Wealth International, Limited

Offshore News Digest for Week of July 23, 2001


SENATE ANTI-HAVEN CIRCUS 2nd ACT

WASHINGTON, DC. On Wednesday, July 18, the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (thanks to the switch in party control now headed by left wing Sen. Carl LEVIN [D-Mich]), will orchestrate another phony attack on offshore tax havens plus the Pres. BUSH's rightful abandonment of the OECD's nefarious high tax schemes. US Treasury Sec. Paul O'NEILL will hopefully defend Bush policies, against background music from a handpicked Greek chorus of tax haven critics.

Levin has repeatedly sought headlines with wild charges tarring all tax havens as cesspools of dirty money, tax evasion and crime.

More on this story here and here.

IRISH EYE ISLE OF MAN CASH

DUBLIN. Irish tax authorities think millions of pounds have been shipped by local banks to the Isle of Man to avoid taxes.

More on this story here.

And Irishmen are scrambling to unload millions in hoarded punts as the year end euro conversion nears.

More on this story here.

REPORT FROM PANAMA

PANAMA CITY. Derek SAMBROOK of Trust Services SA brings us up to date on events in PANAMA and Latin America in general.

More on this story here.

HARRIS ORGANIZATION

A list of more than 40 Harris Organization entities that Panama's Banking Superintendent officialy says are not licensed to operate or provide fiduiciary services to clients.

More on this story here.

ANTIGUA OUT FROM UNDER

The UK government has finally gotten around to lifting its unjustified 1999 "financial advisory" against ANTIGUA.

More on this story here.

COOK ISLANDS ECONOMY BETTER

RAROTONGA, C.I. This leading Pacific tax haven, long associated with New Zealand and dependent on foreign aid, is doing better.

More on this story here.

And NEW ZEALAND's leftist government still is considering a wealth tax on homeowners equity.

More on this story here.

U.S. EXPATS GET THE BOOT

US companies are cutting costs by firing offshore employees.

More on this story here.

ULTIMATE WEB HOSTING OFFSHORE

"Web Host Industry Review" takes a serious look at SEALAND.

More on this story here.

SWISS BANKERS ASSOCIATION SPEAKS

If you have a Swiss account they may collect and pay your foreign taxes, but they won't tell who you are.

More on this story here.

WEALTHY BRITS NEED GOOD ADVICE

LONDON. Choosing good legal advisers for UK high net worth individuals is becoming increasingly complex.

More on this story here.

FEW EURO BIG BUCK SPENDERS

BRUSSELS. A third of EU member countries don't want to distribute large denomination euro bills.

More on this story here.

HOW TO PROFIT ON OFFSHORE REAL ESTATE

Roger GALLO of Escape Artist fame explains how to make a killing in foreign real estate using foreign currency fluctuations.

More on this story here.

FUTURE OF 'CASH'

SINGAPORE may pioneer in mass distributed digital cash cards for every day expenses.

More on this story here.

RUSSIA'S CLEAN CASH

MOSCOW. New anti-money laundering legislation is about to become law as Russia's underground cash hemorrhage continues.

More on this story here.

NIGERIAN SCAM GOES WEST

The NEVADA attorney general warns the infamous NIGERIAN bank account scam is making the rounds there.

More on this story here.

US I.R.S. LESS WRONG

IRS agents give US taxpayers wrong tax advice 73% of the time, an improvement over last year's 81% error rate.

More on this story here.

And the BUSH administration is considering a major reform and simplification of the US Internal Revenue Code.

More on this story here.

LEVIN CHARGES OFFSHORE TAX EVASION

WASHINGTON. As a demagogic prelude to his anti-haven hearing (above), Sen. Levin claimed US taxpayers fail to report their offshore financial activities in violation of US disclosure laws.

More on this story here and here.

COUNTER 'TRANSPARENCY' TASK FORCE

WASHINGTON. The Prosperity Institute announces formation of a "Task Force on Information Exchange and Financial Privacy" to counter the OECD's demands for world financial information exchange.

More on this story here.

EUROPEAN UNION UNPOPULAR

More than half of the citizens of Europe do not support or approve of the EU and its activities.

More on this story here and here.

A politician thinks one reason is "Eurobabble".

More on this story here.

KOREA SELLS OUT TO O.E.C.D.

SEOUL. Just when most nations are abandoning OECD demands for "harmful tax competition" changes, Korea goes along.

More on this story here and here.

PACIFIC HAVENS DEADLINE

WELLINGTON, New Zealand. Six Pacific tax havens supposedly have been given 4 months to reform their financial systems.

More on this story here.

BIASED BAHAMAS REPORT

LowTaxNet, has just published a highly questionable "special report" that is actually a paid advertisement for the same Bahamas government that seriously has impaired the islands role as a tax haven.

More on this story here.

And a LowTaxNet report on CYPRUS is also far rosier that deserved, as that island nation raises taxes and kowtows to the EU and OECD.

More on this story here.

MEXICO HELPS CARIBBEAN

Mexican Pres. Vicente FOX offers to help and lead Caribbean neighbors in a mutual free trade and aid bloc.

More on this story here.

VENEZUELA MESS GROWS

CARACAS. Leftist Hugh Chavez is rapidly running the nation's faltering economy into the ground.

More on this story here.

SOUTH AFRICAN BANK BRAIN DRAIN

JOHANNESBURG. A bank survey confirms an employee brain drain caused by violent crime, affirmative action and better jobs offshore.

More on this story here.

OFFSHORE AMERICAN INDIAN BANK?

BROWNING, MONTANA, USA. "Offshore" banking has come to the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, or so they claim.

More on this story here.

