Wealth International, Limited

Offshore News Digest for Week of October 21, 2002


U.S. BEAR MARKET DRIVES INVESTORS TO EUROPE

A continental refuge from US corporate, stock woes.

More on this story here.

UK mutual fund reforms aimed at European rivals business share.

More on this story here.

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AIRS ANTI-LAWSUIT COMMERCIALS

The US Chamber of Commerce has sponsored TV spots declaring that frivolous litigation raises prices on goods and services. A White House Council of Economic Advisers study found that the “intermediate cost of excessive litigation” is $136 billion a year, which “translates into a 2% sales tax on all goods and services purchased by consumers in the United States,” according to the chamber-sponsored LawsuitAbuseTax.com Web site. The American Bar Association has taken umbrage with the campaign [what a shock], claiming the ads are a tactic to divert attention from corporate fraud scandals.

More on this story here.

WHY HONEST BUSINESSES USE OFFSHORE CORPORATIONS

“Offshore” jurisdictions are characterised by low or zero taxes on international, cross border business, liberal company laws for international business corporations, strong banking secrecy, and light but effective regulation. Going offshore means establishing a business in a manner that escapes the heavy-handed regulations of the US and other “high maintenance” governments. Other criteria such as access to cheap labor and capital may also enter the decision process. The Internet and web-based services are enabling companies to “unbundle the value chain” and place some high value functions in their location of choice. Several types of operations that are plausible candidates for being moved offshore are covered.

Full article here.

U.S. CONGRESS DROPS ANTI-OFFSHORE BILL

WASHINGTON: Congress has gone to recess for the November 5 national elections, leaving anti-offshore corporate inversion proposals dead in the water for now. (They could be revived later.)

More on this story here and here.

US TREASURY OFFICIAL WARNS AGAINST ANTI-OFFSHORE BILL

WASHINGTON: Official warns lawmakers against offshore bill.

More on this story here and here.

US offshore Puerto Rican corporate tax loophole under siege.

More on this story here.

US Treasury Secretary O'Neill proposes radical corporate tax reforms.

More on this story here.

U.K. LABOUR’S ATTACK ON BRITISH TAX HAVENS

Summary of the Blair government’s systematic attack on the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man and their roles as tax havens.

More on this story here.

Labour denounces, but secretly uses UK tax havens

More on this story here.

IRELAND VOTES “YES” ON E.U. EXPANSION

Ten new member states now may be added to EU.

More on this story here.

EU BUDGET COMMISSIONER MULLS NEW TAX ON EU CITIZENS

Changes to the way the Union is funded are suggested, with payments from member states forming the bulk of contributions, but individual European citzens also “contributing” to the EU budget. VAT one possibility.

More on this story here.

ANDORRA TRILATERAL TREATY PENDING

ANDORRA-LA-VIELLE: New pact governs rights of Andorrans, French and Spanish citizens in Pyrenees tax haven.

More on this story here.

CYPRUS INSISTS IT IS STILL A TAX HAVEN

NICOSIA: However; financial privacy is curbed, IBC taxes raised.

More on this story here.

SWISS-E.U. TAX BATTLE SUMMARIZED

Switzerland will only consider negotiations with the EU on the operation of a withholding tax, but it is not prepared to agree to the automatic exchange of information on the savings income of individual EU residents, according to Swiss negotiators.

More on this story here.

OFFSHORE ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING NEWS

NASSAU: Clean cash the goal of BAHAMAS programs.

More on this story here.

COOK ISLANDS stays on FATF dirty cash blacklist.

More on this story here.

DOMINICA, NIUE removed from FATF blacklist.

More on this story here.

SOUTH AFRICA WILL NOT BE A TAX HAVEN

JOHANNESBURG: Top ANC official says government will not tolerate nation becoming a tax haven for foreigners.

More on this story here.

RSA launches new anti-money laundering group.

More on this story here.

RSA-based De Beers reforms diamond distribution system.

More on this story here.

BRITISH-BASED FOREIGNERS TAX LOOPHOLE PRESERVED

LONDON: Brown’s promise to end tax free gap put off indefinitely. (Note: Of course. Foreigners can easily leave if they want.)

More on this story here.

ISLAMIC BANKING MOVING FORWARD

A look inside MALAYSIA and offshore Islamic banking.

More on this story here.

U.S. TRIES TO STOP SAUDI TERROR CASH FLOW

Treasury official visits Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg.

More on this story here.

THE BESIEGED BANKS OF BRAZIL

PANAMA: Derek Sambrook offers his thoughts on the Brazilian banking crisis.

More on this story here.

Jitters over Brazil debt mask optimism.

