There’s much ado about offshore banks and banking secrecy lately. But why go far, far away when you have your very own assets protection system so well set up in a state called Delaware.
Primarily affecting USA residents and companies residing within the USA, many have already heard about using the Delaware Corporation as an asset protection base. Why? Simply because, whether it be banking secrecy or corporate secrecy, the USA has neatly used to side-step the G20 “end of banking secrecy agenda” – state incorporation secrecy was not on the agenda and treated as an internal matter.
I found this on You Tube some time ago but is interesting enough. No I’m not promoting IncNow, but they do have great information about why you could and should protect your assets and consider a Delaware Incorporation. Enjoy the videos.
Why you should Incorporate in Delaware or Form a Delaware LLC:
The internal operations of Delaware Corporations and LLCs are governed by Delaware law. The US Chamber of Commerce has rated Delaware’s litigation system #1 of all 50 states in the past five years in every category (Judges’ Competence, Judges’ Impartiality, Overall Treatment of Tort and Contract Litigation, etc.)
Additionally, recent amendments to the Delaware LLC Act now make it the state-of-the art jurisdiction for LLCs. Delaware’s Charging Order Remedy is exclusive and very narrow, to starve out a creditor. Creditors are no longer entitled to other legal and equitable rights to attach assets. Assignees are also bound by the Operating Agreement even if they did not sign it.
Choosing Between a Delaware LLC and a Delaware CorporationThe “Limited Liability” of Both Entities
The owners of a sole proprietorship or general partners of a partnership are not protected from the judgments against and liabilities of the business or from the acts of their business partners.
The stockholders of Corporations and members owning units in Limited Liability Companies (LLCs), on the other hand, benefit from “limited liability.” In other words, their liability is limited to their investment in the stock of the Corporation or in the units of the LLC.
Panama – the last Tax Haven Hold Out – can they hang on against the might of the US patriot act? And the possible sanctions of the rest of the world. Maybe, just maybe, the tax havens are just reinventing the tax haven.
After the recent G20 summit Mr. Gordon Brown, Brittain’s PM declared the end of tax havens.
Are they really ending? Or is it going to be another political game of chess or backgammon? Maybe some chinese chess? ( try it).
So,
Here’s a rather tongue in cheek clip from A leading Panama newspaper, La Estrella (The Star).
[...seems to agree with Mr. Sambrook's view. In an editorial entitled "Panama must clean its image," it suggests a possible course to follow:
"Unfortunately, it would be predictable for Panamanian officials to attempt to sidestep the issue by imitating the recent announcements by the tax-haven nations of Andorra, Liechtenstein and Switzerland that they will address certain tax and banking transparency concerns.
"Why would Panama, a country whose comparative advantage is providing a haven for foreign firms to avoid taxes, consider such an announcement? Because the plans that the other three secrecy jurisdictions rolled out are far from adequate, full of loopholes, and do not represent a meaningful way forward for them - or for Panama.
"Thus, Panama could try to quell the growing controversy without making serious changes to its excessive banking secrecy and policies that waive taxes for foreign firms."]
Actually, rather than posting a long opinion, about Panama, simply read about “What Will Panama Do Now?”from the good folks at the Sovereign Society. It’s quite entertaining.
The OECD mandated end to any tax haven such as Monaco required an end to banking secrecy.
That alone may spell the end of the resourceless principality which has become the playground of the very wealthy since 1869.
Some say the bell tolls but does that herald the end of Monaco as a tax haven or a new direction in the survival of this, the smallest nation on Earth (unless you include the Vatican which has only 1 sq. km. and a population of 920). Monaco has a population of 32,410 with a land area of 1.95 sq. km.
However, the G20 heavy handedness to end tax haven status to a number of jurisdictions pro-campaigners claim will make little difference, because foreign governments will have to provide evidence of an individual’s tax evasion before Monaco agrees to hand over their bank details.
Monaco has a total of 35,000 residents, but 350,000 bank accounts containing total deposits of more than £80bn. Many European nations want their hands on that moneyor at least a larger proportion of it.
But that is not all that’s been happening behind the scenes. Monaco has already complied to many European demands of withholding wealth taxes, providing the Bank of France banking information of French nationals, impose a wealth tax on EU residents.
All of that activity sounds dire to Monaco’s Status as a Tax Haven par excellence. But that principality is not sitting still and leaving themselves at the mercy of the G20 nations.
