It’s a great pleasure to welcome you to the fascinating world of offshore banking. It’s something I work with day in, day out. Quite frankly I am passionate about it.
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 mountains around hairpin bends. I’ve certainly tried both, and my career has taken me to some interesting places. But 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?
My goal in transmitting my knowledge about the offshore world
is to provide a purely practical roadmap for taking those first steps offshore – dipping your toes in the water. This is the how and the why and the who.
One theme I hear frequently these days is that “tax haven jurisdictions will die out.” When? Exactly when all the Big Brother, high-tax countries embrace the basic human rights of freedom and privacy, and lower their corporate and income taxes to nil, or close to it. Or when nation states as we know them cease to become the norm. I know which I think will happen first, but that’s the theme for a future article!
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.
I do look forward to hearing from you and to helping you in your planning and choices.
Peter Macfarlane