An Offshore Update from the Front Line…

By Bob Bauman

A recent New York Times article reports on the dire financial situation in one of the leading British “OverSeas Territories” (OST’s) the Cayman Islands…which also happens to be one of the largest financial centers in the world.

Caught between shrinking revenue and high public spending, the Caymans recently avoided a fiscal crisis with a $60 million overseas loan.

But the Foreign Office that can veto foreign lending requests delivered an ultimatum: the rest of the $284 million the Cayman government needs will not be forthcoming from London until the islands impose spending cuts and adopt some form of direct taxation on businesses and its 57,000 residents.

Rumors are that London is also demanding more changes in Cayman laws that will weaken the islands’ appeal as one of the world's leading tax havens.

More irony; compare London's refusal of Cayman's financial aid to Brown's bank bailouts. An estimated £1.2 trillion (US$1.7 trillion) has already been spent (with no end in sight) on the Royal Bank of Scotland, HBOS, Lloyds, and Northern Rock, all of which the U.K. government now controls.

Instead of policies that would help the OST tax havens, Brown and Labour want – in effect – to abolish them by curtailing their major sources of income gleaned from foreign deposits, investments and hedge funds.

Yet another irony is that, at London's behest, all of these OSTs have adopted major regulatory and anti-money laundering reforms in recent years. This year all OSTs have waived their financial privacy laws and agreed to exchange tax information with other governments in appropriate cases.

Might Makes Wrong

Face it, dear readers, this isn't about cost savings, colonial budgets or even tax transparency.

This is about destroying global tax competition and the eventual forced exaction of confiscatory taxes internationally without regard for your individual rights. It is about powerful nations’ using that power to crush defenseless smaller jurisdictions.

The destruction of British and other tax havens is part of a calculated, inter-governmental plan to limit, if not abolish, taxpayers’ financial options – and to keep cash and assets at home. Where the IRS and other welfare state tax collectors can get their hands on that which you have worked so hard for, for so long.

You can still find offshore solutions to meet the needs of a rapidly changing world, though. They still exist, even though they might not be as simple as they once were. You need a little bit more of an edge these days…

That’s why we booked this year’s Offshore Advantage Academy with twenty-one of the world’s most respected offshore masterminds – a total of over 325 years of combined experience in private offshore banking, global investments, and asset protection.

We’ll be assembling in Los Cabos for four days of closed-door mastermind meetings, where you’ll be able to schedule a one-on-one meetings with conference speakers. I'll be there to meet and talk with you too.

For four days this November at the Westin in Los Cabos, a select group of Sovereign Society readers will be given a rare “insider’s look” as these experts reveal their time-tested strategies for protecting privacy and capital in today’s volatile markets, economy and new era of populist politics.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Sincerely,

Bob Bauman, JD

P.S. Reserve your spot at this year’s Offshore Advantage Academy before it’s too late. We’ve already got more reservations than any event before, and we may just be able to get a few more before the hotel cuts us off. Click here for more on your “last-minute” discount…