“Monaco” Exclusive Private Label
The tourist board has embarked on a five-year plan to develop Monaco as a destination brand.
Among its ideas is what was originally called Concept URI or ”ultra-rich individuals” which has since been ratcheted down slightly to include HNWI or high net worth individuals – acknowledging the global economic crisis.
Monaco’s network of 100 honorary consuls dotted around the world have been set the task of identifying some extremely wealthy people, particularly in developing economies such as India, Brazil and Russia.
Will it work? Well, getting ultra wealthy friends from around the world can’t hurt. The number of yachts and the continuation of the Formula 1 show in Monaco still says they do have the right votes.
Looking for a handy tax haven? Try Delaware. Or maybe Nevada. How about Wyoming? Those are the suggestions from Luxembourg’s prime minister. OK, he’s kidding … sorta. What he’s really trying to do is take a stand for his country, …
Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker has suggested that US President Barack Obama should look to the ‘tax havens’ in his own back yard before telling the financial centres of Europe and elsewhere how they should be running …
But wait, Malaysia’s Tax Haven of Labuan Island was most certainly on the blacklist and forced to renotiate their tax treaties to OECD standards.
Last week, the G20 leaders agreed in London to take sanctions against tax havens, using the OECD list as its basis. In their communique, they agreed “to take action against non-cooperative jurisdictions, including tax havens”. … Separately, the US Treasury said it had begun negotiations with Switzerland to amend their 1996 bilateral income tax treaty. Switzerland decided last month to ease banking secrecy and fully adopt OECD tax standards. The government agreed to …
So, what really is on the agenda? Destroying tax competition worldwide?
For those who read the recent book that I co-authored with Chris Edwards, you already know that tax competition is a very important constraint on the ability of politicians to over-tax and over-spend. And as the first installment of …
Well, if the money really flows into US Tax Havens anyway, it’s still US soil right? Makes overly competitive sense to me.
Tax Havens were put on the ‘comply to break your banking secrecy’ or face sanctions dictum. Compliance with the new OECD demands is either agree to breaking your banking secrecy or face spectre of sanctions.
On the blacklist are Costa Rica, Malaysia, and the Philippines – as you’d expect, Malaysia has already protested and the Phillipines, so dependant on foreign aid is taking steps to comply.
Financial centres that have committed to – but not yet fully implemented – the standard include Switzerland, Singapore, Chile and three EU countries – Belgium, Luxembourg and Austria.
Tax havens that have committed to – but not yet fully implemented - include Andorra, Monaco, Gibraltar and Lichtenstein.
What seems apparent is the ‘standard’ tofollow are led by the big nations who are also the biggest taxers or are the wealthiest in terms of productive capacity and technological advancement such as Britain, the US, France, Germany and China.
The Devil is in the Details
What is not made clear is the implementation – how are they going to do it all and when? There are already probable obstacles to a very solid standard for a level playing field.
Already during the final hours of the G20 Summit, China had been in some heated debate with France (Nicolas Sarkozy) over Tibet and the exclusion of Hong Kong and Macau from the bad list – at least for the time being.
The financial centers so named for their agreed to compliance such as Singapore and Switzerland still need to develop and implement their new strategies and laws which had taken generations to cultivate. Change won’t come easily.
It will be interesting to see what the time table will be and what will be adequate compliance.
The reason is simple, many experts on tax havens have already made mention of 2 very important issues:
1) Tax Holiday Competition. The practice of Tax Havens for individuals and corporations is also being conducted in part by the G20 countries themselves in their thirst for investment dollars.
2) Tax Competition. If Tax Havens are to survive, I do envisage their switch from no tax to low tax jurisdictions – or perhaps to become jurisdictions of convenience where they are offered citizenship and therefore get another tighter layer of protection for their assets.
How all these issues will play out is very interesting to bear watching in the future.
There are a number of good reasons financially to do your banking and business from Las Vegas. But there are many negative rumblings of late.
Will the casinos – the big play in Las Vegas survive? They must. Much of Nevada’s banking system will depend on it. But it’s not all doom and gloom.
From Forbes advice column:
“Nevada is the closest thing the U.S. has to a tax haven. No personal income tax, no capital gains tax, no gift tax, no inheritance tax, no franchise tax, no inventory tax.”
There is a property tax but compared to the rest of the country, and especially California and New York, it is extremely low and properties are not reassessed upon purchase.
Is this enough for Las Vegas to remain a business playground?
