not engage in any commercial or manufacturing business.

If you are netted by this tax, you are of course free to withdraw your funds before the date your account become liable to the Rubik tax. But the question is where to put them? Here are a few pointers:

• Since only the USA taxes its citizens, this project only applies to residents of the treaty countries. If for example you are a British citizen resident in Spain, or a German citizen resident in Paraguay, this tax is irrelevant to you. Changing your residency might be easier than you think! The only thing you need to do is make sure your Swiss bank has up to date details on your residency status, and copies of documents to back it up.

• Setting up a simple company to hold the account, that was always a legal way around the EU Savings Tax Directive, is not going to work here. There are however two ways to keep companies out of the net:

- It appears that as long as your company engages in commercial transactions then it is exempt. There is no stated minimum, so this may be just one or two commercial transactions per year, that should be unrelated to the investment activity. However we would recommend if you choose this route you get your bank to agree in writing that the company will be exempt from the haircut. It seems to me that most banks will be keen to do this in order to retain the business.

- You can also change the beneficial ownership of the company, while keeping signatory control. There are a few ways to do this, that we will cover in future articles in The Q Wealth Report. One is by using an insurance company, and another is by using trusts.

Of course, what many British and German clients are doing right now is moving their assets out of Switzerland, often even within the same bank (eg Swiss-owned banks in Singapore)

This project is a uniquely Swiss initiative and we do not see it being widely adopted outside Switzerland. However, you should be especially aware of the retroactive nature of this treaty model, and the likelihood that it will be expanded to cover other countries. You should be making plans to avoid this, right now. If in doubt, talk to a professional adviser. Please remember that paid up Q Wealth members are entitled to free referrals to banks and advisers, including a free initial consultation.

Do you need a Trust, Corporation or Foundation?

As mentioned in the preceding pages, it may be especially attractive for citizens of the USA and the European Union (including the UK of course) to form a separate corporation, trust, foundation etc and to hold their offshore accounts in that name, rather than their personal individual name. We will collectively refer to these arrangements as corporate entities or structures. Indeed, citizens of any country might well appreciate the extra privacy to be gained.

A Simple Example of Enhanced Privacy through a Corporate Structure

How about a concrete example? Let’s say you are wiring money in or out of your offshore account. Fairly obviously, on money transfers the names of both the sender and the receiver must be shown. There is no magic machine that allows banks to wire money directly to each other, even though money wire transfers might appear that way to you the customer.

This name and address information will be passed around various banks and clearing houses in different countries as the money finds its way from source to destination. All of them will keep copies for ever and ever. If you hold the account in your personal name, then your own personal name will show up as the sender or beneficiary, as the case may be.

If on the other hand a company owns the account, then the company name, which is not directly linked to you, will appear instead. This is a very simple way of achieving a much higher level of privacy than personal accounts offer.

Costs of Offshore Structures

What about the cost? For the purposes of holding a bank account privately, without impacting your tax bill in any way, you don’t need a very sophisticated structure. Let’s assume for the moment you are not seeking any specific tax advantages, just the privacy involved and access to the full range of investments your bank can offer to sophisticated offshore investors. A low cost, off-the-shelf corporation will suffice for this. Depending on the jurisdiction you choose, a ball park figure for this would be in the region of EUR 2,500 – 3,500 to set up, then EUR 1,000 per year running costs.

Fairly obviously, if you decide to go this route and hold your account through an offshore corporation, you will need to get that organised as a first step, before opening the bank account. The lawyers who help you set up the corporation should be able to supply you with a complete set of documents to meet the requirements of the bank where you wish to open the account.

Editor’s note: Setting up corporate entities is not within the scope of this report, but if you would like to know more you will find plenty of articles and more details on this topic in the Q Wealth Report back issues. See especially our special reports Panama Foundations Demystified and Trusting in Trusts and Untouchable Wealth available free to you in the Members' Area.

Let’s stress once again: we do not encourage or recommend tax evasion. It is too risky these days! We frequently recommend using an offshore entity for the additional privacy it offers, but not because it will reduce your tax bill per se, nor as a means of evading fiscal obligations. You should be sure to comply with local tax laws and declare all income as required by law. There are plenty of ways to minimize your tax bill completely legally.

Do you need an intermediary to open an Offshore Account?

If you search on Google, “bank introductions” have become quite an industry these days. Dr W.G. Hill, a famous offshore guru back in the 1980s, once wrote sarcastically about this that he “would be happy to sell introductions to Sears and Roebuck.” For our British readers, that might be more like offering to sell introductions to Marks and Sparks.

The point, of course, is that in theory – to this day – you can just walk in to a bank, or even contact them over the internet, and open your account directly. No need to pay any “consulting fees” to intermediaries.

The reality these days, however, is that opening true private accounts just by walking in off the street (or off the internet) has become quite difficult. Banks are running scared of governments and regulators. They often feel more comfortable with an introduction from a professional who is known to them, such as a lawyer, accountant or company formation agent.

The banks particularly like these introductions because then if anything goes wrong – for example, the client turns out to be a criminal – the bank can pass the buck to the professional who made the introduction. It’s called “Cover Your Ass” or CYA for short, and is an important motivation behind KYC or “”.

Of course, these professionals don’t work for free – especially knowing that they are taking that kind of risk.

Probably the biggest advantage of going through a good financial intermediary is the time-saving aspect. Time is money. The professionals are already familiar with how the banks work – not just the written rules, but the unwritten ones too which are equally important. You can ask an intermediary theoretical questions that you might well not want to ask an unknown banker directly for fear that the banker would feel obliged to file a Suspicious Activity Report. The intermediary is your personal confidant.

There are, of course, good intermediaries and bad ones. An advantage of going through a good, reputable consultant is that they will also have done due diligence on the banks first. To give you an example, I never ever recommend a bank to a client if I have not sat in the bank’s offices, opened an

account for myself, talked to senior management there, studied their annual report in depth, and last but not least used my gut feeling to test them out. Fortunately after so many years flying around the world visiting banks, my gut feeling is quite well honed.

The bottom line is you do not need an intermediary to open an account. You can make direct contact with the banks listed in this report, or any other banks, specifying that you are a Q Wealth Report member, and that already serves as some form of introduction. Be prepared, however, for some toing and froing. If this is your first time opening an offshore account you might be surprised at some of the documents the bank requests of you.

There is a third option, however: as a Q Wealth client, you are entitled to use our free bank introduction service… this offers you the best of both worlds. Read on for more information.

How Q Wealth Can Help You

As a service to our members which we believe is unique in the field we do business in, we at The Q Wealth Report have made special arrangements to offer a free bank referral service to our readers.

This means that a professional intermediary will review your requirements, recommend the most suitable bank to you, help you put together the complete file of documentation required, and then introduce you to the bank. The introduction will consist of either setting up a personal meeting, or arranging the whole account opening process by e-mail and post.

This is, in effect, a free consultation with The Q Wealth Report’s non-resident banking expert, Peter Macfarlane or one of his trusted and trained associates. If you would like to take advantage of this service as a paid up member, all you need do is fill out the simple contact form in Appendix C, and then either fax or e-mail it back to the offices of Peter Macfarlane & Associates. Naturally, all information will be held in the strictest confidence, and will be destroyed once the account is opened.

Of course, this free service is intended for personal accounts only. If you are investing a more substantial sum and would like the added security of holding your account in a corporate name, then Peter’s normal (but reasonable) consultation fee is chargeable, as the work involved is substantial.

In making this offer, we would like to be very specific about what’s included “free” and what’s not included, so everything is clear and transparent from the beginning.

