On The Offshore Banking Bandwagon
What is the alure that Offshore Banking has to attract the once nay sayers to participate?
In Toronto during a business promotion fair, Royal Bank representatives, Hong Kong Bank, and a couple of others were offering Offshore Banking services very openly. Right, the Hong Kong Bank or HSBC has been doing this for a generation; but The Royal Bank? This is a common occurance today.
I’m talking about the big retail/commercial banks in the G20 and in any other country with large banks. This has of course gone on for a number of years and even in todays’ banking climate of sledge hammer force on smaller countries to tax foreign banking/business accounts and also to remove banking secrecy.
Banks, in the G20 have largely been mandated (being forced really) to act as the money laundering police. And because of this, many sad errors (might be called acts of money terror) have been forced upon many innocent and helpless people…
True story of a guy trying to buy a small home…After some years of regular checks and cash, a loan was put into the account to be used as a downpayment. The account was immediately frozen simply because it came from a country half a world away – an offshore bank source - parents. The interrogation by bank officers (not police officers) acting like some secret police began. In the meantime, the deal on the house was sold to another buyer. Too late the funds were eventually released after the orders of the ombudsman. “So, sue us” was the arrogant reply when compensation was asked.
The drive to milk the “Offshore Banking” market has gone on unabated. Yet, I recall, just a handful of years ago the big banks in Canada were bashing offshore banking but at the same time setting up branches overseas. Of course, they were trying to “bring to light” other banks which allow illegal activities.
The word is Money. It’s liquid and moves freely across the borders in billions at a time – of course, these days with the advent of retail forex exchanges and trading that theoretical transfer value if now $Trillions daily. Furthermore, travellers and worldwide businesses have an unsatiable appetite for cash everywhere they went. So, why not get in on the action? And just the other day, such a cash transfer didn’t meet with any eyebrow raising, but a very friendly teller, “Will we be expecting more in future? You know that we have an offshore banking unit that can help you, sir”
Has Offshore Banking suddenly become such a good thing now?
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