Offshore bank accounts

[whitebark]

Panama - Cayman Islands - Switzerland - is there one that is better than the others for establishing an account/holding funds?

Is there a particular bank you can recommend or advise to stay away from?

Thanks!

 

[Raider]

The best person to ask is Ted Kennedy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbDwbUZar0o

 

[katherine]

Is there a particular bank you can recommend or advise to stay away from?

I would avoid banks that are represented in your country of residence.
For example if you would open an account with Royal Bank of Canada in Panama, chances are the backoffice and data are in Canada, under Canadian juridiction.
US banks should also be avoided for obvious reasons
British banks tend to be nosey and intrusive.

Out of these 3 juridictions I would prolly pick Panama but they are more or less remnants from the past. Nowadays, a lot of money has already moved to the Far/Middle East
There are also a few havens in Europe that are still not too affected by foreign interference.

 

[jasdon11]

From what I understand, every jurisdiction has a different set of rules depending on which country you wanr to 'hide' your dealing from. What might be a good system for a UK based person, may be totally wrong for someone from Canada etc.

 

[vikrantjain22]

Opening a offshore account in Singapore might be a very good, safe and secure option

 

[whitebark]

Thanks everyone!

 

[SonnyBurnett]

Luxemburg or Cayman

 

[Crown]

Is it for you or your corporation? Swiss accounts allow you to have a number as the account name instead of using your own name. Cayman is great if you are a corporation because all they need is your corporation name and not your personal name.

Your intent on why exactly you would want to open one of these accounts would be needed to fine tune anything beyond the basic privacy benefits associated with offshore accounts. If you are telling all your family and friends that you have one then you are most likely in a position where you don't really need one unless you are looking at tax benefits.

 

[whitebark]

The account will be for personal use.

 

[Seraphim]

I'm looking for a Nigerian passport, a Mongolian based ISP, and a savings account in the United Arab Emirates.

 

[katherine]

Money can buy anything