Read what the people at ground zero in Nevada has to say…
While most of the U.S. does not give a hoot about the fate of Las Vegas, there are indicators which might matter to us. If major casinos default the impact ripples go through the credit and banking system. …
Larger banks will report monthly while smaller banks will report quarterly. The plan also includes reduced fees for small business lending and an increase on the guarantee on some small business administration loans. Local Las Vegas …
Las Vegas Real Estate.: How Far Will Mortgage Rates Fall? … On Las Vegas REOs, Banks Freq… Record Home Sales in February… Advertisement. Archives By Month. March 2009. – How Far Will Mortgage Rates F… – On Las Vegas REOs, …
Leaving Las Vegas – Government Fills the Debt Gap. 03 Mar 2009. by Peter Richards – Category: News. After three days at the RETECH conference one leaves the United States with a sense of jubilation from all the talk about the new energy economy. While the bailout and newly … RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland) was one of Europe’s biggest debt financers of wind farm projects. However, the bank announced yesterday the largest net loss in UK corporate history – $34.4 billion. …
The writing is on the wall. Sales prices will start to climb shortly. • Las Vegas will be one of the first markets to recover. It already is. • If you have cash, you will have more bargaining power with the banks. …
If you still have the funds will you still get your business over there? Maybe, this might be good for one thing. Laying a stronger foundation for Nevada to become a stronger tax haven?
Swiss Banking Law is considered the cornerstone of all that is sacred in Swizerland, but Berne may not have a choice as it is backing down on a part of its banking secrecy laws.
Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) is the world’s largest wealth management firm that once managed assets of more than US$2 trillion.
But read this excerpt from ISN…” in June 2008, Bradley Birkenfeld, a US citizen and former UBS employee, himself indicted for tax fraud, cut a deal with US tax authorities. His cooperation alleged that over the period 2002 to 2007 UBS helped American HNWIs commit massive tax fraud. ”
“UBS admitted guilt and entered into a deferred prosecution agreement. In exchange, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma), with the approval of Swiss Federal Councilor Hans-Rudolf Merz – who oversees the financial dossier – ordered UBS to release the names of some 250 to 300 US clients suspected of meeting the threshold for tax fraud in Switzerland. UBS also paid a US$780 million fine and pledged to exit the US wealth management business”
The global economic crisis has forced UBS to write down more than any other European bank, US$50 billion plus. The bank has groveled for loans from both the National Bank of Switzerland and the Singapore government.
On Friday, 13 March, the Federal Council yielded and adopted a more permissive standard for information exchanges in line with OECD rules.
The Swiss government no longer distinguishes between tax fraud and tax evasion for foreigners.
The coming weeks will reveal whether the Swiss Federal Council compromised sufficiently to dodge the OECD blacklist.
Officials from Austria and Luxembourg – countries that also have banking secrecy policies – stated on 9 March they backed Switzerland in its row with the US. Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, a dual Czech and Swiss citizen, argued to the Neue Züricher Zeitung (NZZ) that … French President Nicholas Sarkozy and Germany’s Angela Merkel have both expressed their support for stigmatizing Switzerland and adding it to the OECD’s uncooperative tax haven blacklist. …
But really, the Swiss citizenry is quite outraged. Their way of life and cornerstone of their country’s income base is being compromised. Read about this spat between the Swiss and Germans over the issue of Bank Secrecy.
A Swiss-German spat over banking secrecy, including a comparison of a German minister to a jackbooted Nazi, has laid bare deep national tensions at a time many Swiss are nervous about an influx of German residents. … Steinbrueck was responding to comments made during a Swiss parliamentary debate on Wednesday on the bank secrecy row. Thomas Mueller, a Swiss member of parliament, compared Steinbrueck to a “generation of Germans … who went through the streets wearing …
So, what do you think? Should the Swiss be forced to enter into an agreement where their sovereignty is challenged?
It’s common knowledge that Singapore is a low tax jurisdiction, but a tax haven? Ask around and most people will have no clue. Often there’s the misconception that Singapore is just a regular modern and sophisticated place to conduct international business with extremely high taxes too.
So, which is it? The truth is, it really depends on how the rules are followed and the execution of the established rules. Yes, Singapore can indeed become a Tax Haven of choice if you operate your affairs correctly.
