December 2001 Selected News Clips

CAYMAN BANKERS EMBRACE I.R.S. SCRUTINY

Got cash in a Cayman Island bank? If privacy is your thing, better move move it. The CI Bankers Assoc. wants you to know they "applaud" the new US-Cayman tax agreement that makes them offshore US tax collectors.

BELIZE BORDER CLASH AGAIN

This tax and asset haven continues to undermine its credibility with lethal border clashes with neighboring Guatemala.

WHEN IN ROMANIA

Doug Casey says investment potential in ROMANIA is overlooked and therein lies opportunity.

OECD LAUNCHES ANTI-CORPORATE PLAN

Aimed at jurisdictions that specialize in corporate formation (Panama, British Virgin Islands, Delaware, Nevada), the OECD wants worldwide regulations to control alleged criminal use of business.

U.S. SENATE CONSISTENCY?

Hopefully a precedent, the US Senate votes against giving states authority to create an OECD-like tax cartel to tax transactions outside their borders.

HIGH TAX EUROPE STIFLES GROWTH, JOBS

E.U. bureaucrats themselves admit EU growth is thwarted by member states high taxes, except in low-tax Ireland and Luxembourg.

EURO MEANS BIG CHANGE

Europe faces major changes on Jan. 1st with the euro launch.

E.U. EXPANDS ANTI-DIRTY CASH RULES

Proceeds of any crime ware targeted by new money laundering rules.

U.K. SUPER AGENCY PROMISES TEETH

LONDON. One big bureaucracy will rule over finances.

I.R.S. WANTS WELL-ARMED ACCOUNTANTS

IRS Criminal Investigation unit hires accountants with guns.

R.I.P. GEORGE HARRISON

The “quiet Beatle” who died last week left us his famous song “Taxman” as a pop reminder of grasping government.

NEW LAW MAKES U.S. WORLD COMPUTER POLICE

The US Justice Dept. may try to be world cyber police.

U.S. CUSTOMS DATA BASES TRACKS EVERYTHING

Now touted as an anti-terror system, the US Customs data base and is being used to track Americans movement and business.

FREEDOM EXCHANGED FOR SECURITY?

Commenting on anti-terrorism laws, US Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) says Americans must not surrender freedom in a false exchange for security.

CANADA ANTI-TERROR BILL SHREDS LIBERTIES

Rammed through Parliament, Canadian liberties rapidly are being destroyed by the 'Liberal' government steamroller.

BRITISH LABOUR PRAISES CARIBBEAN CAPITULATION

LONDON. On the heels of the Cayman-IRS information exchange accord the UK Foreign Office praises those obedient little colonials.

TWO MAJOR IRISH BANKS TO REVEAL OFFSHORE INFO

Allied Irish Bank and the Bank of Ireland say they'll reveal offshore accounts.

BIG FIVE ACCOUNTANTS UNBELIEVABLE

The Enron bankruptcy again lays bare the Big Five accounting firms flaws and conflicts as investor confidence is badly bruised.

E.U.’s BROAD TERROR DEFINITION

BRUSSELS. Lawyers denounce overly broad EU definition of terrorism.

E.U. PUSHES RADICAL ANTI-TERROR LAWS

Is the European Union becoming a police state?

OXYMORON: GOVERNMENT PRIVACY

The Cato Institute explains how the US government does not protect your privacy.

GOOD HAVEN, BAD HAVEN, LOTS OF CONFUSION!

A JERSEY observer asks: "Are we seeing the first signs of a split of tax havens into two camps; the hard core non-cooperative and the compliant?"

CATO VIEWS THE BUSH ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING LAW

Constitutional law expert Roger Pilon tells it like it is.

CARIBBEAN CONFERENCE CHEERS MITCHELL

MIAMI. Dan Mitchell of the Heritage Foundation is cheered when he tells a Caribbean meeting: "The OECD just wants to turn low tax nations into fiscal colonies to support their uncompetitive welfare states."

ANTIGUA SIGNS U.S. TAX TREATY

Another nation agrees to share tax information with the US IRS.

RETURN OF THE U.S. EXPATS

American expatriates returning home from abroad face problems.

GOLD STOCKS SOAR

A gold specialist notes gold stocks soar while gold doesn't.

WALK FOR CAPITALISM

The Libertarian project is a world success.

MORE ABOUT BANK SPY SOFTWARE

Newsweek discovers what we've known for years; banks are spies.

NATIONAL I.D. CARDS MEAN GOVERNMENT CONTROL

An eye-opening survey of the implications of a US national ID card.

U.K. HOUSE OF LORDS DEFENDS LIBERTY

LONDON. The British House of Lords repeatedly defeats Tony Blair's so-called anti-terror bill, forcing compromises.

FEARFUL AMERICANS ABANDON FREEDOMS

A new poll says 75% will accept random police checks of their cars; 67%, opening of their mail; 54%, monitoring of their phone calls.

AMERICAN RIGHTS; EVERYTHING GOES

Nat Hentoff explains the dangers of the John Ashcroft mentality.

MADISON WARNED U.S.

Fear of foreign perils, James Madison realized, can persuade a once freedom loving people to give up liberties.

GROWTH OF THE POLICE STATE

Cato Institute scholars document the impact of increased police powers on civil liberties.

DON’T CRY FOR PANAMA

Panama prepares a law that buys back debt and limits borrowing to avoid becoming another Argentina.

ONE OF CANADA’S BEST WEB SITES

The site of Prof. Pierre LEMIEUX, libertarian economist and Quebec-based author.

