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Executive Summary - It has come to our attention
that the USA is starting to treat "Bank Reference Letters" as
"Suspicious Transaction" events that require reporting to the USA
government. We highly suspect many other governments are doing the same
thing with their banks when a reference letter is requested. Many
clients have noticed in recent months that many banks are reluctant to
issue a bank reference letter and many banks outright refuse to write a
reference letter. The banks are refusing to issue reference letters
because they would then have to write a suspicious transaction report
and they try to minimize the amount of these that they generate to
avoid government audits and investigations. Panama banks all require a
bank reference letter even if you are opening the account in person.
This is the case with almost all the banks around the world. Do not do
this. We can assist with opening a bank account where a bank reference
letter is not required.
Apostille – The
next alarm bell concerns getting documents apostilled. An apostille is
a government worker who certifies notarized documents. Basically they
are there to certify the fact that the notary is in fact a notary. In
many countries the apostille works for the national government. In the
USA the apostilles work for the various state agencies, generally found
in the Department of State that each of the states has. Many offshore
banks ask their new account applicants to notarize and then apostille
documents like passports. Panama banks all require this unless you open
the account in person.
Recently the apostilles in the USA
are starting to ask the people to fill out a form explaining what the
apostille is to be used for. This is similar to the bank reference
letter in that it is probably being reported whenever anyone wants a
copy of a passport to be apostilled. Do not get any ID documents or
anything else you want to keep private apostilled. Notarized only. So
far we have not been seeing any notaries report any suspicious events
or even ask what the notarized document is to be used for. Do not use a
notary at a bank, credit union, savings and loan, or a stockbroker's
office. These are tightly regulated businesses that are required by law
to report any and all suspicious transactions. No apostilles is the
safest course of action.
Implications – It
is a common practice for the offshore banks around the world to require
a bank reference letter when opening a new account be it a corporation,
trust or a personal account for a foreigner. It would be rare for a
country to require a bank reference letter for citizens of their own
country. Bank reference letters are required when opening a bank
account in another country. It is the early warning flag to the
government about an offshore account being opened. Opening bank
accounts requiring a bank reference letter are now ill advised. Under
no circumstances should one obtain a bank reference letter. We can
arrange bank accounts that do not require such a bank reference letter
in a few select banks located in tax havens with bank secrecy.
We can also arrange "International Trust Account"
banking in quality banks in tax havens with bank secrecy where the bank
does not know who you are. For more information on this click here.
-Aurelia Masterson, http://www.panamalaw.org
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