The bank introduction and Peter’s services are free, provided your requirements are normal. Peter will however need to pass on to you any out-of-pocket expenses he must incur on your behalf. Typical examples are notary and apostille fees, certified copies, express courier fees and so on. These fees if any will be notified and agreed in advance.

Banks also typically charge fees for their services. Some charge for account opening, some don’t. Some charge for internet banking, some don’t. Almost all banks make charges for issuing and use of plastic cards, for sending documents by registered mail or courier etc. These costs are of course also responsibility of the client and should either be paid up front or can be deducted from the account once it is opened, depending on the individual bank’s policy.

Editor’s note: We sincerely hope you will find this bank referral service very useful. Please use the form in the Appendix C initially so Peter’s firm will have the necessary information to hand when they start to work on your file. If you have any questions in advance, of course Peter will be happy to help you. He can be contacted via the website http://www.PeterMacfarlane.info or email [email protected]

Choosing the Right Bank for Your Offshore Account

Your Offshore Banking Profile

In choosing a suitable bank (or in some cases perhaps two or three banks) to work with, a lot depends on your own profile as the client. Some of the factors that effect the decision are:

• Your citizenship, residence and domicile.

• The proposed investment or business activities

• Bank charges and interest rates

• Bank’s expertise in geographic regions and types of business

• Languages in common – for example does the bank speak good English?

• Preferences of the client: for example to do most business online or for a more personal service

• Amount of funds client expects to deposit with the bank

You should think about all these factors one by one, and take them into consideration as you review different banks.

The Q Wealth Recommended Banks

The Q Wealth Report editorial team have more than a decade of experience in dealing with banks – so we know the good, the bad and the ugly. We typically like to work with several internationally- recognised and highly respected banks. They are based in Europe, Asia, in the Caribbean and in Latin America. In the majority cases, when clients wish to use our free bank referral service, we can recommend one of these banks as being the most suitable. All of these banks without exception have the following features in common:

• accounts can be opened in all major currencies

• all have secure and comprehensive internet banking facilities (including the possibility to send international payments in various currencies through the online interface)

• all offer credit and/or debit cards to their offshore clients

• all are familiar with our documents of major offshore jurisdictions

• all are familiar with offshore and international business in general

• all routinely offer service in multiple languages

• these banks are familiar with and supportive of The Q Wealth Report and its philosophy

It is often, though not always, possible to open accounts without visiting the bank. The different banks all have slightly different procedures for this.

Our advice, however, is that clients should visit their banks if and when they have the opportunity. Regular Q Wealth Report readers will know that I call this the “KYB” policy (Know Your Banker) Good KYB makes for an easier and smoother long term banking relationship. If you can’t visit your bank, you may find it is possible to arrange for bank officers to visit you, or to meet you when they are in a convenient city nearby. Private bankers tend to travel extensively, and often banks will assign certain staff to deal with clients from specific countries, to which they travel frequently.

Three Distinct Types of Offshore Bank

In general the banks we work with, like all offshore banks, specialise in some or all of these three distinct offshore market segments:

• Private banking: catering to rich individuals, including their personal investment companies, foundations etc

• Small commercial/retail offshore business: for those who don’t have sufficient balances to qualify for private banking

• International commercial banking: for international businesses requiring trading services

Allow me to explain in more detail...

Private Banking

Although private banking is not a simple business, there is a very simple model to keep in mind: "keeping rich people happy". The definition of private banking varies but is generally understood as offered on a personal basis by a bank to an individual with disposable wealth of more than, let’s say, $1,000,000. Some private banks in top flight jurisdictions like Switzerland or Singapore ask for deposits in excess of $5,000,000.

Private banks were originally so called because they were owned by wealthy private individuals. Under Swiss law these bankers were personally liable for the obligations of the bank. If a bank failed, bankruptcy was not an option. It was disgrace and jail. As a result, no private banks ever failed. If only those rules existed worldwide, it is unlikely we would face the global financial crisis we are living through today.

With globalization and the need to serve customers abroad, almost all the old ‘private banks’ have now been bought out and are subsidiaries of bigger international banks. Though, if you have the cash and the desire, there are a few true private banks remaining. Some of them are so discreet and private that to this day they don’t even have a nameplate outside their offices, let alone a website. Needless to say, you won't find then listed in this report either! But if you have over a million or so to invest, fill out the referral form and we can make suitable introductions.

Anyone can get a personal private banker assigned in an elite with about €300,000 opening deposit. You will of course need an introduction, identification and references.

Private banks offer all kinds of accounts, from simple and deposit accounts to complicated commodity and swap operations, and even – yes – investments in sub-prime mortgage-backed securities!

Hot Tip: For a complete list of all Swiss and Liechtenstein banks, see www.swconsult.ch

Private bankers normally prefer to be approached and considered as objective financial advisers or family confidants rather than as investment salesmen. They are wealth managers, accustomed to dealing with the wealthy, and their services don’t come cheap.

Consequently private banks may not be the most effective choice for a reasonably sophisticated investor who wants to play an active role in the management of his investments. However, if you just want to stick a million in a safe haven, visit once a year on vacation and follow your portfolio on a monthly basis, then private banking is just what you need. You can expect and demand above- average returns and an extremely high level of personal service.

Family Office Services

A family office is a typically a private company or foundation that manages investments for a single wealthy family. The company's financial capital is the family's own wealth, often accumulated over many generations. Traditional family offices provide personal services, like managing household staff and making travel arrangements. Other services typically handled by the traditional family office include property management, day-to-day accounting and payroll activities, and management of legal affairs.

More recently the term "family office" or multifamily office is used to refer primarily to financial services for relatively wealthy families. Family office services are an extension of private banking. More and more private banks are offering what are, effectively, outsourced family offices. If you have a few million upwards to invest, you might want to ask about family office services offered by your offshore bank. Who knows, you could find such services very useful.

Small Offshore Commercial Business

Numerous offshore banks offer services to expatriates as they perceive such business to be relatively risk free, easy to manage, and profitable. In essence, expatriate services encompass managing accounts for people resident outside their home countries who may be employed, self-employed or retired. The focus of expatriate banking providers is , call centres, and the provision of "packaged" investment products.

Although the service offered should be professional and online banking excellent, the relationship between the bank and client could not be characterised as personal or in any way similar to the relationship between a client and a top-flight private bank.

Be careful: Some banks try to get away with providing this level of service but calling it private banking. HSBC is one.

International Commercial Activities

Many of our readers are interested not just in investing, but in doing active business offshore. In such circumstances an offshore bank that specialises in private banking or expatriates will not be suitable. Our commercial clients seek similar services to an onshore and will require access to some or all of the following services:

• Cash management

• Foreign exchange and treasury services

• International trade - letters of credit, documentary collections, cross-border guarantees and global correspondents

• Bulk cheque clearing

• Risk management tools to cover foreign exchange risks, risk etc

• Financing

• Payment, receivables and payroll solutions

• Selling solutions: e-commerce and merchant services

• Expertise in specific fields such as energy, aviation, shipping, aircraft financing or real estate.

The Selection Process

OK, time for the next step. You have done your research and have found some banking ‘possibilities.’ They look fine to you, and you appear to be acceptable to them. With that first hurdle over, you need to apply some more selection criteria. When choosing an offshore bank, there are two main factors you must take into account (besides of course privacy which we have already covered):

Stability – is it a well established, solvent bank?

Quality of Service – are they fast and efficient?

Stability

Due diligence and KYB (“Know Your Banker”) is essential. There’s no point in jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.

