June 2006 Archives

A blaze on Friday has badly damaged Sealand, an inhabited former military platform, about eight miles east off the coast of Essex and Suffolk. The so-called "independent state" of Sealand is home to an internet firm. The British Government does not recognise the sovereignty of Sealand.

Continue reading "Microstate Catches Fire".

Britain hopes to persuade the offshore centres that are reaping the lion's share of the explosion in online gambling to sign up to new controls on the sites. Centres that host online gambling sites include Gibraltar, the Cayman Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Antigua and Costa Rica.

Continue reading "Online Gambling and the UK"

Political agreement has been reached between Commissioners of Constitutional Affairs of Curaçao and St. Maarten on one Central Bank and monetary system for the two islands after they obtain their desired country status within the Kingdom.

Continue reading "Curacao, St. Maarten Opt for Joint Central Bank".

A BARBADIAN attorney-at-law is among a list of international lawyers, consultants and academics slated to address the 16th Oxford Offshore Symposium to be held September 3 to 9.

Dr. Trevor Carmichael, the principal of Chancery Chambers a locally based firm engaged primarily in international business law and environmental law, will be speaking on the future of commercial internationalism. The session will focus on the future of international commerce examining issues ranging from arbitration to extradition and telecommunications to trusts.

1.Security – How Do I know my money will be safe & secure? Where do I transfer money to for my investments?

No money should ever be paid directly to your advisor! If an advisor / broker asks you to transfer money to them directly for any reason, alarm bells should sound. Any transfer should always be made directly to the financial institution you are investing with. Major Offshore locations and jurisdiction such as the Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, Dublin, and Bermuda etc have some of the highest levels of investor protection anywhere in the World. If we take the Isle of Man for example, investments are covered by a world-wide investor protection scheme

A landmark receivership case has been brought to Guernsey’s Royal Court to recover the assets of a Bahamian company, Vavasseur Corp., which had swindled $121m. from investors. The funds were fraudulently obtained from investors in the US and Europe through the sale of fictitious securities and were traced to various jurisdictions. This included $2.65m. in a Guernsey bank account.

Continue reading "Guernsey Secures $2.65M for Fraud Victims"

Six Caribbean countries that had refused to join a regional trade bloc were likely to sign up in late June after receiving promises of aid to offset losses to their economies, officials said Thursday. The islands of St Kitts, St Vincent, St Lucia, Dominica, Grenada and Antigua had resisted coming on board, concerned that the single market's ending of import taxes in the free trade area would hurt local industry and that they would be flooded by products from the bigger countries in the region.

Continue reading Six Eastern Caribbean Countries to Join Regionalal Single Market

Modeled on the traditional buffalo nickel, the American Buffalo coin has a buffalo on one side and a Native American on the other. It comes in two versions, both stamped with a $50 face value but worth substantially more because they are made of pure gold.

While a Panamanian currency – the Balboa – exists, it is only available as a coin, and is on par with the US dollar. For its day-to-day currency, Panama employs the familiar US greenback. As a result, you never need worry about the exchange controls, devaluations, or currency fluctuations that plague many other offshore jurisdictions.

Hundreds of Jamaicans from across the globe will meet in Kingston today in hopes of better organizing those living overseas -- and getting them to invest in their homeland's future.

More than 80 percent of college-educated Jamaicans do not live on the island, according to a 2005 World Bank study. As a result, Jamaican officials say, the nation lacks the professional expertise needed to climb out of poverty.

Continue reading Jamaican expatriates gather to organize investment in homeland

South Korea is planning to try and obtain agreements with Bermuda and other tax havens to exchange financial transaction and tax record information of foreign investors. Exchanges of this financial and tax-related information is essential for the government to levy taxes on gains made here by foreign investors based in tax havens.

Continue reading South Korea Seeks Pacts with Tax Havens

The Government of Jersey, has announced is plans to become the latest state in the region to issue online gambling licenses, following the success of its neighbor, Alderney. Numerous online gambling sites currently have offices in Jersey. Jersey will now take another step into the market as plans are in place to issue online gambling licenses.

Continue reading Jersey Set To License Online Casino and Gambling Sites

Today the Miami Herald provided the following free advice:
U.S. best served by avoiding confrontation with Castro
OUR OPINION: STEER CLEAR OF CONFRONTATION WITH CUBA

Like a slum lord who doesn't want to openly evict unwanted tenants, Cuba's dictator is turning up the heat on the U.S. Interests Section in Havana. In the last week, the Cuban regime has cut off electricity. It's also restricting water supply. The moves are only the latest in a bizarre harassment campaign escalating for months.

The government of the Marshall Islands is the largest employer, employing 30.6% of the work force, down by 3.4% since 1988. GDP is derived mainly from payments made by the United States under the terms of the Compact of Free Association. Direct U.S. aid accounted for 60% of the Marshalls' $90 million budget.

Serbia's former justice minister accused Greek Cypriot authorities yesterday of complicity in the illegal transfer of billions of dollars to Cyprus during the 1990s United Nations embargo against Yugoslavia. Vladan Batic told a Nicosia court the Yugoslav government had arranged for "sacks and suitcases full of cash" to be flown from Belgrade to Nicosia and deposited in accounts of "front" companies held by Cyprus Popular Bank, now known as Laiki Bank.

Continue reading "Cyprus Aided Money Laundering"

The global tax watch group appeared encouraged by the efforts The Bahamas has made to strengthen its internal systems. In its report, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD] recognized the tax information exchange agreement [TIEA] that The Bahamas signed with the United States, acknowledged the mechanisms in place to identify owners of bearer debt and cited the measures in place to establish ownership, identity and accounting information.

Continure reading...

2006 Assessment by the Global Forum on Taxation

In today’s increasingly borderless world, countries are working more closely together to prevent abuses of the global financial system in a wide range of areas, including taxation. The Global Forum on Taxation, which consists of OECD and non-OECD economies, seeks to improve transparency and to establish effective exchange of information so that countries can ensure compliance with their national tax laws.

The Isle of Man was chosen by the South Korean island of Jeju as an example of an exceptional role model for e-commerce development, the Manx government has announced.

In a television programme aired on South Korea's national network, the Isle of Man was described as "an IT paradise created on a tourist island", following a visit by reporters from Jeju's television station.

So Sue Me! How to Protect your Assets from the Lawsuit Explosion is the latest book by Arnold S. Goldstein "For four decades he's helped America's affluent protect their wealth from lawsuits, creditors, tax collectors, ex-spouses, and other predatory threats.

As in any industry there are key terms with specific meaning unique to its participants. The following list of terms is not meant to be all-inclusive. It is meant to provide the reader with basic understanding of offshore terminology.

When author Chris Rodgers sat down to write a guide to basic financial planning, he says his goal was to free taxpayers from old ways of thinking. “I want to help others achieve maximum tax relief and gain financial independence. I want to help eliminate misguided fears and myths regarding taxpayers “options” regardless of circumstances. I also want to bring to light the often overlooked and forgotten benefits that are available from the U.S. government to all who work or do business in the United States.”