Recently in South Pacific Category
Offshore Business Magazine (OBm), headquartered in Manila, is a leading FREE online publication, providing news and articles within offshore business sectors like: Law, Tax, Offshore Corporations, Trusts, Banking, Insurance, Foreign Investment, Funds, Wealth Management, Brokerage, Licensing, Factoring, Yacht/Ship Registration, Financial Advisory Services, Audit, Real Estate, Intellectual Property and Debt Collecting.
The Republic of the Marshall Islands becomes the jurisdiction of choice for publicly trade companies in the USA.
For the past couple of years, Marshall Islands companies have led the way in new shipping company IPOs (initial public offerings) on both the NYSE and NASDAQ in New York. With a dozen Marshall Islands shipping companies now publicly trading and more to come, it is clear that professionals, such as lawyers, bankers and underwriters, trust the reputation of the Marshall Islands Corporate Registry and the corporate law of the Marshall Islands.
The article called “US tags ‘Dirty’ Money Launderers In the Pacific” referred to in your latest newsletter incorrectly says that the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), among other nations, has been included in the list of “Jurisdictions of Concern” published by the US Department of State. The NICSR 2007 (www.state.gov/p/inl/rls/nrcrpt/2007/, see Volume II), puts the RMI among “Other Countries / Jurisdictions Monitored”. This reflects the efforts made over the years by the RMI to criminalize, investigate and prosecute money laundering. The RMI remains a safe jurisdiction and this fact is acknowledged by governments, stock exchanges, high profile companies and individuals all over the world.
Sincerely,
James Myazoe
The Trust Company of the Marshall Islands”
www.register-iri.com
The OECD, the Paris-based anti-taxhaven group, just hates bearer shares! They have gone out of their way to brand any country that allows bearer shares as an "uncooperative" country. But they have a problem: in the words of the comic strip character Pogo, "we have met the enemy and they is us!" Switzerland is an OECD member and many major Swiss corporations still issue bearer shares, and such shares are regularly traded. Another well-known OECD member nation is the United States, one of which, Nevada to be specific, allows bearer share corporations.
The LLC is a: A) Corporation; B) Partnership; C) disregarded entity; D) any of the above.
The correct answer is D) Any of the above. As you know, the US IRS classifies every non-trust Company as either a partnership, corporation, or disregarded entity. This applies to both domestic US LLCs and foreign LLCs. While there are default rules for the classification of both foreign and domestic LLCs, one has the option in both cases of selecting a different classification simply by checking the box on IRS form 8832.
Forced heirship rules in many civil law countries are an ongoing source of family problems which have frustrated proper estate planning and divided families into warring camps for generations.
While there are a number of very good solutions for this problem, one of the most popular is the use of a foreign trust structure to hold the assets indefinitely without ever triggering heirship rules since a trust never dies.
Anyone who thought that the OECD attack on “tax-havens” would make them go away was self-deluded. The offshore financial services industry has grown to huge proportions. According to published US and UK government reports, it now tops $11.5 Trillion dollars and despite US and EU animosity it is still growing!
With this much money at stake an increasing number of high-tax countries are looking for ways to get a piece of this pie. None of them are turning into across-the-board tax havens, but various countries are selecting one or two specific vehicles to which they are granting special treatment.
The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) has one of the finest bodies of corporate law in the world, having closely modeled their laws after the top corporate haven in the world: the State of Delaware. The RMI is a former U.S. dependency in the Pacific Ocean which is now entirely independent.
One of the most innovative and useful business entities provided for in RMI Law is the Series Limited Liability Company (LLC).
Talks are under way with tax authorities in 10 Pacific region countries, as well as in traditional tax havens such as the Channel and Cayman islands, as part of a 33-nation OECD initiative against illegal tax transfers. Australia's largest tax fraud investigation, Operation Wickenby, was launched after the Australian Taxation Office discovered high-profile people were using offshore credit and debit cards to access overseas wealth.
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.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- Cyclone Olaf has swung by the main populated area of the Cook Islands causing property damage but there are no reports of injuries or loss of life.
The cyclone, the third to hits the Cooks in the past two weeks, has now moved out into the Southern Ocean.
Full story here: CNN
I'm not sure which sounds worse a cyclone or a hurricane, each has a menacing connotation. Naturally (no pun intended) they're the same thing, however one is the Pacific version of a similar magnitude storm as a hurricane in the Atlantic. Actually, I think the names are different to distinguish between the directions in which the storm turns, in other words; one turns clockwise and the other counter-clockwise but I'm not sure. What I am sure of, having been present for two major hurricanes, including Andrew in South Florida, one typhoon in Hong Kong and a severe tropical storm in Hawaii, plus witness to the devastation of a direct hit to Jamaica, is that these acts of nature are extremely violent and very terrifying.
Samoa (formerly West Samoa) truly deserves the term "offshore" as this little island nation is in the middle of the Pacific has a decent reputation as an offshore business jurisdiction, with solid laws written in English and based on British Common Law.
As for the lifestyle on this Island Paradise, what better place to look for a second opinion than the famous (and my favorite) Lonely Planet Guide;
The pace of life in Samoa is so laid-back it's only a heartbeat away from being a nice little snooze. Its palm-fringed beaches, booming white surf, and lush rainforests wreathed in misty clouds make it the kind of place that Hollywood location scouts go gaga over.
If you've never heard of Wikipedia then this will be very useful information, as there's no better place on the web that I know of to get free information and learn more about any topic.
Wikipedia is a free content encyclopedia written collaboratively by people from all around the world. If a site is a wiki, that means that anyone can edit articles, simply by clicking on the edit this page link. It runs on MediaWiki software.