There is no reason to save your hard-earned cash from your taxman or ex-spouse or other leeching types, only to have it disappear into a virtual black hole when your offshore bank closes its doors. Neither do you want your investment manager to churn away your money on “hot” deals that never pan out, but that bring him fat commissions.

These days with the internet, it is relatively easy for anyone to set up a bank. You need a licence, but jurisdictions you barely knew existed, like Anjouan or Somalia, will for a fee, provide all comers with a valid government-issued banking licence. Try to avoid banking in these high-risk areas as they attract far too many con artists and dreamers. Before investing any money, make sure the bank you are investing in is run by professional bankers and not by some Eastern European teenager with good web programming and design skills, who just decided last month that it would be profitable to be a bank president!

Most financial houses seem solid until they collapse unexpectedly. The Marc Harris Organisation in Panama attracted many clients. Marc Harris is currently serving a long jail sentence in Florida. Swedish-run Bank Crozier of Grenada and St Lucia also seemed highly professional. Paritate Bank impressed a lot of people with innovative products, flexibility and good customer service. Now they are all defunct. They all sank, taking with them their clients’ money. (Actually Paritate is back up and running again, but the old investors never did get their money back).

Another golden rule to consider when reviewing internet sites of banks in exotic locales: Any bank anywhere that appeals to shady characters will be (sooner, rather than later) shut down by regulators. You don’t want your hard earned money to get mixed up in such ugly messes. So stay away from banks that explicitly encourage you to hide your money, tout light KYC requirements, or generally seem to be appealing to the wrong kind of investor. Anything about hiding money is a big no-no!

It is almost unheard of for big banks in civilized, well-regulated first world countries, like the UK or , to be corrupt from top to bottom. But, of course, even the unlikely can happen! That is exactly what did happen not so many years ago with the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) which was registered in the UK and Luxembourg. A more recent example was Singer and Friedlander Bank in the , that went down with its Icelandic parent bank, losing depositors’ funds. That process is still ongoing.

The bottom line is that due diligence is important. Most offshore banks are highly reputable, stable, well managed and professional. It’s the ones that are not who grab the headlines. But it’s important to ask questions until you are entirely comfortable, and to ask for second opinions (from people who know what they are talking about) if you don’t feel totally confident in your own offshore knowledge. Don’t believe everything you read on the net or in a glossy brochure.

Quality of Service

“Different strokes for different folks,” they call it. You would be surprised how quality service means such different things to different people. To some, it might be a friendly old Swiss banker who will buy you lunch, give you a nice golf umbrella and chat for a few hours. He will want to learn all about your financial, business and social situation. Maybe his kids will play with yours.

Other people may prefer a banker who just does as he is told and never suggests that you have any personal meetings. You may prefer it if your banker doesn’t even know what you look like. Maybe all you want is a good internet interface so you can wire money in or out in the middle of the night if you want to, with super smooth technological efficiency.

Some people love it that their personal banker knows and trusts them enough to move six or seven figures based on a single phone call or email. But this lax approach to security would shock other of my clients who want to log in first through a five step encrypted security system with three passwords plus a one-time code generator operated by a 6-digit PIN in order to give instructions!

Buying banking services is like buying any other services. You can look at websites and brochures, talk to the people. How fast and efficiently do they respond to phone calls and emails? That is always a good indicator. I have dealt with banks who will reply to emails in a foreign language within five minutes if you e-mail them in the middle of the night, and others who simply absolutely never reply to email, or who specify on their websites that they will respond “within five business days.”

Then, too, nothing is forever. If you receive poor service or hear any rumours you don’t like, you can pull out immediately. At least you should be able to. That’s something worth checking too!

Understanding the Products on Offer

Products offered by banks around the world are broadly the same, though they often go under different names. However, there are products you might come across in the offshore arena that you may not be entirely familiar with, or you may not have known that such wondrous possibilities existed!

Here are a few definitions and explanations:

Safe Deposit Boxes

A safe deposit box is a locked box reserved for you in the vault of your bank. It’s a place where you can keep small, high-value items. People typically use safe deposit boxes for documents such as physical stocks or bonds, or for small, high value goods that they want to keep safe... like valuable coins, jewellery or a stash of microchips. You might keep these items for pure investment purposes – say gold bullion or uncut diamonds – or for more sentimental reasons (your great-grandmother’s wedding jewellery for example).

Typically you will keep the keys to the box, while the bank controls access to the vault where all the boxes are located. Normally the bank does not keep a duplicate key... so if you lose the key you will have to pay for a specialist locksmith to come in and break open the box, then you’ll have to buy the bank a new box too. Needless to say this is expensive, so do take care of your keys!

Multi-Currency Accounts vs. Multiple Currency Accounts

Different banks (and different countries) maintain different accounting systems.

Multi-currency accounts are quite common in offshore banks. These are very flexible in that they allow you to keep many different currencies in the same account. You have just one account number, but when you look at your statement on the internet you will see different balances... X amount of US dollars, Y amount of Euros etc. If you send a transfer to a multi-currency account, the bank will typically keep the deposit in the currency received, rather than converting it to any particular default currency.

Other banks also allow you to hold balances in different currencies, but operate on a different system – a separate account number for each currency. This means that, if you wish to operate in a number of different currencies, you need to maintain multiple accounts. The net result is basically the same, but you will have a series of account numbers and you must take care not to confuse them. For example, if you send US dollars to the Euro account number, the bank will assume you want to convert that balance to Euros and will do so without informing you.

Precious Metals Storage

Many Q Wealth members have invested in assets like gold and silver and have made huge returns on their money over the past few years as commodity prices have shot through the roof. Perhaps strangely, however, if you ask the average banker how to buy gold, they don’t know – so they will tell you it is not a good investment. You have to be insistent.

Some banks offer a basic service where you can buy gold and simply store it in your safe deposit box. This certainly works, but may not be the most practical way of handling it. Why? Because each time you want to buy or sell, you have to visit the bank personally. Only you have access to your box. Fine if it’s around the corner, but not if it’s around the world.

However for the purposes of this report and understanding offshore banking products generally, suffice to say it’s important to understand the difference between allocated storage, and unallocated – also known as pooled storage. Both these systems are used by private offshore banks.

“Allocated” means that a certain piece of metal (specific gold bars, coins or whatever) belongs to you. The metals are stored in the bank’s general vault, rather than in a specific safe deposit boxes, but they are specifically allocated as your assets. For practical purposes, therefore, you can instruct the bank to buy and sell on your behalf without you having to travel there.

“Unallocated” or “pooled” storage means that the bank simply has X amount of gold in its vault, and allocates so many grams, ounces or kilos to your account as part of a book-keeping exercise. But the banker cannot in this case take you down to the vault and point out your specific gold bar. Again you can instruct the bank to buy and sell on your behalf.

Allocated storage of course is better, but pooled storage tends to work out a lot cheaper in terms of the actual fees the bank charges for taking care of the metals in its vault.

A good way to purchase allocated gold held for you securely in a Swiss vault is a system called Global Gold: www.globalgold.ch

Numbered Accounts

Numbered accounts (or pseudonymous accounts, which are the same but are known by code words instead of numbers) are not all that different from normal bank accounts. The usual account records, such as statements and what regular bank staff can see in their computers, omit reference to the customer's name or other identifying information, replacing it with a code number or the pseudonym. The relationship between the code number or pseudonym and the actual customer is known only to a few senior managers within the bank.

It is important to emphasize that the bank has an obligation to know the true identity of both the account holder and its beneficial owner. There is no such thing as an anonymous account.