More on this story here.

U.S. CLIENTS STUCK WITH $11 BILLION IN ADDED COSTS

US banks, broker, dealers, insurance firms, clients will pay $11 billion in added costs for new American anti-money laundering rules.

More on this story here.

RUSSIA BLACKLISTS WESTERN BANKS

MOSCOW: Government accuses flight capital banks in the West.

More on this story here.

MAJOR CARIBBEAN BANK MERGER

KINGSTON, Jamaica: UK Barclays and CIBC of Canada merge.

More on this story here.

SWISS BANK SHARES, CAYMANS CORP SNARE POLITICAL CANDIDATE

KPMG tax strategy created major losses; California GOP candidate for governor who used it may face major loss at the polls.

More on this story here.

HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADERS KNOCKS ASHCROFT’S COPS

WASHINGTON: Retiring House majority leader Dick Armey tells Bush, and the ACLU concurs, that the US Justice Department is “out of control”. “Are we going to save ourselves from international terrorism in order to deny the fundamental liberties we protect? It doesn’t make sense to me,” he told USA Today.

More on this story here.

Ex-Senator Richard Bryan urged his former colleagues to have the courage to stand up against politically popular restrictions of civil liberties promulgated in the name of strengthening national security. He quoted the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall as saying the gravest threats to liberty “often come at times of urgency when constitutional rights seem too extravagant to endure”. “That’s the history, and that’s what is happening now.” Bryan predicted that within a decade, U.S. historians will be highly critical of the congressionally approved Patriot Act. “It sounds like deja vu, but we have rounded up a lot of resident aliens and many are still in custody.”

More on this story here.

VERNON JACOBS ADVICE

Vernon Jacobs is a well-regarded book and newsletter writer regarding methods of minimizing taxes, including but not limited to offshore-oriented strategies.

Links to “Legal Tax Avoidance” articles that may be useful to some taxpayers here.

“Tax Scams & Illegal Schemes” - articles about various methods have not withstood challenges by the IRS here.

“Offshore Tax Strategies” - gateway page to Jacobs’s offshore strategies and education offerings here.


BATTLE OVER OFFSHORE RE-INCORPORATION NOT ENDED

NASSAU: US Congress did not act on punishing US companies that reincorporate offshore to save taxes; but the fight is not over.

More on this story here.

U.S TREASURY OFFICIAL PRAISES SWISS

ZURICH: Says Swiss banking secrecy is not a problem.

More on this story here.

Major Swiss insurer post posts big loss for quarter.

More on this story here.

GIBRALTAR CONFIDENT ON NEW TAX PLANS

Rock’s business tax regime faces major shake-up to please EU.

More on this story here.

BECKER CASE SPOTLIGHTS GERMAN TAX EXILES

MUNICH: Thousands pushed offshore by high taxes, police tactics.

More on this story here.

LATVIAN BANKS ON A NEW FRONTIER

RIGA: Baltic bankers profit from booming new market economy.

More on this story here.

I.M.F. PLANS CHANNEL ISLANDS, ISLE OF MAN VISITS

International Monetary Fund inspectors in rolling offshore assessment.

More on this story here.

LABUAN OFFSHORE CENTER CLEARS THE AIR

Far East tax haven commentator sums up haven problems.

More on this story here.

Pacific Islands Forum hires anti-dirty cash expert.

More on this story here.

AMERICAN EXPAT’S FAVORITE NEWSPAPER SOLD

NY Times buys International Herald Tribune.

More on this story here.

IRS TO CHALLENGE OFFSHORE CAPTIVE INSURANCE

WASHINGTON: The IRS is planning to challenge tax breaks claimed for captive insurance companies set up by car dealers, retailers and others to reinsure parent company risks. Programs used to reinsure extended warranty and other products they sell to their customers were specifically cited. Income properly attributable to the taxpayer diverted offshore, says IRS.

More on this story here.

THE GREAT CREDIT CARD BAZAAR

You can buy everything from stolen credit card accounts to Social Security numbers or birth certificates, passports, diplomas, and hacked auction site accounts. They will even change the billing address of credit card accounts for you, so you can purchase stuff online and have it shipped to a safe location. With much of the activity originating from the former Soviet Union and Southeast Asia, law enforcement agencies face a tough time cracking down on the perpetrators, but they are trying.

More on this story here.

STOLEN IDENTIFY THEFT THREATENS EVERYONE

MANCHESTER, U.K. Stolen: a scam victim’s complete identity.

More on this story here.

BRITISH DISTRUST U.K. & E.U. GOVERNMENTS

LONDON: Only French have less faith in rulers, survey shows.

