Wealth International, Limited

Offshore News Digest for Week of October 1, 2001


U.K. OST’S & CROWN DEPENDENCIES SELLOUT?

On Friday word got out that JERSEY will follow orders from the UK Labour government and will share Jersey-based bank and financial account client tax information with all EU nation tax collectors. GUERNSEY will also follow this “information sharin”q course.

More on this story here and here.

On Monday the EU claimed that London had guaranteed that all British overseas territories and Crown dependencies had agreed to enforce EU plans to tax non-resident savings and investments, including accounts in the Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and other UK Caribbean tax havens.

More on this story here.

SWISS COOPERATE, BUT DEFENDED BANK PRIVACY

In response to UK Chancellor Brown's scurrilous attack tying Swiss bank secrecy to terrorism, the Swiss say they will provide information, but only under established judicial procedures.

More on this story here and here.

SWISS FRANC SURGES UPWARD

In the last week the Swiss franc, always one of the world's strongest currencies, surged to new highs of value.

More on this story here.

Even as the Swiss Parliament debates sale of gold reserves.

More on this story here.

SWITZERLAND MAY JOIN UNITED NATIONS

Swiss voters have said 'no', but politicians are pushing the nation into UN membership.

More on this story here.

U.S. COURT BACKS BERMUDA TAX BREAKS

A US federal circuit court upholds UPS use of a Bermuda-based captive insurance company that cut taxes $1.8 billion.

More on this story here.

ST. KITTS-NEVIS DOES ITS PART

The tax haven of St. Kitts-Nevis offers US rescue workers, police and firemen in New York and Washington free vacations.

More on this story here.

NEW U.S. ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING REPORT

US Treasury Dept. releases its 2001 National Money Laundering Strategy but terrorist attacks will force more refinements to the plan.

More on this story here.

The 2001 Money Laundering Strategy Report is available for pdf download here.


U.K. LAWYERS MUST REPORT CLIENTS

British lawyers will lose the right to client confidentiality under new anti-money laundering laws.

More on this story here.

RUSSIA ALLOWS PRIVATE LAND OWNERSHIP

MOSCOW. A long awaited law partially repeals a Soviet era ban on private ownership of land.

More on this story here and here.

ANTI-TERROR TRAVEL TIPS

A primer on what international travelers must do now.

More on this story here.

FINANCIAL TIMES SPECIAL

How September 11 will change the world.

More on this story here.

AMERICAN NATIONAL I.D. CARDS?

A US national identity card system is pushed as a supposed counter terrorism measure.

More on this story here and here.

The Cato Institute says any national ID system will quickly expand into constant government surveillance.

More on this story here.

And here's one Brits decisive 'no' to ID cards.

More on this story here.

LIBERTY SUFFERS IN WARTIME

Don't let history repeat itself.

More on this story here.

U.S. SENATORS PUSH ANTI-OFFSHORE BILL

WASHINGTON. Spurred by false charges that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were funded through tax havens, US senators want to include tough anti-offshore provisions in pending anti-terrorism legislation.

More on this story here and here.

LONDON, MAN, CHANNEL ISLANDS CAT FIGHT

The grandstanding head of the UK Financial Services Authority uses the terror issue falsely to accuse the Isle of Man and the Channel Island tax havens of having lax anti-money laundering laws.

More on this story here.

The Brit tax havens immediately answered, saying their new anti-money laundering controls match or exceed those in the UK or US.

More on this story here and here.

BERMUDA SAYS NO TERROR

HAMILTON. We're clean and cooperative, they say.

More on this story here.

BAHAMAS BALONEY

NASSAU. Having destroyed The Bahamas as an offshore haven, government now claims its Draconian new laws will thwart terrorist cash.

More on this story here.

BELIZE POTENTIAL RESIDENT'S KIT

Everything you ever wanted to know about living, retiring and/or investing in Belize, a true offshore tax haven.

More on this story here.

SWISS BANK ACCOUNT FREEZE

ZURICH. Swiss freeze more bank accounts of Milosevic regime.

More on this story here.