Typically the way numbered accounts work these days is that you will have a numbered account and a regular account in the same bank. Numbered accounts cannot be used for regular transactions such as wire transfers or checking. So when you want to make a deposit or withdrawal, your private banker will personally carry out a cash transaction at the counter between the two accounts. In the accounting records, the transaction will appear on your personal account as a cash deposit or withdrawal, so there will be no direct link to your numbered account.

Of course, within reason and subject to normal limits, you can carry out cash transactions directly on the numbered accounts

Brokerage Accounts

A regular bank or ‘cash’ account is simply used for depositing and transacting in a currency such as pounds, dollars or francs. Your brokerage account, however, can be used for buying stocks, funds and other investments on the world markets. The brokerage account may be stand-alone, or may be linked to your offshore bank account in the same institution. Either way, you will typically have to transfer funds from the cash account to the brokerage account before you can buy stocks.

Plastic Cards

Almost all offshore banks will offer you the option of linking some kind of plastic to your account. This may be anything from a hole-in-the-wall cash card through to a premium travel and entertainment card like the Platinum American Express or Diners Club. The most common brands, of course, are Visa and MasterCard, and there are even more variations on these cards than there are banks.

You personal banker will be happy to explain the range of cards available and what are the principal differences between products like debit cards, deferred debit cards, secured credit cards and so on.

What your banker will not explain, however, is that you may well be able to enhance your privacy by obtaining a card from a completely different bank.

Why? Because the moment you use a card issued in your name by your principal offshore bank, you are creating a permanent electronic trail in the systems of the card network operator (for example Visa). So your banking records are no longer exclusively held by your offshore bank. The card networks typically process data all over the world, exposing it to numerous jurisdictions where investigators might be tempted to go on fishing trips.

You’ll find in previous issues of The Q Wealth Report some more detailed tips for enhancing privacy while using payment cards, but probably the best tip of all is to obtain one or more anonymous cash cards…

Anonymous Cash Cards

Like numbered accounts, anonymous cash cards do still exist, but there is a lot of hearsay and legend surrounding them. Here are the facts.

By anonymous cash card we refer to a plastic card which, together with a PIN code, can be used for withdrawing cash in automated teller machines around the world. It can also be used sometimes in merchants such as supermarkets, but acceptance is generally limited to certain locations. It’s anonymous because, unlike normal credit and debit cards, there is no name printed on the card nor encoded on the magnetic strip.

It is not 100% anonymous, however. You do have to show ID to obtain such a card in the first place, and you also have to comply with all regular know your customer and due diligence rules. There are also strict withdrawal limits. These restrictions are necessary to make sure the card issuing bank operates legally and to ensure that the cards are not abused by money launderers.

There is one very, very big advantage to the anonymous cash card. That is when you use it internationally, the transaction is processed only based on the card number. The card network operator does not know who you are. The due diligence information (like passport copy) that you have provided is stored safely offshore in the card issuer’s office, away from prying eyes and protected by strict banking privacy laws. This is in stark contrast to regular international debit cards which have names not just printed on the card but also embedded in the magnetic strip so the name can be captured electronically.

Another advantage of the anonymous cash card is that should it fall into the wrong hands, the loss is minimal. Without the PIN (which hopefully you have stored only in your head) the card is useless. There is no chance somebody could empty out your offshore account before you notice the card is missing. And, because it’s a stand-alone card, there is no chance that somebody could find out even the country, let alone the actual bank, where your principal offshore account is held. All you have to do is make one phone call and the card can be cancelled and replaced.

Finally, another advantage is legally avoiding reporting requirements. Anonymous cash cards do not class as a bank account. They are regarded as pre-paid products, something between the electronic equivalent of a traveller’s cheque and a pre-paid phone card. So if your country requires you to report offshore accounts, you don’t need necessarily need to report an offshore anonymous cash card.

Note: this report is prepared for a global readership. Some countries may have differing rules in this regard. If you are not sure about the reporting requirements in your country of residence, please check with your local tax authorities or a professional qualified in your jurisdiction. It’s important to note that the USA is one of the exceptions. Prepaid credit cards ARE considered to be a reportable foreign financial asset by the US authorities.

You might be wondering how, if the card is not linked to your principal bank account, you can withdraw money from it? Simple: it is a prepaid product. You prepay, by means of an offshore , an amount you are likely need over the period you determine. You can keep these transfer amounts relatively low so they remain under the radar.

Opening Your Offshore Account

Back to banking. Now, having analysed your requirements, and found a bank you feel comfortable working with, how do you go about actually establishing the business relationship?

Requirements to Open Accounts

Banks are under enormous pressure to conduct detailed and ongoing due diligence on offshore clients. Typically to open the account you will need:

• A reference from your existing bankers

• Certified copy of passports of all signatories

• Proof of residential address (typically a utility bill)

• Letter stating expected activity, with supporting documentation if available

• Documentary evidence of source of funds to be deposited

The letter stating expected activity is especially important. The bank can be expected to verify this and will then monitor your account on an ongoing basis, to ensure that the activity on the account is consistent with the profile. If your estimate proves wildly inaccurate, your bank will be worried and will most likely close your account.

Documentary evidence of specific transactions (for example copies of invoices or contracts) may be requested, especially in the case of large transactions like real estate business. It is always advisable to notify the bank in advance of out-of-the-ordinary transactions coming in (like if you just sold a house), or sudden changes in volume. In the case of corporate accounts, also keep your bank notified of changes to the core business which may occur over time as part of the natural process of business development.

Please understand that due diligence procedures are part of global business today. If your banker sees a well administered account and has a good two-way channel of communication with you, that will build the foundations of an excellent and flexible business relationship with your bank.

What if you can’t provide the documents they ask for?

While we don’t wish to work with banks that cut corners in due diligence procedures, it’s worth mentioning that the banks we work with tend to take an overall ‘big picture’ view of the proposal in front of them. This means that it is sometimes possible to open accounts if you don’t have all the required documents.

For example your existing bank won’t give you a reference (some banks simply have a policy of not writing references), or you don’t have any utilities in your name because you are living as an expat in accommodation provided by your employer. Provided you can offer alternative documentation that logically proves your bona fides, or a good and verifiable explanation, then you are in.

If you haven’t travelled much, you might not have a passport. Up until recently Americans could travel widely without the need for a passport. Europeans still can, using national ID cards. It is sometimes possible to open accounts with drivers’ licences or national ID cards, but it is strongly recommended that if you don’t have a current passport you should immediately order one from the issuing authorities in your country of citizenship. Passports can take some time to obtain. A passport is always the preferred identity document for international transactions.

In case of clients in businesses considered as “high risk” (including businesses handling third party funds, doing business with certain high risk countries, merchant accounts, internet gaming…) enhanced due diligence procedures are necessary and it can become very difficult to find a bank that will accept the business. Please contact my consulting firm for further information in this regard if necessary.

Having chosen your bank, how do you go about approaching them and getting your account opened?

Think of it like a romantic relationship... things you say at the beginning are of the utmost importance and may work for or against you later! That is one of the reasons why it’s sometimes better to use an intermediary.

Anyway, each bank has different procedures. Some will ask you to send all the documentation first, refusing to look at it until the file is complete. Others will want to chat with you over the phone first, before you send any documents, to ascertain if you and the bank are compatible. Both methods are fine, depending on your requirements.

Either way, if you choose to contact the bank directly then probably it is best to do so first by telephone. Email is fine later, but it’s good to get the name of somebody in the bank and their direct email address, and if you have talked to them on the phone they are more likely to remember you positively later when your account opening paperwork lands on their desk.

