May 2005 Archives

I had planned on providing more information about Cayman Islands today but when I came across this story in one my favorite daily reads (see: ResourceInvestor.com) I couldn't resist sharing it, since this is one of the biggest scandals in history, and a blight on the history of the Toronto Stock Exchange.

De Guzman Lives? Singapore Report Cites Cheque from Fallen Bre-X Geologist

TORONTO (CP) -- A widow of Michael de Guzman, said to have died in 1997 by jumping or being pushed from a helicopter into an Indonesian jungle, has told a Singapore newspaper the Filipino geologist at the centre of the Bre-X scam may be alive.

The Cayman Islands were first sighted by European explorers on 10 May, 1503, owing to a chance wind that blew Christopher Columbus' ship off course. On his fourth trip to the New World, Columbus was en route to the island of Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic) when his ship was thrust westward toward "two very small and low islands, full of tortoises (turtles), as was all the sea all about, insomuch that they looked like little rocks, for which reason these islands were called Las Tortugas."

J.J. Childers, JD, author of the "Secret Millionare Series" says; "The Offshore Solution" is an important contribution to anyone's library."

Terry L. Neal also authored the popular "Offshore Advantage", both books enjoy 4 of 5 star ratings and good reviews.

Other books by the same author include; Barter and the Future of Money: The Currency Crisis (1996), and more recently, The Nevada Advantage (2002).

Recently I was invited to contribute some stories to International Living, that with any luck, may be considered for the "Daily Postcards" or maybe even published in the Magazine. In a letter from the web editor I was asked some specific questions about working and living in Brasil. So, I wrote my response, which turned into a short story itself.

Even if you are not a lawyer, you undoubtedly have heard something about the trust concept. Trusts are widely known because the trust is one of the most popular estate planning vehicles, used both for the inter-generational transfer of wealth and for avoidance of the burdensome probate process required when an estate is passed under the terms of a last will and testament.

Everything you ever wanted to know about Foreign Asset Protection Trusts (FAPT), from the Atlanta, Ga. based Law Firm of Riser Adkisson LLP, presents the most thorough resource I've seen on the web, related to this topic. Here's an excerpt from their website;

The Foreign Asset Protection Trust (FAPT) exists by virtue of spendthrift trust statutes in the offshore jurisdictions that specifically allow these trusts to be self-settled. Additionally, these trust statutes provide a variety of other statutory provisions meant to deter and defeat creditors, including shortened Statutes of Limitations that make proving fraudulent transfers nearly impossible, and flight clauses allowing the trustee to move the trust elsewhere if things get too hot in the original jurisdiction.

Recently I found an interesting article about Corporate Tax Avoidance in the State of California, and although it's commentary from a Southern California newspaper, and a little biased towards offshore banking being evasion, rather than avoidance, there are aspects of this article worth reading.

Drop anchor on offshoring

WE agree with Assemblywoman Judy Chu, D-Monterey Park, and Treasurer Phil Angelides that American industries that incorporate offshore in name only are little more than tax evaders.

I love living in Sao Paulo, and since I published an article yesterday about the future of software and data-center outsourcing, which I'm an advocate of, then it's only fair to tell the whole story... because there's some problems here too.

An adverse effect of a society that has so much wealth, natural resources, and the world's leader in the production of soft commodities, is that this society owns the dubious distinction of having the worst distribution of said wealth, which causes for resentment from the lower classes, of the upper class. This resentment converts to crime, and often times of a violent nature, which is the caveat of living here.

By Todd Benson The New York Times -

SÃO PAULO On a recent trip to California, Luiz Fernando Furlan, the Brazilian trade minister, went out of his way to plug his country as the next stop in the global rush for software services and information technology.

"The image of Brazil is soccer, coffee and samba, not sophisticated technology products," Furlan said on a stop in Silicon Valley, the center of California's technology industry. "But that's out of date."

Reviewed by Alan Furst The New York Times

In the early 1970s, word got around the expatriate community in Paris that Harry Mathews "was CIA." Why? Well, as he writes in his new autobiographical novel, he was thought to be very rich, and gay; he had an Ivy League, WASP sort of background; he had visited Laos, and he had time to do whatever he liked, including writing well-regarded novels. Case closed.

For some time now I've been reading posts, articles, and commentary about the new U.S. ID Card Program called "Real ID" but I hadn't commented myself, until now. My first reaction to this idea is that an illegal cottage industry will emerge in places like Colombia, where they produce and sell counterfeit currency by the truckload. It's my assumption that it would be easier to reproduce future ID Cards, than a U.S. twenty dollar bill, but then I'm no expert.