E.U. CONSIDERS INTEREST WITHHOLDING TAX

Member states may exchange information paid to non-resident savings accounts holders including interest of every kind.

More on this story here.

U.S. TREASURY NEUTRAL ON BERMUDA TAX LOOPHOLE

Legislative efforts to end the offshore tax advantage of US corporations using BERMUDA as base don't have BUSH support.

More on this story here.

HUNGARY ENDS ANONYMOUS ACCOUNTS

BUDAPEST. Under OECD pressure, Hungary will abolish all remaining anonymous bank accounts after 2002.

More on this story here.

U.S. BACKS MONEY LAUNDERING FIGHT

WASHINGTON. The Bush administration will aggressively crack down on money laundering but wants a better return on the funds spent to combat the problem, Treas. Sec. O'Neill says.

More on this story here.

TAX CUTS ARE GOOD

History proves the lasting value of tax cuts. Three US rate cuts of the postwar period each stimulated growth and tax receipts.

More on this story here.

HUNGARY FOR LAND

BUDAPEST. Zimbabwe and South Africa are not alone in disputes over land ownership. Now AUSTRIA and HUNGARY are fighting.

More on this story here.

PRESSURE ON HAVENS EASES

In the wake of Bush administration support for tax havens at US Senate hearings and official silence from the OECD tax hounds, the heat on offshore tax havens seems to be cooling.

More on this story here.

The Chicago Tribune gets in late on the tax haven issue, giving a somewhat biased, but full summary of what's happened.

More on this story here.

GLOBAL TAX SLAVERY

What does the OECD's demand for global tax reporting have to do with slavery? Columnist Paul Craig ROBERTS explains.

More on this story here.

NEW US - UK TREATY MAY SAVE TAXES

An update of a 1975 tax treaty abolishes the 5% withholding tax on dividend payments to British companies by US subsidiaries.

More on this story here and here.

INVISIBLE HAND GUIDES BUSH ON ECONOMY

The International Herald Tribune discovers Lawrence LINDSEY. He "played a central role in Washington's opposition to plans by the OECD to stem 'harmful tax competition' by cracking down on tax havens."

More on this story here.

SWITZERLAND STILL A SAFE HAVEN

Cash and cachet of Swiss bank accounts: wealthy US investors enjoy tax free benefits with this traditional banking status symbol.

More on this story here.

And the almighty US$ isn't the only refuge. Amid fears of a global crisis, sterling and the Swiss franc are worth a close look.

More on this story here.

LIECHTENSTEIN: GOOD & BAD NEWS

VADUZ: Liechtenstein, Austria and Switzerland are cooperating on mutual legal assistance requests using new laws to combat money laundering, tax evasion and financial fraud. Investigations way up!

More on this story here.

None too soon, as two financial advisers here are charged with laundering millions of dollars for the Cali, Columbia drug cartel.

More on this story here.

And money laundering rumors reportedly have damaged the profits of the principality's Verwaltung und Privat Bank.

More on this story here.

But this is still a great haven for basing an offshore corporation or holding company with maximum privacy and safety.

More on this story here.

GRENADA CITIZENSHIP CHECKS

ST. GEORGE'S. As of Aug. 13 the government of Grenada requires an additional independent background investigation for economic citizenship applicants. For more about Grenada's program, see Henley & Partner at,

More on this story here.

BUSH S.E.C. HEAD'S BAD IDEA

The new SEC chairman wants to discourage Americans from offshore investments where, he claims, they "often lack protection of the laws the [SEC] enforces." That's the best reason to invest offshore!

More on this story here.

SOUTH AFRICAN CORRUPTION

JOHANNESBURG: Many South African corporate giants have moved their local listings to foreign stock markets because of international perceptions of corruption in the country.

More on this story here.

A frank look at the hypocrisy of major nations that criticize Third World nations for allowing bribery and corruption.

More on this story here.

And in SWITZERLAND corruption may cost $1.5 billion a year.

More on this story here.

G-8 MEETING HITS MONEY LAUNDERING

GENOA, Italy. Lost in the rioting, the G-8 endorsed "New action to clamp down on money laundering through offshore financial centers."

More on this story here.

Money laundering is becoming a serious problem in the UNITED KINGDOM, says the Serious Fraud Office.

More on this story here.

IRELAND's criminal money laundering cases now number over 4000.

More on this story here.

And THAILAND is now enforcing its new anti-money laundering and property forfeiture laws.

More on this story here.

GUILTY LORD MAY HAVE USED TAX HAVEN

British Lord Jeffrey ARCHER, convicted of perjury and perverting justice, is investigated by the UK Inland Revenue, including secretly moving cash in and out of a tax free offshore account in JERSEY.

More on this story here and here.

BARCLAYS BANK TURNAROUND

LONDON. This crusty old Brit institution is undergoing a major overhaul.

More on this story here.

$500 BILLION HEDGE FUND FOLLY

FORBES asks: "What's so alluring about unregulated investment partnerships? They soak you with high fees and underperform the market."

More on this story here.

EVERGREEN FUND LOST $214 MILLION

ORLANDO, Florida. State regulators having difficulty finding 2000 investors who lost millions in the collapse of the Evergreen Fund.

More on this story here and here.

BANKS IGNORE WARNINGS

Identity thieves and information brokers regularly trick bank clerks into giving them access to individuals' financial information.

More on this story here.

U.S. INCOME TAX HEARINGS

The US Justice Dept. says the IRS will hold public hearings on the legality and constitutionality of the US income tax.

More on this story here.

MOVE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFSHORE

How to save taxes by transferring intellectual property rights to legal entities in low tax jurisdictions.

More on this story here and here.
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