Operating Your Offshore Bank Account

So, your offshore account is all set up and running. You’ve made your opening deposit, you’ve received your plastic cards, and your internet banking is functioning perfectly... that’s it, right?

Well, not exactly. Opening the account is just the beginning, and to make sure you get the most out of the experience, in this section we have put together a few more hints for day-to-day operations.

The importance of communication

One thing that cannot be emphasised enough is the importance of keeping open good channels of communication. This is the key to a good relationship with your bank.

That doesn’t mean you have to call and chat about the weather, but it’s certainly good to establish a rapport with key people within your offshore bank. This will normally be your personal or private banker, but different banks operate in different ways.

Bankers are conservative types. One thing that really scares the living daylights out of them is the thought that one day, if there is a problem on your account and they need a fast response, they can’t get hold of you. Some people make the mistake of giving their bankers obscure maildrop addresses and voicemail numbers they forget to check, thereby making it very difficult for their banker to contact them.

Ideally your bank should have access to your 24/7 mobile phone number – and likewise you should have your banker’s 24/7 mobile phone number. That makes for good communication.

By the way, offshore banks won’t call you out of the blue to inform you that you’ve been selected as a distinguished client for a free trip to Disney World (hotels and flights not included) if you sign up for their latest brand of personal accident insurance! I never give out my real phone number to mass market onshore banks for this reason, but offshore banks operate on a whole different level. This is a serious business relationship. It is OK to give them your real information.

One of the main reasons for going offshore is privacy. Imagine the worst happens; someone comes nosing around asking about your account. Put yourself in your banker’s shoes. What would you do?

If you have a good friendly relationship with the client, and you trust them to reply quickly, you might well try to get a hold of the client by phone or email, warn them informally that somebody is seeking information, ask for their side of the story etc.

If you have the experience that every time you try to contact that particular client they never reply and try to shun contact, then you would much more likely make an internal suspicious activity report immediately to your compliance officer.

On corporate accounts with a higher volume of transactions, good communication is even more important. Bankers are under enormous pressure from compliance officers and bosses to have paperwork in order. “Well behaved” clients who always have their paperwork in order are the darlings of bankers and the compliance department. This opens up lots of opportunities, that you might really need in the future. Don’t burn bridges!

If your banker asks you politely for some piece of paper that doesn’t really seem important to you, don’t ignore the request. If it’s worth your banker’s time to ask for it, it’s well worth your time to reply promptly and oil the works of a smooth and professional business relationship.

Moving Money in and out of your offshore account

One basic rule for keeping your offshore bank account private is never, ever use your main investment account for day-to-day business!

You certainly never write on it, and you’ll rarely make wire transfers from it. If you do the persons who receive the cheques and transfers will immediately know where your offshore account is held and what the account number is. Remember: you may have nothing hide, but you still have nothing to shout about!

Worse still, what if your cheque books or cards fall into the wrong hands? Credit card fraud is a growth industry.

Most private banks will discreetly suggest you have a separate account for your retail (high street) banking requirements. Often they will be keen to sell the services of their retail division, but that may not be such a good idea either.

People who take their privacy extremely seriously will have another account – let’s call it a Pass Through account – which is their public front. It is on this account that they write and deposit cheques, receive transfers from people or businesses who owe then money, and manage the plastic cards you use for day-to-day payments.

It’s probably advisable to keep this account at a totally different bank in a different country. For example you might keep the bulk of your assets with a secure, discreet, private bank – then choose one of the offshore commercial banks targeting the expat market, where you can keep a small proportion of funds to cover your immediate requirements.

What about depositing funds in the first place in to your primary account? Of course this should be done very discreetly. Cash is rarely an option, but you might want to look at using other forms of portable wealth such as gold bullion or bearer bonds. You can read more about these topics in my articles in The Q Wealth Report.

Appendix A: EU Savings Tax Directive: Table of Jurisdictions

Source: www.lowtax.net

Country/Jurisdicti Status vis-a-vis Regime to Comments on EU be applied

Withholding Andorra Independent Tax

UK Dependent Information Territory Exchange

Dutch Dependent Information Aruba Territory Exchange

Withholding Austria Member State Information Exchange by 2009 Tax (15%)

Bahamas Independent Not covered by STD

Withholding Belgium Member State Information Exchange by 2009 Tax (15%)

UK Dependent Outside STD Bermuda Missed out by EU by accident Territory regime

British Virgin UK Dependent Withholding Islands Territory Tax (15%)

UK Dependent Information Cayman Islands Territory Exchange

Information Cyprus Member State Exchange

Information Czech Republic Member State Exchange

Information Denmark Member State Exchange

Information Estonia Member State Exchange

Finland Member State Information

Exchange

Information France Member State Exchange

Information Germany Member State Exchange

Information Gibraltar UK Crown Colony Exchange

Information Greece Member State Exchange

Known as a 'Retention Tax'; the UK Crown Withholding Guernsey client can choose information Dependency Tax (15%) exchange as an option.

Information Hungary Member State Exchange

Information Ireland Member State Exchange

Known as a 'Retention Tax'; the UK Crown Withholding Isle of Man client can choose information Dependency Tax (15%) exchange as an option.

Information Italy Member State Exchange

Known as a 'Retention Tax'; the UK Crown Withholding Jersey client can choose information Dependency Tax (15%) exchange as an option.

Information Latvia Member State Exchange

Independent but Withholding Liechtenstein follows Switzerland Tax (15%)

Information Lithuania Member State Exchange

Withholding Luxembourg Member State Information Exchange by 2009 Tax (15%)

Information Madeira Part of Portugal Exchange

Information Malta Member State Exchange

'Independent' but Information Monaco under France Exchange

UK Dependent Information Montserrat Territory Exchange

Information Netherlands Member State Exchange

Dutch Dependent Information Netherlands Antilles Territory Exchange

Information Poland Member State Exchange

Information Portugal Member State Exchange

Information San Marino Independent Exchange

Information Slovakia Member State Exchange

Information Slovenia Member State Exchange

Information Spain Member State Exchange

Information Sweden Member State Exchange

Affiliated to EU but Withholding Switzerland not Member State Tax (15%)

Turks & Caicos UK Dependent Withholding Islands Territory Tax (15%)

Information United Kingdom Member State Exchange

Has information exchange with USA Outside EU Canada; undecided on EU regime

Appendix B: Q Wealth Recommended Financial Institutions

The following are a number of banks (plus two non-bank brokerage houses) which we at Q Wealth Report feel able to recommend to readers, based on experience and due diligence. Please note that for the purposes of this independent report and in the interests of fair journalism we do not recommend any one more than the other. We have made some comments about each bank’s services, strengths and weaknesses.

Please note that inclusion is this list does not imply any agreement or commercial endorsement of any sort by the said banks in favour of The Q Wealth Report. Q Wealth Limited does not receive any commission from any of the listed banks.

AFRASIA BANK

Headquartered in the Mauritius International Financial Services Centre, Afrasia Bank is a boutique bank focusing on Corporate and Investment Banking, Private Banking and and international banking. Its majority ownership is Mauritian but there are also important participations from Singapore and South Africa. They offer a good range of multi-currency banking services.