NEW ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING LAWS

MANAMA, Bahrain. This Gulf nation will share financial info with other countries for civil, criminal and tax inquiries.

More on this story here.

The PHILIPPINES struggles to pass a clean cash law in order to get off the hated FATF blacklist.

More on this story here.

VANUATU DEFIES O.E.C.D.

The tiny Pacific island haven stiffs the OECD and calls for united action by other Pacific havens.

More on this story here and here.

WILL THE TERRORIST TRIUMPH?

"As bad as the mass casualties and widespread fear were, the worst and most long lasting scar from the attacks could be an alteration of the American way of life. Politically, the US is the freest nation on earth. If the attacks result in the curtailment of American civil liberties in the name of increased security, the terrorists' triumph will be complete."

More on this story here.

What declaring war could mean for America.

More on this story here.

Greatly increased surveillance demanded.

More on this story here.

U.S. Congress goes slow on demands.

More on this story here.

U.S. already has many anti-terror powers.

More on this story here.

Mass detentions of people without charges.

More on this story here.

Use of Echelon, Carnivore may grow.

More on this story here and here.

Government computer snoops at work.

More on this story here.

Encryption curbs proposed.

More on this story here and here..

Many in U.S., U.K. oppose I.D. cards.

More on this story here and here and here.

MONEY LAUNDERING REDEFINED

For a decade "anti-money laundering" laws have aimed at dirty cash from the Mafia, drugs kingpins and tax evaders, not terrorists. And because Islamic or other terrorist cash is highly unlikely to be detected by such laws, the new expansion of such laws will only do more to destroy financial freedom while stopping few terrorists.

More on this story here.

Global government advocates are touting more power for the notorious Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a group noted primarily for the indiscriminate blacklisting of offshore haven nations.

More on this story here and here.

A top German FATF official called for international sanctions on nations accused of being lax on dirty cash, even as Germany itself began curbing its own freedoms, using the terrorism excuse.

More on this story here and here.

And the PHILIPPINES, on the FATF blacklist, finally gets its own new anti-ML law in place, under FATF threat of sanctions.

More on this story here.

WHAT IS MONEY LAUNDERING ALL ABOUT?

More on this story here.

CARIBBEAN HAVENS COOPERATE

Although no terrorist cash has been found in their financial systems, all Caribbean haven nations have cooperated fully with US requests for information and account searches.

More on this story here.

PANAMA GROWTH

Now emerging as a leader among offshore haven nations, Panama's economy is hit by the global slowdown.

More on this story here.

BRITISH LABOUR ABANDONS GIBRALTAR

Politicians on the Rock see a possible UK sellout to Spain of this major European tax haven colony.

More on this story here.

SWITZERLAND’S OWN TAX HAVEN

The shooting rampage in ZUG spotlights the canton known as Switzerland's own domestic tax haven.

More on this story here.

BUSINESS WEEK SPECIAL REPORT

As aftershocks of Sept. 11 spread, the extent of the tragedy is just becoming apparent. From Washington to Islamabad, the one word that captures the near future is "uncertainty."

More on this story here.

OFFSHORE FRAUD HIT BY U.S. COURT RULING

A $5.5 million Internet fraud based in DOMINICA has been hit by a US appeals court ruling with wide implications for Net fraud.

More on this story here.

WILL FOREIGN INVESTMENT FLEE U.S.?

The US is hooked on foreign cash investment. Will it dry up?

More on this story here.

BANK CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS CUT

International banking regulators revise plans for the amount of capital banks must hold, cutting the proposed charge from 20% to 12%.

More on this story here.

THOUGHTS ON FREEDOM & LIBERTY

In the wake of September 11, some observations for consideration:

U.S. Rep. Ron PAUL (R-Tex) looks at "War, Peace & Liberty"

More on this story here.

Prof. Pierre LEMIEUX, on "The Lessons of Terrorism."

More on this story here.

Americans are willing to sacrifice their civil liberties.

More on this story here.

The White House says ID cards are not in the cards.

More on this story here.

But Tony BLAIR says Brits may have liberties curbed.

More on this story here and here.
Previous News Digest Index Next
Back to top

W.I.L.