02 February 2015

What's the form? A tipster's guide to banking selection

As the G8 tighten their grip on their private client tax bases, both directly through domestic legislation and indirectly through the OECD's pressure on offshore finance centres, global banking is one of the main areas of action. It used to be second nature to incorporate an offshore company and get a bank account without a moment's thought. Not anymore.

The KYC requirements (for the client), internal compliance regimes, external audit and government hurdles (FATCA and similar legislation), not to mention increased costs, as well as sheer political pressure and reputational risk have all combined to make it very difficult (if not impossible) in today's environment to open an offshore bank account. This applies to both corporate and personal accounts.

Greg McNally provides a tipsters guide to banking in the new environment and reveals how to find the right fit for your client.

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