More on this story here.

Three reasons why Brits distrust government

High UK taxes may drive British big business offshore. Story here.

UK tax collectors stick it to British offshore property owners. Story here.

British tax collectors make special targets of wealthy citizens. Story here.


COUTTS BANK EXPANDS SUPER RICH SERVICES

One of the UK’s oldest private banks expands services.

More on this story here.

Coutts Private Bank web page here.

BLATANT SCARE TACTICS FROM THE IRS

Without naming names, a top IRS official hints US actors, sports figures, celebrities are offshore tax cheats under investigation.

More on this story here.

US claims fewer American corporations now are going offshore.

More on this story here.

Bill attempts to strip US citizenship from “turncoats”. [Note: Some may not object.]

More on this story here.

PREDICTION: U.K. CHANNEL ISLANDS MAY LOSE HAVEN STATUS

Labour government may force Crown dependencies to reveal information about accounts and investments in tax matters, expert claims.

More on this story here.

Channel Island shares decline in third quarter, still lead UK shares.

More on this story here.

MANX ZERO TAX RATE APPROVED

DOUGLAS, Isle of Man: The Tynwald OKs zero taxes for corporations.

More on this story here.

LIECHTENSTEIN STANDS WITH SWISS ON BANK SECRECY

Principality will not allow automatic tax information exchange.

More on this story here.

U.S SEEKS TO BLOCK BOGUS BELIZE TRUST SCHEMES

A government lawsuit accuses an Ohio accountant of charging clients a fee of $2,400 to prepare tax returns based on trusts that claimed improper deductions and failed to report income. All his clients’ tax returns used trusts bearing the same address in Belize.

More on this story here.

MACAO CLEANS FINANCIAL HOUSE

Asian haven adopts bank anti-money laundering laws.

More on this story here.

LABUAN promotes clean tax, asset haven image.

More on this story here.

PHILIPPINES OK’s DUAL CITIZENSHIP

MANILA: Congress approves second passports for 1.7m Filipinos in US.

More on this story here.

BECKER GETS PROBATION, AVOIDS PRISON

German tax evasion using MONACO address results in heavy fines.

More on this story here and here.

ECONOMY NO SET BACK FOR WEALTHY AMERICANS

Travel plans, new yacht orders indicate no rich recession.

More on this story here and here.

HEDGE FUND PROBLEMS INVITE REGULATION

Bad managers, scandals, frauds produce government intervention.

More on this story here. (Article must be purchased.)

ONE OF A KIND SWISS CONFERENCE SOON

Henley & Partner holds a unique conference in Zurich, Nov. 7 & 8, 2002; all about tax savings, offshore residency, second citizenship.

More on this story here.

TAX SAVINGS BECKON AMERICAN CORPORATIONS OFFSHORE

Avoiding U.S. taxation on overseas profits is not the only motivation for moving offshore. A study by two Harvard Business School professors of the causes and consequences of company expatriation found that firms most likely to invert are large and/or have extensive foreign assets, considerable debt and low foreign tax rates. On average stock prices react favorably to announcements of a company moving its corporate flag offshore. Firms that are heavily leveraged, and thus lose the ability to benefit from certain foreign tax credits, exhibit positive price reactions upon inversion. Forced capital gains realization and the consequent capital gains tax burden imposed on shareholders serve as a counterforce.

More on this story here.

INTERNET BANK SECURITY HURTS E-COMMERCE

Offshore e-commerce needs secure payments systems.

More on this story here.

NEW SERVICE FOR EXPATS MOVING OFFSHORE

Information for those working abroad.

More on this story here.

NIGERIAN SPAM SCAM NIGHTMARE

As Butch Cassidy might ask: Who are those guys ... sending you all those scam e-mails?

More on this story here.

C.I.A. NOW ENGAGED IN DOMESTIC U.S. SPYING

And the NSA wants to join them in internal surveillance of Americans.

More on this story here and here.

SOFTWARE WILL MONITOR PATRIOT ACT COMPLIANCE

Comprehensive Software Systems, Inc. announced it has partnered with Omgeo LLC to provide real-time trade matching capabilities to the securities transaction automation package used by its broker/dealer clients.

More on this story here.

PGP REBORN

After being mothballed by its previous corporate parent after failing to successfully commercialize the package, version 8.0 is set to be launched by its new corporate parent PGP Corporation. The CEO’s announced goal is for encryption products to be as easy and transparent to use as antivirus tools are currently. The source code of PGP 8.0 will be made available when the final (non-beta) version is released. There will be enterprise package, small business and individual commercial user, and freeware versions.

More on this story here. Basic instructions on using PGP here.
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