How banks work


Getting An Offshore Bank Account Via The Internet

There is no need to use the many middlemanYou are likely to be cheated, possibly by the
websites you will find via a search engine.bank  itself.  Avoid  Latvia!
In fact, most of these are *bogus*, even the
slick-looking ones. More and more banks are3.  Do  not  give  anyone  Power Of Attorney.
offering offshore internet bank accounts
direct. Just get a list of banks in theYou can kiss your money goodbye. You may have
country you're interested in, and go to theirlegitimate reasons for not wishing to
web  sites.broadcast what you're doing. The problem is:
*How can you obscure that you are the owner
See the Google Open Directory here: here: theof the company, or bank account, without
list  atlosing  control  of  it?*
Opening an offshore bank account is likeDon't  get  too  clever,  or  too  greedy.
opening one in your high street; meet their
criteria, and you're in. The only difference4.  Avoid  web  sites  where:
is  you're  not  there  in  person.
The business address is a P.O. Box, or a
The first thing is to find out whether they'Suite';
will accept citizens or residents of your
country. For example, Swiss banks tend not toThe  site  is  on  a  free  web  host;
want US customers; they don't want the hassle
from  the  IRS.The  site  is  badly translated into English;
You will need to prove your identity, and theYou have the sense you are dealing with
legal existence of your company, if you wishAfricans  or  Eastern  Europeans;
to  open  an  account  for  it.
The site has not been updated recently e.g.
If applying by mail, DO NOT PART WITHthe  Copyright  reads  2001;
ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS. Get copies notarised by a
notary public. Originals can be used forThey've  only  been  running for a few years;
fraud or identity theft. Or they can get
lost.They offer a range of dubious products -
second passports, citizenships, anonymous
A Notary Public is a public officerdebit  cards;
commissioned by the State to perform notarial
acts. A Notary is an impartial witness. TheYou cannot pay via credit card - it's much
notary  is  empowered  to issue an apostille.harder to get refunds on banker's drafts,
Western  Union  and  e-Gold  etc;
Apostille - Is a method of certifying a
document for use in another country pursuantThey require you sign a confidentiality
to the 1961 Hague Convention. With thisagreement, or you have the sense you are
certification by apostille, a document isentering  quasi-legal  or  illegal territory.
entitled to recognition in the country of
intended use, and no certification orBogus offshore banking sites can threaten to
legalization by the embassy or consulate ofreport you to your tax authority if you
the foreign country where the document is toquestion their methods. It's an old con
be  used  is  required.trick; get the mark involved in something
illegal, then he can't go to the authorities.
In practice this means you provide evidence
to this man that you are who you say you are,How do I know all this? Well, dear reader,
and/or that your company is what you say itlet me take you back to 1997, when ecommerce
is, and take an oath on the Bible. Oh yes,was a new word. Merchant accounts were not
that's  right,  it's  not  a  joke.easily available to individuals in the UK,
especially if you wanted to sell intangibles.
Due diligence: Banks need to show they haveSo I found a website that offered one, with a
checked who their customers are, and how theyLatvian bank account, and a company
came  by  their  money.registration in Panama to go with it. The
latter was necessary to open the account, or
Passport - If you apply by post a notarisedso I was told. This 'package' was on a
copy  is  needed;'discount',  and  cost  about  $400+.
Proof of your economic background - documentsAll worked well, until the bank went bust in
showing how you earn your money (work2001. One sorry fellow reported on Usenet
contract, bank statement, tax return, companythat he'd lost $10,000. I lost the sum of
documents);$232 (business was diabolical!). I decided in
2002 to shut down the company, as it cost
Proof of the origin of your deposits -$500 a year in fees to maintain, I was skint,
documents showing how you earned yourand I had no real use for it. To de-register
deposits. For example if you sell a house,it cost another $500. Which I paid. Only to
proof of the sale, a copy of the estatefind out later that that the middleman
agent's  listing,  etc.;website hadn't de-registered it, and that the
yearly fees to the Panamanian registrar had
Information about yourself and your depositsnot  been  passed  on  either.
- Name, date of birth, address, etc., as well
as how much you plan to deposit on theResult: No merchant account, and a company in
account and what you plan to do with thebad standing. Total loss: About £2000 GBP.
money  once  it  is  in  the  account.
That Latvian bank is open for business again,
If opening a company account, you send anwith no mention of their previous collapse on
apostilled copy of the certificate oftheir website (well, you wouldn't, would
incorporation to the bank providing youryou?).
account, along with evidence of your
identity, an application form, and any otherThe moral of this story? Offshore bank
documents  they  ask  for.accounts and company formations are just like
their onshore equivalents; there's no big
If you want to get an offshore bank account,mystery about them. If you want a company
*consider visiting the bank in person*. Ifformation, contact a local man, who speaks
you can, travel to the country in question,English, in the country of registration. Then
and open a bank account there. You probablyuse another local man to check what the first
live near one tax haven at least. Thisone's  done.
especially applies if you are planning to
deposit large sums; find out who you'reOpen  your  bank  account  yourself.
dealing  with!
One last thing: don't think that because your
NOTES:bank account and company are offshore you can
do business in your home country, and/or with
1. Don't pay a middleman to open a bankfellow residents, and avoid taxes there.
account  for  you.  See  above.You'll find plenty of websites that'll
purport to help you, right up until the time
2. Do not use services which offer bankyou get a small brown envelope from your
accounts  in  Eastern  European  countries.country's tax inspectors, inviting you in for
a little chat.



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