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THE SOVEREIGN SOCIETY OFFSHORE A-LETTER
Your Link to Freedom, Prosperity & Privacy in the Offshore World
Tuesday, December 17, 2002 - Vol. 4 No. 132
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In This Issue:
* COMMENT: Our 5th Anniversary.
* OFFSHORE: Ms. T. Blair. Jersey Nerves. Malta Boost. Swiss Waiver.
Bahrain Banks. Inside South Africa. Russian Oligarchs. Hong Kong
March. Bahamas KYC Delay. Bermuda Joins. Costa Rica Collapse. Scams.
* TAXES: What's Ahead for US Taxes. German Tax Crisis, Amnesty.
Luxembourg Costly Ruling. EU Deadline Delay. Israeli Tax Collectors.
* Privacy & Rights: Surveillance for All. No FBI Secret Police!
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* COMMENT: Our 5th Anniversary.
Dear A-Letter Reader:
Five years ago a small group of friends and associates gathered to
formalize a concept we had discussed for several years; the founding
of an exclusive membership organization to promote personal freedom,
maximum financial privacy, free market wealth accumulation and sound
asset protection.
Thus was born the Sovereign Society, now 5,000 plus members scattered over the globe on every continent. As a measure of the Society's influence, over 50,000 subscribers read this Sovereign Society Offshore A-Letter three times each week.
From the first, our emphasis has remained focused squarely on the
sovereign individual -- on you.
One of my favorites is Britain's great Victorian prime minister,
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), who observed: "What we anticipate
seldom occurs; what we least expect generally happens." The horrific
events of the last few years certainly has re-confirmed that wisdom.
When the Sovereign Society was founded five years ago none of us could have anticipated the accelerated pace at which the dangers we then foresaw would increase, even as new dangers have multiplied. The Society takes pride in our anticipation of many of these trends, in
providing our members, not only the tools to combat these trends, but in many cases, early warning of what was to come.
From the very beginning the Society has looked "offshore" for the
freedoms that were once enjoyed in the United States of America, in
Canada, in the United Kingdom and in many other Western nations.
As government encroached upon our lives and our fortunes with
restrictions and taxes, we informed Society members of the specific
threats and how to counter them within the law.
None of us could have guessed that a "war against terror" would
arise, creating new danger to freedom, even as it pretends to protect us. At our founding in 1997 we certainly knew that the failed "war against drugs" had been used by government to create a semi-police state. But the current combination of liberty decreased in the name of false security, and the creation of a government surveillance society, we believe, has proven the acute need for a group such as The Sovereign Society.
On this fifth anniversary of our creation, we invite you to become a
valued Sovereign Society member by joining with us. And if you choose to become a Sovereign Society member now, we offer you a Special One Time Sign Up Rate of just $99.00 for 1 full year, 1/2 the usual price.
We hope you will join us in this journey to preserve our freedoms.
That's the way that it looks from here.
BOB BAUMAN, Editor
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* TO JOIN THE SOVEREIGN SOCIETY, click here:
LINK: http://www.agora-inc.com/reports/SVS/WSVSCB14/
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* OFFSHORE *
DID P.M. TONY BLAIR'S WIFE USE AN OFFSHORE TRUST?
LONDON: Labour cracked down on Channel Islands but, scandal (!);
Cherie Blair may have used a JERSEY trust in her real estate deal.
LINK: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/12/14/1039656260517.html
* 10 Downing Street denies use of Jersey trust (horrors!).
LINK: http://www.itv.com/news/Related1726148.html
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* JERSEY leader warns loss of island's self-confidence hurts business.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=10301
* Lloyds ends ISLE of MAN private banking, trust services.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=10304
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MALTA E.U. ENTRY MAY HELP REPUTATION
VALETTA: Financial services (12% of GDP) hopes to improve image.
LINK: http://www.independent.com.mt/daily/newsview.asp?id=14504
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SWISS COURT ORDERS ANTI-TERROR COOPERATION
LAUSANNE: High court waives bank secrecy to honor US
request in Islamic charity anti-terror investigation. LINK:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-2249485,00.html
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BAHRAIN PLANS MAJOR BANKING CENTER
$1 billion to be spent for Bahrain 'Financial Harbor.' LINKS:
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/arc_Articles.asp?Article=39343&Sn=BUSI&IssueID=25270
Kingdom of Bahrain, LINK: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5301.htm
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WHAT'S HAPPENING IN SOUTH AFRICA
STELLENBOSCH: ANC re-elects Mbeki as party head; president lays
out economic plans for next 5 years. A must read to understand RSA.
LINK: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LA484731
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OLIGARCHS RUN RUSSIAN ECONOMY
MOSCOW: Putin gives entrepreneurs free rein; politics is his. LINK:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52999-2002Dec13.html
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20,000 MARCH AGAINST HONG KONG LAW
Beijing sponsored 'anti-subversion' proposal seen as freedoms curb.
Business fears HK offshore financial activity will be hurt badly.
LINKS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2578825.stm
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/eastasia/view/27257/1/.html
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BAHAMAS DELAYS 'KYC' LAW IMPACT
NASSAU: 'Know your customer' rules put off until end of 2003. LINK:
http://www.thenassauguardian.com/business/276543773703758.php
* BERMUDA to become associate member of Caricom. LINK:
http://www.theroyalgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20021214&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=112140050&Ref=AR
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COSTA RICA SCHEME COLLAPSE HITS EXPATS
SAN JOSE: Collapse of Brothers Fund hurts 6300 American expatriates.
LINK: (free registration required):
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0212130220dec13,1,1525590.story?coll=
chi-newsnationworld-hed
LINK: (subscribers only):
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1039735445750332393,00.html
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EAST INDIA COMPANIES; FIRST OFFSHORE SCAMS?
Corruption, crime, chicanery: business through the ages. LINK:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/16/business/businessspecial/16SCAN.html
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* TAXES *
COMING BATTLE OVER AMERICAN TAXES
WASHINGTON: Business Week gives a complete review of what the Bush 2003 tax program may look like and what it means for you. LINK:
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/dec2002/nf20021213_9469.htm
* Year end actions that can ease your 2002 US income tax load.
LINK: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/02_50/b3812130.htm
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GERMAN TAX, ECONOMIC CRISIS
BERLIN: Schröder offers tax amnesty for offshore cash stash. LINK:
http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1430_A_715385_1_A,00.html
* German business leaders warn of major economic crisis. LINK:
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1039523667610
* Swiss banks play down impact of German tax amnesty. LINK:
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=111&sid=1520773
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LUXEMBOURG RULING COSTS U.K. TAX INCOME
Court rules businesses can shift debt to cut taxes; UK loss £1 billion.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=10298
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EUROPEAN UNION POSTPONES TAX DEAL
BRUSSELS: Dec. 31 deadline dead; tax directive postponed - forever?
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=10285
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ISRAELI TAX COLLECTORS WANT BACK TAX POWER
TEL AVIV: Israeli tax agency seeks retroactive authority, 200,000 to
be added to tax rolls; offshore income must be reported. LINKS:
http://www.israeleconomy.org/nbn/article_show.php?article_id=82
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=241040&contrassID=2&subContrassID=
2&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
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* PRIVACY & RIGHTS *
SURVEILLANCE FOR ALL
Nat Hentoff says we'll all soon be under surveillance.
LINK: http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0250/hentoff.php
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F.B.I.- DON'T MAKE IT THE SECRET POLICE
WASHINGTON: Commission warns against domestic 'secret police. LINK:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59193-2002Dec15.html
* Cato: Creativity in the Fight against Terrorism.
LINK: http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-439es.html
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