AfrAsia Bank Limited

Bowen Square

10, Dr Ferriere Street

Port Louis, Mauritius

Tel : +230 208 5500

Fax : +230 213 8850 [email protected]

http://www.afrasiabank.com

ALTAJIR BANK

A small bank in the Cayman Islands which is suitable mainly for CDs and long term deposits. They do not operate internet banking or cards, but pay higher than average interest rates on deposits in major currencies, and they offer a highly personalized service. Altajir is recommended mainly for small accounts in major currencies that do not need internet banking.

http://www.altajirbank.com/

Altajir Bank

P.O.Box 691

Grand Cayman

Cayman Islands KY1-1107

Phone: +1 345-749-5628

ANDBANK MONACO

For those who qualify for real private banking (about half a million upwards) Andbank Monaco is a great solution. The more glamorous Monegasque subsidiary of Andorran bank Andbank, this entity operates completely independently, has a walk in cash desk just steps from the famous Casino de Monte Carlo, and bankers travel all over the world to meet clients who cannot make it to Monaco. They can also help you open accounts at affiliate banks in other countries. Unlike Swiss banks, Monaco banks – including this one – generally still accept US clients, provided they are fully FATCA compliant. Of course, you can also hold funds through a company, foundation etc.

https://www.andbank-monaco.mc/

1, ave des Citronniers

MC 98000 Monaco

Tel +377 93 25 30 13

Contact: Anna Arapova

[email protected]

BANK ALPINUM

This is a relatively new private bank from Liechtenstein. Liechtenstein is no longer the secrecy haven it once was, so its banks are having to innovate. What we like about this bank is they will open accounts by mail for almost any individual or company, including US persons, always subject of course to due diligence.

http://www.bankalpinum.com/

Städtle 17

FL-9490 Vaduz

Liechtenstein

Tel.: +423 239 6211

Fax: +423 239 6221 [email protected]

BANK FRICK, LONDON BRANCH

Bank Frick is a small private bank based in Liechtenstein. What makes them different from a typical tax haven bank is that they have a London branch: British banks being so difficult to deal with these days, this is the only way we know of for a non-resident of the UK to open a UK bank account.

http://www.bankfrick.co.uk

7 Cavendish Square

London W1G 0PE

+44 20 3582 3060 [email protected]

BANK OF NEVIS INTERNATIONAL

Bank of Nevis is the only bank on the island of Nevis with an international . Reflecting its home-base, Bank of Nevis is relatively small and low profile, unpretentious, but efficient and strong. Nevis is generally recognized by asset protection lawyers as one of the two strongest asset protection jurisdictions in the world (the other being the – see our listing Capital Security Bank)

Many people prefer to put their asset protection structure in just one jurisdiction with a friendly court system – and in this case Bank of Nevis would be the logical choice for the banking associated with Nevis trusts, LLCs etc. Bank of Nevis is a good, solid choice for business or corporate accounts in the Caribbean.

http://www.thebankofnevis.com

PO Box 450

Main Street

Charlestown

Nevis, West Indies

Tel +1-869-469-0080

Contact: David Barron, Senior Manager – International

Email: [email protected]

BARCLAYS BANK PLC

One of the biggest British and international banks. Through this specialist division they will open accounts for non-resident persons and corporations in London, Isle of Man, Channel Islands or Cyprus. However, the process is very paperwork intensive!

www.offshore.barclays.com/

38 Hans Crescent

London SW1X

+44 20 7114 7000

CAPITAL SECURITY BANK

Capital Security is our favourite recommendation for US citizens, who do not have amounts to qualify for private banking, and want to open a small discreet offshore account without the need to travel. It’s also used a lot for American offshore retirement accounts: is the main bank of our friends at http://WorldwideIRA.com Capital Security is quite Asia focused, which is good – in terms of where assets are held. In terms of its client base it is quite American focused, which is perhaps not so good. However the level of service is excellent and accounts are opened fast. Additionally, if you tell them you are a Q Wealth reader they will offer a significant discount on the monthly fee, which can’t be bad!

https://www.capitalsecuritybank.com/

Centrepoint,

Main Road

Avarua,

Rarotonga, Cook Islands

Phone: +682 22505

Contact: John Evans

[email protected]

CAYE INTERNATIONAL BANK

Caye Bank is a small niche Belizean international bank. Whilst we love Belize for IBC and LLC incorporations, we are not big fans of Belize for banking. To be honest, every Belize bank we have dealt with seems to be bound up in bureaucracy and check-the-box type compliance instead of the risk based approach. Nonetheless, Caye Bank is run by good and friendly people and they are the fastest and most efficient of all the Belize international banks. A disadvantage for us is that Caye focuses mainly on the US market, but of course that does make account opening easier for American readers. If you need a bank in Belize, maybe because it’s convenient for you to visit, choose Caye. A big plus is that they are located in beautiful San Pedro, the “isla bonita” of Madonna, so you can bypass ugly Belize City where all the other banks are based.

http://www.cayebank.bz/

Caye Financial Centre

Coconut Drive

San Pedro Town

Ambergris Caye

Belize

Contact: Kate Corrigan, Customer Relations

[email protected]

tel +501 226 2388

CIM BANK

CIM Bank is a small private Swiss bank with two branches: Geneva and Lugano. Unlike many Swiss banks they do not insist on high balances (minimum approx. $5000), and they will allow you to open an account without visiting the bank (an interview by videoconferencing is mandatory however). All accounts are multi-currency and they have access to world class international brokerage facilities via Interactive Brokers. They also have safe deposit boxes. Unfortunately they are NOT currently

accepting US citizens or residents. However for all other nationalities CIM Bank is highly recommended for the excellent level of personal service provided by Kateryna Pradel, our friendly contact there.

http://www.cimbanque.com

16, rue Merle d’Aubigne

1211 Geneva 6

+41 58 225 5050

Contact: [email protected]

CREDICORP BANK

A medium sized Panamanian bank with a good private banking division. The advantage is that they don’t have any foreign ownership. This is the only Panama bank we know that currently allows remote account opening (ie, you do not have to travel to Panama). For remote account opening the minimum deposit is US$ 50,000. If you show up in person you can open an account with $1000.

https://www.credicorpbank.com

Calle 50

Edif. Plaza Credicorp Bank

Obarrio

Panama City, Panama

Tel +507-210-1111 extensions 818 or 971

NOTE: for more information on banking in Panama, especially for those planning a visit, Peter Macfarlane & Associates has published a guide covering about twenty Panamanian banks in detail. Request your free copy from Peter Macfarlane & Associates, [email protected]

CURRENCYFAIR

Currencyfair is not a bank, but could be a better option than a bank for those looking to hold balances and make payments in multiple currencies, whether for business or personal reasons. Currencyfair is billed as the first peer-to-peer currency exchange service, effectively cutting banks out of currency exchange transactions so you can get better rates, whether for business or personal transactions. They support 15 currencies, and have excellent rates for international payments: for example US dollar wires to the US or worldwide cost either $4 or $10, depending on the speed selected. The $10 option is a normal urgent wire that some banks have been known to charge hundreds of dollars for. Because they have in and out payment options in different places, you could also use this as a way to transfer funds outside the normal banking system: for example, you pay in US dollars in the US and withdraw Hong kong dollars via local bank transaction in Hong Kong.

For further details go to their website: http://www.currencyfair.com/

DBS BANK

DBS is a major bank based in Singapore. It was originally set up by the Singapore government as the ‘Development Bank of Singapore’ and is now the largest bank in South East Asia by assets. It has several divisions: the basic DBS Bank offers normal accounts, DBS Treasures is a limited private banking service for those with a minimum of $100,000 to invest, and DBS Private Banking is their service for millionaires. You must normally visit the bank to open an account. In the case of corporate accounts for non-Singapore companies, LLCs etc it is usually possible to open accounts without visiting Singapore, on payment of an extra fee, by contacting our Singapore banking expert Sergey Bogatyrev: [email protected] Remember to mention that you are a Q Wealth reader. Note: It is not possible to open personal accounts remotely, as for that process the bank must scan your passport physically on the spot.