My reasons for having a negative reaction to the upcoming U.S. National ID Card, are not even the real problems, so to share more about this topic, from the bona fide expert, I'm posting an expert from Bruce Schneier, author of "Beyond Fear" and an excellent Newsletter related to Security of all types, but especially insightful with regards to Computer Network Security. I highly recommend the newsletter called "Crypto-Gram", here's an excerpt...

There seems to be a spate of new offshore scam convictions lately, and there's often a few common themes; greed is used to entice investors into seemingly brilliant investments that promise to return incredible profits, in a short period of time. Most often these schemes are called "high yield investments", and more than often seem to involve FOREX (foreign currency) trading.

I've always wondered, and heard the same musing from many other people, that if you were such a brilliant investor, as to be able to make massive profits on a regular basis, why would you want, or need, other people's money?

ExactPay gives you around-the-clock access to your international, multi-currency accounts all from one easy-to-use online interface. You can monitor your account balance and transaction history, transfer funds and make payments, and print statements – whenever you want. So you’ll enjoy maximum convenience and complete control of your global finances.

Experience ExactPay today, click here.

By James Bennett -

Betting exchange could move operations offshore if 'punitive' tax laws are enforced by the UK Treasury

One of Britain's leading online betting exchanges, Betfair, is considering relocating its operations from the UK to Malta in anticipation of new tax laws being introduced on its revenues.

There's controversy brewing, amongst intellects, from all across the spectrum, about the subject of "offshore tax havens". Naturally, many people are waking up to the damage caused by inequities, of global systems, that let people who can afford better accountants, operate from jurisdictions where the corporate entity (used for this purpose), pays little or no taxes. The underlying question probably asks; 'dirty' or just inevitable?

Here's an excerpt of an observation from BlogCritics.org

By Joaquin Estefania -

The first initiative President George W. Bush sought to impose after the September 11 attacks was that of financial vigilance, i.e. the control of money being handled by terrorists. This was easier said than done, given that much of this money is in tax havens, and there is no legislation to control it. With their usual pragmatism, the Americans made some changes. The Patriot Act placed banks under the obligation to report any "suspicious" activity; and the law reforming the secret services, enacted late last year, contained a clause that allows the government discreetly to inspect international bank transactions to detect supposed terrorist activities.

Our Yahoo Group named Offshoretrust, has grown to 252 members now, many financial service professionals, from offshore and onshore, causing some very interesting commentary. Recently an article about St. Kitts and Nevis generated lot's of correspondence, started from a question related to; US Real Estate Properties, owned by an offshore trust, and the need to pay US property taxes? - very insightful dialog.

You can join our Yahoo Group, named Offshoretrust, by clicking here.

As we move closer to a global economy, there is a trend among smaller, less economically developed countries to follow Switzerland’s lead to legislate measures to attract foreign investment money to their economy. As a result new financial opportunities are opening to those who are willing to take advantage of them.

By Carolyn Batt -

Luxembourg, Jersey or The Bahamas? The Isle of Man, Cyprus or Bermuda? It's a question many expats face frequently, and it's not about where to take their next holiday.

In the financial sense, "offshore" means a jurisdiction other than the one where you reside. But it is important that investors in offshore funds consider both where the fund is domiciled, and whether there is a satisfactory investor protection regime in place, before parting with their savings.

Panama has been the topic for several of the last articles I've published lately, and in another I promoted an Offshore Business Conference in London, so I thought it only fair to make a pitch for one of the best conferences, in the field of offshore investing and asset protection. Also, it just happens to take place in Panama.

Panama City, Panama | May 18-21, 2005

More than 20 of the world's leading financial advisors will come together for a candid "off-the-record" seminar to introduce you to the best ways, in these troubled market times, to make money and, critically, to protect the money you've already made.

Today I received a message from my Yahoo Group "OffshoreBusinessMagazine" that my May 1 issue of the magazine was available for pick-up. By simply clicking on the link they provided, within 1 minute I was reading the Premier issue of "Offshore Business Magazine".

I give the "Offshore Business Magazine" "Two Very BIG Thumbs Up! It's 36 colorful, well laid out pages, of well written articles, backed up with research and photos, tables, and charts. The index lists about two dozen articles and they're in diverse but relevant categories of offshore business, including; offshore business news, offshore banking, offshore gambling, offshore information (ie. laws, jurisdictions, products and prices) and offshore financial center (report/overview of a tax haven). In future issues of "Offshore Business Magazine", they'll be covering topics including; offshore investment/offshore funds, offshore insurance and offshore shipping/aircraft.

I highly recommend subscribing (free) to the Offshore Business Magazine.