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Which Nation for Your Offshore Trust?
Alettermock2
Monday, October 9, 2006
Vol. 8 No. 201
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In Today's Letter:
Comment:
Which Nation for Your Trust?
Currencies:
Snapshot of the Markets
Wealth:
Dull Large Caps Just Got Interesting
Privacy:
Quietly Stealing Your Privacy
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Which Nation for Your Offshore Trust?
Dear A-Letter Reader:
Many offshore tax havens specialize in the creation and administration of offshore asset protection trusts (APTs).
What
the corporation-friendly State of Delaware is to U.S. companies, these
nations are to asset protection trusts. Many are well developed,
globally recognized financial centers. They boast modern, efficient
banking, legal and other professional providers who understand and
thrive servicing APTs and offshore finance in general.
Among
established APT haven nations are Panama and Belize; The Bahamas; in
the Caribbean area, Nevis (half of the Federation of St. Kitts and
Nevis); and the British overseas territories of the Cayman Islands, the
British Virgin Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands and Bermuda. In
Europe there is Liechtenstein and Gibraltar and in the south Pacific,
the Cook Islands. Also noted for favorable trust laws are the UK Crown
dependencies in the Channel Islands, Guernsey, Jersey and, in the Irish
Sea, the Isle of Man.
Some of these are better than others for
trust creation. Some guarantee much more financial privacy than others.
And you should know that while trusts are very private and usually
don't have to reveal publicly their creators or beneficiaries, there
are pressures to end this privacy. High tax nations are pushing to
force beneficial owners of all trusts to be revealed, on the dubious
theory that many trusts are used by terrorists or money launderers.
Such pressures are especially acute in all British controlled areas due
to Tony Blair's Labour Party policies.
Before you choose a
place for your trust, make certain of the latest developments in the
jurisdiction you're considering. You can keep abreast of the latest
trust news in The A-Letter and other Sovereign Society publications.
The Sovereign Society also has a special trust report available to
members. We also can recommend attorneys and professional trust
services in tax and asset haven nations. Just ask us. We'll be pleased
to assist you.
That's the way that it looks from here.
BOB BAUMAN, Editor
EDITOR'S NOTE:
Want to know more about setting up your own offshore trust? This
November, our offshore "professors" will take you through the "p's and
q's" of the offshore trusts at our first ever Offshore Advantage
Seminar. A-Letter Readers: Click Here for more information. Sovereign Society Members: Click Here.
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FX Trading - Still Ranging...
Here's a quick snapshot at what's going on in the currency markets right now:
- The Fed talkers are talking tough (i.e. the U.S. Federal Reserve is holding their own, and not decreasing or raising rates)
- U.S. retail sales suggest Mr. Consumer is still in the game (that means U.S. consumers are keeping the U.S. economy afloat)
- There are supposedly lower U.S. unemployment rates
- The European Central Bank (ECB) may wait until December to "reassess" ongoing "inflation"
- North Korea is shaking things up with nuclear testing
- The U.S. dollar is trading at a higher rate after the European Central Bank raised their interest rates
- The U.S. dollar crushed the British pound when the Bank Of England (BOE) decided not to hike their rates
- All this while commodities had a very nice day, last Friday.
That seems to be very good dollar price action indeed. But still, we
remain stuck in an excruciating meat-grinding range. That means we'll
have to wait and see what happens. Stay tuned for another update later
in the week.
JACK CROOKS, Currency Director
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Boring Large Caps Aren't So Boring Anymore
Let's face it:
Since 2003, U.S. large-cap stocks have been dull compared to the
high-flying emerging markets and foreign stocks. In September, the MSCI
Emerging Markets Index rallied only 0.7%, mainly bogged down by the
compression in commodities prices.
I think, for the first
time since 1995, U.S. large company stocks have already started to
outperform international equities. I still favor foreign markets for
2007, but in a slowing environment for global growth, moderating
earnings growth and a weaker consumer next year, large-caps are the
place to be in the United States and overseas. I would seriously
underweight small-caps and mid-caps.
However, ahead of earnings season next week, I think it's time
stocks paused. If you missed buying the large-caps, then you might
still have another shot ahead of a major rally I'm forecasting for
2007. Back in July, I plugged a great global blue-chip ETF in The
Sovereign Individual and again later that month, speaking at the Agora
Wealth Symposium in Vancouver.
The global stock-market rally since August has been pretty
impressive with large-caps dominating the primary trend, a shift that
occurred in June as small-caps took a back seat to their bigger
brethren. I still think large-caps will dominate markets heading into
2007 because global growth continues to moderate. It'll be interesting
to see how the Dow, S&P 500 Index and the World Index hold up in a
shake-out. I'm not expecting a severe correction this month, but a
sell-off would be welcome because stocks are overbought right now.
Plus, with seasonal stock-market strength ahead of us in November, I'm
growing more bullish by the day -- but I'd feel better if we digested
some of these gains in October.
ERIC ROSEMAN, Investment Director
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Governments Are Quietly Stealing Your Privacy
Quietly,
very quietly, governments throughout the world are constructing a
global surveillance infrastructure. Your financial transactions are
already available for warrantless inspection by investigators in many
countries (especially the U.S. and U.K.). Now world governments want to
require Internet service providers (ISPs) and phone companies to keep
data on every electronic message sent and phone call made for up to two
years.
The justification, as usual, is to more effectively fight the "War
on Terrorism," but there's no reason why the stored data wouldn't be
open to any type of investigation, including drug crimes, tax fraud, or
prosecutions of those deemed "enemies of the state." And for reasons
I'll describe in a moment, hackers and identity thieves will have a
field day once these requirements are in effect.
In the 25 countries of the European Union (EU), the Data Retention
Directive (DRD) comes into effect in August 2007. It requires phone
companies, ISPs, and firms such as Google, Yahoo and Skype, to store
call traffic and location data for fixed and mobile telephones, text
messages, Web browsing records and Internet e-mail and telephony
records for six months to two years. Some EU governments are already
proposing extending the retention time to five years.
More recently, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has been on
the stump to promote the need for similar data retention laws in
America. And he'll probably get them. Moreover, under existing
agreements, it will be possible for investigators in the EU to obtain
U.S. records, and vice-versa...
MARK NESTMANN, Privacy Expert & President of The Nestmann Group
www.nestmann.com
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Why Some People Are So Damn Rich
(Here's a hint... it's not just what they do, but where they do it.)
Step inside a private world of wealth preservation known to only a
privileged few...
Click below to learn more.
LINK: http://www.isecureonline.com/reports/190STHOW/E190GA29/
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