6 Shenton Way

DBS Building Tower One

Singapore 068809

Tel: (65) 6878 8888

EURO PACIFIC BANK

It’s located neither in Europe nor the Pacific, but its name reflects the global nature of its services. The bank is based in the Caribbean (St Vincent and the Grenadines to be precise) but they have allocated a dedicated account manager based in Asia who handles Q Wealth readers.

Euro Pacific Bank does not take US clients. If you are not a US client, then we like them a lot. The founder is US financial commentator Peter Schiff, and he set out to run a bank that is not like others. This is a great bank for online traders and for those who want to hold precious metals offshore. Another fact we like is a dedicated point of contact who has a ‘can do’ attitude. This bank comes with one of our highest recommendations: if you are thinking of doing business with them, a Skype conversation with Vincent Le is a must. Tell him you were sent by Q Wealth to benefit from favourable terms.

http://www.europacbank.com

111 Euro House

Financial Services Centre

Stoney Ground

Kingstown

St Vincent and the Grenadines

+1-784-453-2086 ext 205

Skype: Vincent.le.1

Email: [email protected]

FIRST CARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL BANK

FCIB is the largest, regionally-listed bank in the English-speaking Caribbean, with assets of over US$12 billion and market capitalization of US$3 billion. It is owned by the Canadian CIBC group. They have offices in a number of Caribbean countries which specialize in offshore banking. We generally recommend the Barbados office, which works with one of our preferred incorporators. Another option is their office in the , but BVI is a UK territory ultimately controlled from London. Barbados is an independent sovereign state, the best run country in the region.

http://www.firstcaribbeanbank.com

Ground Floor, Head Office

Warrens, St. Michael

Barbados

Tel +1-246-367-2012

GLOBAL BANK OF COMMERCE

Global Bank of Commerce is an established offshore bank from the Caribbean island of Antigua. While some of the smaller Caribbean banks go for service based on technology or international contacts, GBC takes the personal relationship approach, with an assigned private banker for each client, even though the minimum deposit to qualify for this service is only $5,000 – much below private banking norms. They are also proud of being a locally owned, long-established bank. What we like about this bank is its short channels of communication and its ‘yes we can’ attitude. Any issues that arise can be dealt with by calling a person you know there and business has a friendly feel. This kind of approach also keeps away the internet riff-raff and GBC has excellent correspondent relations with a number of major international banks. http://www.globalbank.ag

Global Commerce Centre

Old Parham Road

P.O. Box W1803

St. John's

Antigua, West Indies

Tel +1-268-480-2240

Contact: Carlos Benitez, Senior Private Banking Officer, [email protected]

HERMES BANK

Hermes Bank is a relatively new bank from the Caribbean that is competing on technology and excellent customer service. We have spoken to several of their clients who are happy with their services, although we don’t yet have any personal experience.

http://www.hermesbankonline.com

1 Bella Rosa Road

Rodney Bay

BW Box 332

Gros Islet

Saint Lucia, West Indies

Tel: +1 758 451 2265

[email protected]

HONGKONG AND SHANGHAI BANKING CORPORATION (HSBC)

For the last century and a half, Hong Kong has been a freewheeling hub of commerce, the spiritual home of one of the world’s biggest banks, HSBC (Legally speaking, HSBC’s home base is of course London.) For years HSBC in Hong Kong was a great offshore banking option, and it was even possible to open accounts remotely without having to travel to Hong Kong. It is well known for its efficient, multi-currency internet platform, and is regarded as one of the strongest banks, particularly suited to international trade.

In the last few years, however, HSBC has become much pickier in terms of the clients it accepts and is no longer really seeking international clients, preferring to concentrate on mainland Chinese business. If you want to open an account, you should be prepared to fly to Hong Kong, and it is absolutely essential to come recommended through an intermediary, who will take you into the bank and introduce you in person. In most cases it is preferable to form a local Hong Kong company, but this may not always be necessary, and it is possible to open accounts for foreign companies.

Our man on the ground in Hong Kong is Q Wealth Expert Alex Shumkov, who, with a Chinese partner, runs consulting firm Asia Explorer Ltd and is an appointed intermediary of HSBC. He would be our recommended contact for account opening at HSBC in Hong Kong.

http://www.hsbc.com.hk

Contact Alex Shumkov, [email protected]

INVESTORS EUROPE

Investors Europe is a specialist offshore securities brokerage based in Gibraltar. They offer online brokerage with a wide range of products, markets and platforms. They will open brokerage accounts for both individuals and offshore companies. By special arrangement with Q Wealth, they will normally accept US clients, provided they can demonstrate that it is a personal referral from Q Wealth, not a solicitation. It is therefore essential that American persons do not look at the firm’s website, but make contact first by telephone or email with Mr Fabio dos Santos.

Telephone: +350 2004 0303

Email: [email protected]

LATVIAN POSTAL BANK (PASTA BANK)

European postal banks are known for basic, down-to-earth no-nonsense banking, aimed primarily at low to medium income consumers in their local markets. Post banks are traditionally the government owned hub of much of the financial system, used by the populace for paying utility bills or by shopkeepers needing supplies of change. A good example of this is the Swiss postal bank.

Latvia’s postal bank draws on this heritage but is privately owned and also now operates as an international commercial bank. They have some innovative features such as a heavy involvement in e-commerce and an online brokerage relationship with Interactive Brokers LLC from the US. Banking fees are reasonable and there is no minimum deposit – however, don’t expect a private banking feel to the service.

Both business and personal accounts can be opened, including remotely, by their authorized agent Offshore Pro Group, a group from Singapore that also has an office in Riga, Latvia.

http://www.lpb.lv/

Contact: [email protected]

Brivibas street 54

Riga

Latvia LV-1011

Phone: (+371) 6 777 2 999

LOYAL BANK LIMITED

Loyal Bank is a small Caribbean bank which focuses on delivering high quality services via internet. They have no minimum account size and offer excellent multi-currency internet banking, and commercial banking services like cards and wire transfers. They also offer precious metals, forex and

some limited brokerage solutions. They are based in St Vincent and the Grenadines but also have operations in Europe. They are the oldest established offshore bank in St Vincent, audited by KPMG and using Santander and Korea Exchange Bank as their main correspondent banks. They open personal and corporate accounts in various currencies, and offer a special deal on the account opening and courier fees to Q Wealth readers.

http://www.loyalbank.com

Cedar Hill Crest

P.O. Box 1825

Kingstown

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

British West Indies

Tel.: +1 784 485 6705

Contact for Q Wealth readers: Mr Mo Kazemi, [email protected]

NOVO BANCO (LUXEMBOURG BRANCH)

This is a Portuguese bank. With all you might have heard about PIGS, Portugal may not sound too great. However, Novo Banco is the “good” bank that came out of the collapse of Banco Espirito Santo. The toxic assets of the former bank were segregated into a “bad bank” in 2014

The attractive thing is that the account can be booked in Luxembourg, regulated in the Luxembourg system, which is the strongest in Europe. Luxembourg banks are generally quite picky and require personal presence, a hefty opening deposit, have high fees and don’t open accounts for offshore companies. This bank has changed all that – through a qualified intermediary, Q Wealth readers (even US citizens) can open accounts by mail/courier, for offshore companies, with no minimum deposit and very low banking fees, especially on intra-European (SEPA) transactions. It’s also a great bank to use for international trade operations (letters of credit etc)

This service is ONLY available by personal introduction via a qualified intermediary located in Portugal. We will not charge you for the introduction, but we cannot publish his name here. Please use the referral form at Appendix C.

