Reasons To Go Offshore For Your Banking And Financial Needs

There is a myth perpetuated by the press and the IRS that people only go offshore for illegal purposes or to hide something through complex offshore formations. This is completely false as there are many large legitimate companies and business people who use offshore jurisdictions on a daily basis.

To identify and list all of the reasons why one would go offshore would be impossible. However, one can identify some of the major factors:

1. A need for increased privacy and confidentiality. With faster, more powerful computers integrating more databases together, and the dramatic increase in government power since 911, there could ultimately be no financial or personal privacy left in the US.

2. Rampant litigation in the US. You now have a 1 in 4 chance of being sued in the US if you earn over US 100,000 a year and the US has more law suits than any country in the word.

3. Protection from divorce or an aggrieved significant other, or as an alternative to a prenuptial agreement.

4. Provisions for your retirement and concern for the financial security of your family and loved ones.

5. Protection of a lump-sum payment with an IBC company, such as a personal injury, workers compensation, or a no fault settlement.

6. A solution for high-risk business owners, such as online casinos, poker, pharmacy (RX companies) and tobacco merchants who wish to accept payments in privacy offshore, and who can not secure merchant accounts at domestic onshore US banks.

7. Private and confidential trading for online brokerage and Forex traders through an offshore account.

8. Shipping companies that require free port zones for tax-free operations (Panama being one of the best areas for formation).

The list really is endless. With the advent of the Internet the world has indeed gotten smaller and offshore banking has never been more relevant.

Richard Price is the publisher of http://www.confidentialbanking.com, a resource and service for those seeking offshore banking services, and http://www.confidentialbanking.co.uk, offshore banking services for UK citizens.