Just be prepared that Singapore is an extremely established world financial player similar to Hong Kong in many ways. Expect the services to be costly and the maintenance of those services to cost a bit too. However, you also similarly get very sophisticated servicing of your incorporation too. The country at the same time, operates a very transparent and legally to the letter system. You’ll get the kind of protection against improprieties against you within Singapore laws – i.e. a foreign country can’t bully the Singapore government into divulging your corporate affairs if no proof (suspicion is insufficient) of illegal activities are shown.
Knowing all that, so why do people and businesses incorporate in Singapore from all over the world? The real answer is ASSET PROTECTION.
For Singapore Based Tax Residence Companies
“If you have offshore investments or businesses, it is possible to manage your affairs in a tax-efficient manner with the use of an offshore company. By ensuring that all directors’ meetings are held outside Singapore and with the company registered with the agents in the offshore jurisdictions, the tax on income arising from offshore investments and businesses could be deferred indefinitely, if not avoided altogether.”
This type of tax regulation is known as “territorial taxation”. With the strict rule in place for prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, opening bank account for other tax haven jurisdictions can be difficult. On the contrary, to open a corporate bank account for companies in Singapore or Hong Kong is easier as these companies are more transparent due to the strict compliance control by the government – to read more – click here.
Since I’ve already made known one such company that offers their services for a Singapore incorporation, her are a few more - if just for your informational purposes. Here’re 7 more.
Prince Rainier the man who created the tax haven of Monaco on the Mediterranean had the right idea.
Being the smallest country in Europe, how else was he to get all the international cash aflowing into such a small principality?
Get the Warriors of the track to live there of course. Cash in on the formula one races’ publicity to get more attention for his little country bringing international exposure and prestige.
Critically what was done was to expand the shore line of Monaco, effectively doubling it’s size by land reclaimation from the sea. This allowed the building of more casinos, great hotels, condos and an expanded harbour for yachts large and small.
Oh, yes, perhaps the most important thing done was to create a personal banking and tax system to rival Switzerland as a tax haven. Taxation has been kept deliberately low too. All done over 50 years ago by Sovereign Charter.
The result? Notice the numbers of racing car drivers who have actually taken Monaco as their residence of choice for tax purposes and to take advantage of their private banking services.
Who can blame them? There are great medical facilities, prestigeous schools, great banks, a play ground for the wealthy and besides, the weather’s great too. All that within anywhere in Europe you care to travel to. Besides, there are more formula one races in Europe than in any other continent.
Here’s a nostalgic F1 Racing in Monaco video by Nero8.
I wrote about the power of money, but I’m finding more reason to be in awe of the mega power of money.
It makes one wonder just how much is there out there. Especially when there has been more than one en masse capital withdrawal from the active markets. In short, they are hiding their money under their mattresses. Or is there another reason money seem to have gone somewhere else?
The Graph from Oxbury Research shows how much capital has actually been leaving investments and turning into apparent cash. Just cash. From where did all these dollars come from? There must be a source of where this money seem to have appeared out of nowhere.
Capital flight from poorly performing markets is no surprise, but where money really has gone is somewhat of a mystery.
Some of it of course, are in offshore tax havens and also, less known are the tax shelters within your own countries. This is the governments’ way of fighting flight capital into some far off jurisdictions.
So why not keep capital here at home? So what if that money is not taxed to its maximum. This very same capital is more likely to be reinvested within the country. For example a Nevada Corporation for your asset protection.
The point of the mega power that money has?
When something can worry and move governments to take more action to try to keep money from going offshore, even to the point of not taxing them, that’s mega power!
There’s much ado about offshore banks and banking secrecy lately. But why go far, far away when you have your very own assets protection system so well set up in a state called Delaware.
Panama – the last Tax Haven Hold Out – can they hang on against the might of the US patriot act? And the possible sanctions of the rest of the world. Maybe, just maybe, the tax havens are just reinventing the tax haven.
The OECD mandated end to any tax haven such as Monaco required an end to banking secrecy.
The tourist board has embarked on a five-year plan to develop Monaco as a destination brand.
Have US Tax Havens been shielded by the powers that be?
Tax Havens were put on the ‘comply to break your banking secrecy’ or face sanctions dictum. Compliance with the new OECD demands is either agree to breaking your banking secrecy or face spectre of sanctions.
Swiss Banking Law is considered the cornerstone of all that is sacred in Swizerland, but Berne may not have a choice as it is backing down on a part of its 
Prince Rainier the man who created the tax haven of Monaco on the Mediterranean had the right idea.