OCBC BANK

OCBC (Overseas China Banking Corporation) is our pick for banking in Singapore. The bank was established in 1912. It has a network of more than 480 branches and representative offices in 15 countries and territories including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Brunei, Myanmar, Japan, Korea, Australia, UK and USA. All account signatories are required to visit the bank or any of its international branches in person. In Singapore, personal accounts can only be opened by resident individuals, but offshore corporations can easily open accounts. If you would like a personal referral to the bank please contact Sergey, our man on the ground: [email protected]

http://www.ocbc.com.sg

Phone numbers here: http://www.ocbc.com/global/contactus/Gco_Con_WorldNos.shtm

PANAMA WALL STREET BROKERAGE

“Panama Wall Street” was founded in 1998 and is the leading independent (non-bank) investment brokerage based in the Republic of Panama. Thales Securities offers online trading on the world's most important exchanges as well as discretionary private asset management. They do have a relationship with Multibank, a strong local Panamanian bank, to help their customers with requirements, but their focus is on offshore brokerage.

Your contact there, Vice President Art Miranda, is a long-time friend and fan of Q Wealth who is an expert on online trading, global markets and on recommending the right platforms, whether for beginners or experienced traders. Accounts can be opened without any need to travel there, in the name of companies (Panamanian or other offshore) and also Americans can open Retirement Accounts there (see our IRA guide in the Q Wealth Members Area)

http://www.panamawallstreet.com

Torre Generali 22nd floor

Samuel Lewis Street

Panama City, Republic of Panama

Tel +507 263-6850

Contact for Q Wealth readers: Arturo Miranda, Vice President [email protected]

PRIMORSKA BANK

Primorska Bank is a small, discreet bank in Croatia, the newest member of the European Union. It’s located in the beautiful seaside town of Rijeka, the gateway to the Croatian islands, and has a private banking office in Zagreb. We like it because it’s discreet, secure, and accepts most international clients for multi-currency accounts without the need to visit Croatia. The relationship manager is Natalija Savcukov, who speaks excellent English and is familiar with Q Wealth.

http://www.primorska.hr/en/home

Ilica 15

10000 Zagreb

Croatia

Tel +385 1 555 6986

[email protected]

STANDARD BANK (ISLE OF MAN)

This is part of the South African-based Standard Bank group, a bank we particularly like due its global outlook and focus on developing markets from South America to Asia. They have recently launched something of a rarity in the offshore world: an offshore current account. This means something like a regular check account with a available in four currencies, but no fancy private banking tag- ons and a very low minimum opening balance.

Standard Bank Isle of Man Limited

Telephone: +44 1624 643643

[email protected]

http://expat.standardbank.com/

STATE BANK OF INDIA (SINGAPORE)

This is the Singapore branch of India’s largest commercial bank, majority owned by the government of India. It is ranked sixty-fourth on the list of world banks, and eleventh in Asia. It would be a good choice for people looking for exposure to emerging Asian economies rather than western banks. It is a good opportunity for those who want to open a personal account in Singapore – it is also possible to do this without going there, though the process is a little complicated and there are some fees involved – contact [email protected] for info.

135 Cecil Street #01-00

Singapore 069536

Tel: +65 6228 1116

Fax: +65 6228 1117

Email: [email protected]

SOUTH AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL BANK

Its name reflects its speciality, but this relatively new bank based in the Dutch haven of Curacao opens personal and corporate accounts for investors from all around the world. The process is relatively fast and painless, with no need to travel. They offer accounts in a wide range of currencies, using Dutch giant ABN-Amro as their correspondent bank.

Plasa Smeets 6

Willemstad, Curacao

Tel +5999 461-0888 ext 1011

Email: [email protected]

http://www.sai-bank.com

Contact for Q Wealth readers: Mark P.R. Roemer, Head of Commercial Affairs

VALORES CASA DE BOLSA

We’ve included Valores for the first time this year as it’s something quite unique and potentially very attractive to our readers. Valores is based in Asuncion, Paraguay. It is owned by Credit Andorra, the largest and most stable of the Andorran banks. Q Wealth’s on-the-ground expert there, Mr Stan Canova, is a US-educated Paraguayan who is a fount of information on his country and business opportunities therein. Paraguay has long been one of Q Wealth’s preferred destinations for residency and frontier investments.

Anyone with the right due diligence documents can open an account at Valores by mail, wire money in and out (as a cash account) and invest in the high-yield Paraguayan stock and bond market. There is no minimum deposit. The relationship with Credit Andorra means that the international bank’s full range of products and services is available using Valores as a hub.

For those thinking of a move to a more tax-friendly environment who are looking at a acquiring conservative investments for most of their portfolio, with a fun speculative high return part, this adds up to a very interesting combination.

http://www.valores.com.py

Avda. Mcal. Lopez c/ Dr Morra

Edificio Mariscal Center, 4th Floor

Asuncion

Paraguay

Tel +595 21 600 450

Cell +595 992 900 777

Email [email protected]

Appendix C: Q Wealth’s Free Bank Referral Service

If you would like to take advantage of the Q Wealth Free Bank Referral Service please complete the form that starts on the following page. The more information you provide Peter with, the more efficiently he can serve you. However, if there is something you cannot answer or do not understand, you can leave it blank and we will deal with it as best we can.

All information on this form is STRICTLY PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL. Once it has been dealt with, Q Wealth Limited will NOT keep any copies.

You can either complete this form by hand and send by fax to the Q Wealth number in London, fax +44 20 3051 4777, or you can scan it and send by email, or you can copy and paste into a new Word document or similar and send that by email. The email address is: [email protected]

Please allow up to five working days to be contacted once you have sent the fax or email. Usually, however, it will be quicker.

We’ll normally reply by email. Sometimes, if we have never written to you before, email gets accidentally caught in aggressive spam filters – especially with AOL addresses. So if you do not hear from us within five days please check your spam folder manually to see if there is a message there from Peter Macfarlane & Associates. Thank you. You can also call the consulting offices during European business hours by phone or Skype: for full contact details refer to http://www.PeterMacfarlane.info

Note: if you are interested in opening a corporate or business account offshore, or if you are simply not sure, please don’t use this form. Instead, as a Q Wealth member you can contact one of Peter’s associates for a free consultation: [email protected]

Q Wealth Limited – Personal Account – Banking Referral Form 2014

Note: if you are interested in opening a corporate or business account offshore, or if you are simply not sure, please don’t use this form. Instead, as a Q Wealth member you can contact one of Peter’s associates for a free consultation: [email protected]

Full name as it appears on your passport:

Country of Citizenship:

Home/Residence address:

Mailing or courier address if different:

Phone number:

Fax number:

Email address (please write very clearly and double check)

Date of birth:

Expected opening deposit:

Estimated balance after 6 months:

Estimated balance after one year:

Source of funds: [ ] Savings [ ] Inheritance [ ] Sale of business [ ] Earnings

Current occupation/business:

Expected annual turnover in dollars/euros/pounds:

Expected number of wire transfers per year:

Expected number of cheques per year:

Main purpose of account: [ ] Savings [ ] Business activity [ ] Online trading [ ] Precious metals

Additional details: please continue on a blank page. The more detail you can send, the better! Remember everything is strictly private, confidential and without obligation.