Advantages of Opening an Offshore Bank Account

While offshore bank accounts are not for everyone, they can offer huge benefits to the right person. For many small businessmen and entrepreneurs, a good offshore bank account has provided the "key" or competitive edge to unlock vast potential wealth. But first I want to dispel two big myths about offshore bank accounts.

Myth 1 - Only the super-rich can afford offshore bank accounts. You don't need to be rich to open an offshore banking account. While it is true that a "wealth-management" service with a personal banker might require an initial investment of US$1MM, accounts with no minimum deposits certainly exist, and smaller minimums of US$500-5000 are quite common.

Myth 2 - Offshore bank accounts are illegal, or used only by criminals. The confidentiality that offshore banking accounts offer has led to abuse by criminal gangs, but in fact these days many offshore banks have stricter due diligence than their onshore competitors. Criminal activity, wire fraud and money laundering will just as likely take place in New York or London (government sponsored or otherwise). Furthermore, ownership of an offshore bank account is never illegal, although not declaring that you have it can be illegal (laws will vary from country to country).

What can an offshore bank account do for you? Here are some of the advantages that have helped investors make their choice.

1) Privacy - Shield your assets from prying eyes. The phrase "If you're not doing anything wrong, you've got nothing to hide" is often used, but the brutal truth is that many citizens from countries all over the world are exposed to corrupt authorities and criminal elements. Even in more stable countries frivolous litigation can decimate a man's wealth, while he cannot trust the government to rule in his favour. Why take the risk? By shielding your financial identity with an offshore bank account you can escape the attention of greedy lawyers and experience the kind of total economic freedom that a domestic account can't offer.

2) Asset protection - Wealth held offshore is harder to reach for anyone who might want to get their hands it. Often the physical distance and legal complexity of attempting to seize an offshore account will ensure that a case against the account holder never takes off.

3) Earn tax-free interest - Many offshore accounts will not have interest taxed at source like your home bank account. In addition the offshore account can open up for you some of the best investment opportunities not available in the domestic market.

4) Multiple currencies at your fingertips - swiftly change between foreign currencies at a fraction of the cost of doing it at home. Some offshore accounts will also offer FOREX and Trading accounts, allowing you to instantly buy and sell at the click of a button from a tax-free offshore base.

5) Perhaps the best advantage of an offshore account is that it will allow you to make international transactions with little or no hassle and red-tape. If you try to transfer even relatively small amounts of money from your domestic account you will likely face a barrage of security questions and other invasive queries, but a good offshore account will allow you to make such transactions online effortlessly, and into the many millions of dollars.

Are you interested in opening an offshore account? Many start-ups, online businesses and private investors worldwide have benefited from Capital Conservator offshore accounts. With secure online access, unrivalled privacy and one of the most cost effective account-opening processes anywhere, visit us to find out about opening an offshore bank account and get a FREE guide to protecting your financial privacy.

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Do You Want a Private Offshore Bank Account?

Private offshore banking can open up a world of opportunity for the private investor. Although you don't have to be super-rich there's no denying that private offshore banking only makes sense for those with substantial sums to invest. A guideline could be U$S250,000-1,000,000 as the minimum you need to get a private banking account with your personal wealth adviser, although each bank will have its own criteria.

Here are just some of the benefits you can expect from a private bank account.

- A direct line to a private wealth manager (no waiting in line).

- No tax or a deferred tax on interest-bearing instruments.

- Access to trading facilities from a confidential, tax-free base and the ability to purchase financial instruments normally only available to "institutional" investors.

- Privileged access to the best resources of the bank and (often) a wealth manager who can draw up long-term plan for your finances.

- The better private offshore accounts will offer enhanced privacy for those private clients who desire it. This may include limiting access to financial records to a select group of employees, the use of trusts and companies to restrict knowledge of the account to bank, client and other persons the client chooses to advise.

Private banking clients may often need more than your average banking services. Some may have their wealth spread over different countries and multiple sources of income. They need one account that will be able to integrate all these income streams so that they are allocated in the correct manner, and not subjected to double taxation or other needless expenses. A good private banking service will let you hold accounts in all the major world currencies through one master account so that you can make payments or receive them with maximum efficiency.

Furthermore an excellent private banking account will ensure that your account remains confidential between you and the bank regardless of changes in bank secrecy and geo-political maneuvering. This has become all the more important as high-tax countries set their sights on removing bank secrecy in "traditional" offshore jurisdictions.

What will a private bank account cost?

While you don't have to be fantastically rich to benefit from Private Banking, fees are higher than those for a "standard" domestic account. For an all inclusive "wealth management" service including a hotline to your private banker, you can count of fees of around 1% of the account balance per year. If private banking is right for you, the personal service, tax benefits and enhanced confidentiality of private bank accounts easily outweigh these fees many times over.

The author writes in a promotional capacity for Offshore Banking House Capital Conservator. Get a private bank account with Capital Conservator protected by bank secrecy and a dedicated wealth manager. http://www.capitalconservator.com/private-banking/

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Online Offshore Bank Account

Opening an Online Offshore Bank Account
By Patrick Winters

Opening an offshore account online is the easiest and most-cost effective way of getting your funds from A to B. Having said that, there are many pitfalls associated with this kind of search. It's not only your money that you are entrusting to a website you found off Google - you might also get drawn into an action that is plain illegal. Even if banks are regulated, the internet is not, so ready yourself to plough through a lot of junk, middlemen and websites that are out there purely to scam you before you find the perfect offshore account.

Here are some golden rules to follow to make sure you don't fall pray to internet schemes.

1) Get a phone or fax number. One of the easiest ways to flag a scam website is one that has little or no contact information.

2) Most offshore banks will have well-laid out websites with plenty of information. Often they have documents available to download such as application forms, due diligence requirements, and government issued credentials.

3) Don't trust an organization that asks for no due diligence to open an offshore bank account. All offshore banks need this to cover their end, and at least a recent utility bill and scanned notarized/apostilled copy of your passport are standard minimum requirements.

Look for clues as to what the organization behind the website ACTUALLY does, and consider whether it fits your requirements. In my experience, "Offshore banking" websites can be broken down into 3 main groups.

1) Sites that offer to open an offshore bank accounts in foreign tax havens for a fee. Many of these will promise to open bank accounts in jurisdictions where there is high demand for offshore accounts yet short supply such as the US and Switzerland. Not all of these groups are scams - many will save you a whole lot of time and effort in preparing the correct documentation. But you do run the risk that the guy who offers you a professional "introduction" will take your $1000 and run off into cyberspace.

2) Real offshore banks. How do you know they are real? Do they have their formation documents online? Don't be fooled by websites that say they are licensed by a fictitious country; if the website says it gets a banking license from Seeland, think how likely this could be...?

3) Treasury- type accounts. These guys will open an account for you in the name of their trust or financial company. Make sure the website has a record of its license and check the country where it comes from. Even "legitimate" sounding companies can turn out to be fake when they are owned by a trust which, on investigation, doesn't exist. While trust accounts can offer you better privacy than the other options, "trust" is the operative word here. The treasury company will be signatories on the accounts rather than you personally - so make sure the one you choose has a bit of history, or even better look for 3rd party reviews to ensure they are legitimate.

Good luck!

The author is a staff writer for Offshore Banking House, Capital Conservator. Get started right now with the easiest online application process anywhere. Capital Conservator offshore accounts all have online access, rapid wire transfers in unlimited amounts, and access to a wealth of other investment opportunities. Click for more information on Capital Conservator Offshore Bank Accounts Online.

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