July 2006 Archives

Few nations in history have shown the remarkeable progress that Singapore has achieved over the past 40 years. In such a short period of time, the city-state of Singapore has gone from swamp land to one of the wealthiest nations in the world, making Lee Kuan Yew perhaps the most brilliant politican that has ever lived. By implementing the correct policies from the start, the example of Singapore has shown that free markets and stable politics are the most powerful forces in raising the standard of living for every human on the planet.

Sculptor Kent Ullberg, widely recognized as one of the leading wildlife sculptors in the world, is set to install and dedicate his latest work, Chub Cay Blue. Installation is scheduled for July 31, 2006, and the sculpture will be dedicated, complete with a formal unveiling ceremony and attendance by Bahamian VIPs, on August 4.

A Senate committee is turning the spotlight on abuse of offshore tax havens, particularly the use of trusts and corporate moves to circumvent U.S. tax, securities and antimoney-laundering laws. The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations plans to explore how offshore tax abuses cheat the federal government out of billions of dollars ...

Continue reading "Tax-Haven Abuse is Examined"

At issue is representation on the board of the Corozal Free Zone, that pricey piece of real estate that has made many merchants--and many smugglers--extremely wealthy. It seems that following recent Cabinet shuffles there is a new minister responsible for the nation's free zones .. and to put it mildly, the old guard is not too happy.

Continue reading "Belize Free Zone Stalwarts Rebel Against Minister Mark Espat"

#08 - In this issue:

GUERNSEY PLANS TO REINFORCE INVESTMENT BUSINESS SUCCESS - LIBERALISED FUND REGIME PROPOSED
The report of a Committee chaired by Advocate Peter Harwood, tasked with ensuring the continuing health of the investment sector, is published today. It recommends some fundamental changes to regulatory lawsFull story on page.14

British-based internet gambling companies were urgently consulting their lawyers yesterday about the risk of being targeted by US prosecutors in the wake of the arrest in America of the chief executive of BetOnSports. The mounting concern comes as the indictment raises the possibility that US investigators may spread their net wider than those already named. The document says that the defendants “and others, known and unknown” constituted a gambling enterprise that conducted unlawful computer and telephone-based betting.

Continue reading "Online Bet Firms Fear Widening of US Investigator's Net"

Dubai International Financial Center(DIFC), a major regional offshore financial services hub, said it was in talks to create a financial district in India. Omar bin Sulaiman, governor of the state-owned DIFC, said the Indian center might open as early as 2007 but stressed that talks with the Indian government were "at an early stage".

Continue reading "Dubai to Set Up An Offshore Financial Hub in India"

With its manatees and monkeys, this small mainland country is great for nature lovers, says Claire Wrathall.

There aren't many manatees left in the Caribbean - perhaps a thousand - and we weren't looking for them. But when our guide, Clive Garbutt, cut the motor of his small boat, everything fell quiet and there, sending ripples across the placid surface, was a wrinkled, whiskery snout followed by a pair of sad seal eyes. Then another smaller head came up for air - a calf! Then another, and another. We had happened on a herd.

Continue reading "Life's a breeze in Belize".

US Online Gaming Legislation Takes Away People’s Right to Choose

This legislation is an attempt to block the ability of US citizens and people from around the world to transfer their funds through a US financial institution for the purpose of online gambling.

The good news: It isn't necessary to shell out tens of thousands of dollars to set up a complex offshore trust or partnership. Some effective asset-protection strategies can be both simple and cheap, such as putting more money into a 401(k) plan, which is off-limits from most creditors under federal law.

Continue reading "Finacial Tools to Ward Off a Disaster"

A survey conducted for the Bahamas' Government by PricewaterhouseCoopers has confirmed Bahamas’ position as a leader in the three core areas of private banking, trusts and corporate services, says the Government.

Finance Minister Brian Cowen said yesterday he would have liked to have been told in advance that the CIA was monitoring financial transactions between Europe and the United States.

Continue reading "Irish Minister Criticises Secrecy of CIA Accessin EU"

A new generation of Britain's super-rich are moving to the Riviera to avoid the Inland Revenue, largely thanks to tax loopholes which allow them to commute to work from Monaco. The Guardian has traced more than 650 directors of British companies who give their current address as Monaco, and the top 10 residents there with UK interests alone control family assets worth more than £13.5bn.

Continue reading "Tax Haven that Super Rich London Commuters Call Home"

Representatives of Seychelles and Cyprus has signed a Double Taxation Avoidance agreement, touted as another means of encouraging European investors to inject money into the local off-shore business sector.

Continue reading "Seychelles Signs Taxation Agreement"

A new report from London's Economist Intelligence Unit says that the future of offshoring is not the destructive race to the bottom lamented by so many commentators, but a search for the right skills at the right price.

Alderney, part of the UK's Channel Islands, has appointed a prominent e-commerce executive to head up the jurisdiction's already successful e-gambling sector.

The Alderney Government (known as the States of Alderney and regarded as being globally at the forefront of eGambling regulation), announced yesterday that they had appointed Robin Le Prevost to drive their burgeoning eGambling Industry forward.

Nigeria got a clean bill on money laundering issues last weekend as Finance Action Task Force (FATF), a Paris-based international agency expunged her name from the list of those countries with high rate of money laundering image.

Continue reading "FATF Delists Nigeria from Money Laundering List"

The cutting-edge architecture of a string of brand-new banks might seem incongruous in a village topped off with a medieval royal castle. The nation sandwiched between Austria and Switzerland gained what fame it has as a banking and financial services center, a place where ill-gotten assets could be safely stashed away and no one would ask questions. Now the regulations have changed, and it's time the rest of the world took notice of the country's efforts.

Continue reading "Liechtenstein Fights Big Bad Image"

CHUB CAY, Bahamas -- Walt McCrory meanders past the cottages going up on this picturesque private island he and a group of investors bought two years ago.

Chub Cay has no permanent residents, but the Du Ponts and other prominent Americans have holed up here for the past half century. While guests are only a 45-minute flight from the United States, they feel like a world away, free to sunbathe on secluded beaches that boast some of the Bahamas' best sport fishing.

Singapore faces a shortage of private bankers and is relying on two government-backed training programs to fill the gap, a Singapore monetary official said Tuesday. "The environment is no doubt challenging," he said. "It is not just a problem in Singapore. It's a problem in the entire region."

Continue reading "Singapore Wealth Problem: Too Few Bankers"