Quote:
Originally Posted by polish_aristocrat
about one month ago, a GFY user "bigfire" from what i remember (but can be wrong) said that either Barclays or HBSC arent really friendly towards any online biz at all. It wouldnt surprise me if this was true.
it really seems to me that the banking world has changed really a lot and opening an offshore account seems harder each year.
It's not that you just apply for a personal account offshore, claim internet income and you'll get accepted ;-)
neither is spending a few $k on opening some corporation in Belize or Panama a guarantee that the serious banks in Europe will suddenly treat you better.
it can be quite hard to set-up such a simple offshore presence if you're not very big
anyway, question to the thread starter SpyCam, you complained that no one here names any names, but you didn't name your bank either.
You said you have already an offshore corporation and you have a european bank account for it but it doesnt work good for you. So what are the problems? And which bank are you using/where are you incorporated? Just curious  |
Hi PL!
Personally I've never heard of any bank which is known to be particularly friendly to the adult biz - or any biz for that matter
At the same time I've never had a problem in.. dunno.. over 30 years with any bank on the basis of the nature of the biz. Most knew exactly what the biz was - others really were not used much and doubt they cared. Hell, we even employed one of our bank managers to handle export credit guarantee processing (he knew all that stuff backwards and did a good job till he retured.)
Both Barclays, HSBC and other prime banks are fine for any kind of business (as long as it's legal). Both these names and others are major banking operations for offshore and onshore and there is a fair chance they will be either in or near the jurisdiction of many OS corps.
Believe you are correct PL in that banking has changed over the years. The effects of the OECD "dictatorship" means they ask for more info as part of the "know your customer" policy and to keep the bank's financial regulators happy.
Can't say much about personal banking OS, - only got a couple of OS personal accounts and it was simply a matter of walking down the road and opening an account. The difference may be I'm legitimately OS and it may be different trying to do this remotely. About opening a private account and claiming internet income - yep - see what you mean. OS biz ops are usually conducted via corps and it would be normal when opening personal accounts to eg say X corp is where I am paid a salary etc. In other words, saying on a personal account that your income comes from the net, means it's a business and not personal. But, there are a fair number of OS banks with online account applications for actual personal accounts.
Only my
, but I would not have a corp in Belize or Panama and want an EU bank account for that corp. It's like mixing oil and water - the usual aim is to keep them apart. If a "real" offshore is needed, the corp would be in that real offshore area and it would have banking within probably another real offshore area. If a presence was wanted within the EU, an EU corp would be set up for that purpose (can be in a suitable area - Gib, Cyprus etc)
and it would have banking facilities within the EU. That said, the EU corp could be owned by the "real offshore" corp in the above scenario and this can provide more tools to play with.
Still on a related topic - and you may have noticed this on GFY threads
There appears to be a lack of understanding the concept of basic stuff. Example.. anyone who expects others to publish details of their OS bank arrangements have got to be in lala land
Offshore is not for tax swindling. People who claim they will provide introductions to banks (usually for a fee) are of very little use - anyone can introduce themselves to any bank and start this process online. Banks are not going to treat anyone "special" because someone who probably does not even have an account at that bank introduced them - the bank wants to know the customer and only the customer can provide that information. The first criteria for using offshore has nothing to do with bank accounts or corps - it is *all* about where the beneficary is resident and nationality. Unless that personal background is "clean" and the beneficary is personally in a scenario to benefit from OS legitimately - it's going to create future problems. Only a guess, but would think with that level of unawareness - I'd hate to see the applications that go into bank for account opening - definately sounds "quality and substance lacking"
Summary! Any decent OS lawyer will set up whatever corp correctly for a few K and, if needed, prepare a POA and provide introduction to a suitable bank. Everything else is "client dependant" and, if they client does not understand whatever aspect, he/she needs to consult the lawyer. The client also needs to be aware of his/her own "background" since it is most likely that the OS lawyer is not qualified to give advice on that (he will not be practising in eg the US, CZ, Sweden or wherever). Dealings with banks are little different onshore or offshore - the same account-opening criteria applies. So.... suppose the first stage is, are we "clean" to engage in OS and where exactly is that juridiction going to be?
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