MONDAQ OFFSHORE NEWS

This UK web site requires free registration, but offers very useful information. Three recent offshore items worth note:

Avoidable Pitfalls When Investing in Switzerland,

Belize: Why It is an Offshore Haven of Choice,

The Cook Islands Government Counters OECD Pressures,

WALL STREET TO SPY UNDER MONEY LAUNDERING RULES

NEW YORK. American banks are already forced to spy on clients for the US government. Now it's the stock brokers turn to spy.

U.K. & EUROPE CRUSH FREEDOMS

By comparison, the UK and the EU make US Atty Gen John Ashcroft look like a civil libertarian. European liberty is dying.

F.B.I. WANTS SOFTWARE MAKERS TO ALLOW SPYING

The government now admits its e-mail Trojan virus, "Magic Lantern," aims to turn your computer into an FBI transmitter.

LIBERTY IMAGE ONLINE GALLERY

Use these images in your own freedom-related Web pages, or just enjoy them.

U.S. STEEL MAKERS TAKE NOTE

Frederick Bastiat's classic expose of tariff/subsidy business hogs.

EX-CAYMAN BANKER SNAGS 4th TAX CONVICTION

John Mathewson, ex-head of the defunct Guardian Bank & Trust in Grand Cayman, sold out his 1500 clients to the FBI in 1996. For the IRS this is a laundry list of possible tax evaders, the 4th just convicted.

LAWSUIT CHALLENGES BAHAMAS OFFSHORE LAWS

NASSAU. Sen. Fred Mitchell of The Bahamas reports that a lawsuit has been filed against the government attacking the constitutionality of several new laws that severely restrict offshore financial activity.

ANTI-TERROR ASSET FREEZE HITS ROADBLOCKS

Alleged terrorists’ cash grabs are meeting resistance from banks and governments who want more than suspicion; they want proof.

U.S. CRACKDOWN ON “SHELL BANKS”

The US Treasury is about to impose tough new regulations on US financial institutions, cutting ties with foreign shell banks allegedly vulnerable to money laundering. All offshore banks with US accounts must make account records available to US criminal investigators.

U.S. FORCES OFFSHORE BANKS “CERTIFICATION”

Using “anti-terror” laws, the US government forces US banks to obtain “certifications” from 9,000 offshore correspondent banks and brokers.

FAKE EUROS MAY FLOOD E.U.

Police warn of massive euro counterfeiting on Jan 1st.

ROLE OF CURRENCY IN OFFSHORE REAL ESTATE DEALS

LONDON. Whether the price is right depends on the currency of choice used in offshore rentals and real estate purchases.

U.S. CUSTOMS MAIL OPENING HIT

A dangerous bill giving US Customs power to open offshore bound mail is denounced as hurting international trade.

UNITED NATIONS SAYS REGISTER EVERYONE

Every person in the world would be fingerprinted and registered under a universal identification scheme proposed at a UN meeting.

U.S. MILITARY STYLE I.D. PROPOSED

High-tech military IDs used for tracking personnel across the globe are now models for national identification cards for all US citizens.

An expose of how ID cards can be used to curb freedom and disrupt lives.

BRITISH POLICE STATE BECOMES LAW

Last minute concessions fail to curb huge new police powers.

And the new law will be challenged in court immediately.

LIECHTENSTEIN IS NOT WHAT IT USED TO BE

Prince Hans-Adam II welcomes an end to financial secrecy in this former citadel of privacy. And he demands more political power - or he will leave. A must read as the prince negotiates with parliament.

EURO MAKES LATVIA POPULAR MONEY CHANGER

RIGA. Absence of any cash reporting laws makes this a popular place to change (and wash) currencies into the new EU euro.

A CHANNEL ISLAND EMBARRASSED BY ITS HISTORY

GUERNSEY now wants to obliterate its reputation as a tax haven.

ANOTHER MAJOR U.S. COMPANY BERMUDA BOUND

The New York based Ingersoll-Rand Co., a leading industrial firm, moves to Bermuda to save on corporate taxes.

BELIZE TO END ECONOMIC CITIZENSHIP PROGRAM

BELIZE CITY. One of the few remaining second citizenship programs in the world, that of Belize, is about to end. The Embassy of Belize in Washington confirmed to us that the Cabinet recently voted to end the program at a date not yet set. A reform commission urged the change. The qualified residency program (QRP) for foreigners remains in place.

PANAMA CANAL MODERNIZATION

In spite of the nation's shaky national finances, the government moves ahead with the essential modernization of the Panama Canal.

ANTI-TERRORISM AND THE OFFSHORE WORLD

PANAMA CITY. Veteran offshore specialist Derek SAMBROOK provides the historic perspective and predicts the future after 9-11.

THAILAND FOR EXPATS

BANGKOK. A veteran travel writer explains that Thailand really is a mood, with much to offer new residents from other lands.

BRITISH GOVERNMENT PRESSURES COLONIES

LONDON. Tony BLAIR's Foreign Office keeps on forcing UK overseas territories to end their role as offshore financial havens.

AMERICAN BANKS AS F.B.I. SPIES

The Cato Institute exposes the government's blatant attack on US financial privacy, and details the costs in both freedom and cash.

THE GLOBAL MELTDOWN

CNN/Money’s review of the year that was.

A CENTURY OF STOCKS

A chart showing 100 years of stock market swings. (pdf download)

BUSH ANTI-TERROR LAW PRODUCES LEGAL CHAOS

The rushed-through-Congress, 342 page PATRIOT Act causes a major mess in and out of government. What does it all mean?

“This massive suspension of civil liberties...will likely set precedents that will come back to haunt us terribly.”

THE NEW SURVEILLANCE SOCIETY

You will be watched, listened in on, tracked and recorded.