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Panama as an Offshore Jurisdiction

Legal Article Guide

By: Gisela Martinez

Panama has a number of unique attributes that make this a great asset protection jurisdiction for corporations, foundations, banking and stock brokerage accounts. Some call Panama the Switzerland of Latin America but this is not fair, Panama is far better than Switzerland and any other jurisdiction. Read why Panama excels:

Offshore derived Income is not taxed and does not need to be reported. You can have a Panama Corporation, and/or Foundation that banks in Panama and has an office in Panama and yet will not pay any Panama taxes if all the income is derived from offshore. Right here is a big reason for choosing Panama.

Bearer Share Corporations are allowed in Panama. Most jurisdictions have eliminated bearer share corporations. They are referred to as an S.A. Corporation having this designation after the corporate name. This means the ownership of the Corporation is not recorded anywhere just the directors (which can be employee professional directors provided by our law firm). These corporations can be used to own or control assets such as bank accounts, stock brokerage accounts, real estate, boats, planes, vehicles, businesses, precious collectibles like artwork, jewelry, stamps, coins, etc. The owner has the stock certificates of the company which can be transferred privately as often as needed with no reportage of the new owners. No one need know who owns the corporate shares except the original owner and new owner. When you think about it ownership could be transferred 10 times in a day. When you send an international bank wire using the S.A. Corporation no one monitoring the international wires as some countries do knows who the actual owners of the corporation are that are receiving the funds. If ownership of a corporation is publicly recorded rest assured it is in numerous databases and can be accessed in seconds to determine who is actually receiving money sent to a corporation.

Panama uses the US Dollar as its currency. No currency conversion costs. No currency devaluation problems or issues like most of the little tax haven countries have. In Panama the ATM machines spit out US $20 bills. Even USA coins are used in Panama.

Panama is stable. It is a neutral country. Panama controls the Panama Canal and does not have a standing army. Most of these small countries never ever use their armies to repel an invading army from another country. These little banana republic countries use their armies to control the people, suspend elections, hold rigged elections, keep dictators in power under the guise of democracy etc.

Panama is in a treaty with the USA regarding the Panama Canal which Panama has sole control over. If the canal is threatened by a foreign power as in an invasion, the USA has the right to come in and protect the canal and the canal zone which is the area surrounding the canal (25 sq. miles only, not the entire country) - think aircraft carrier groups, marine expeditionary forces, air force fighter planes, navy seals, etc. The treaty does not allow the USA to take over Panama per se just the few square miles around the canal, not the banking district. So who is crazy enough to try and attack Panama, a UN certified neutral country, no one. US air force jets could be in Panama within two hours, an aircraft carrier group would probably be there in 24 hours. So we can forget about Panama being invaded by another foreign power, it would be essentially the same thing as attacking the USA directly. The same would apply if a dictator tried to seize control over Panama. The USA would see this as a potential threat to the Panama Canal and take military action, fast. The USA has no authority in Panama. Their Federal Agents have no authority or power. USA courts have no authority in Panama. Panama is a free country that has a treaty with the USA concerning protection of the Panama Canal. Interestingly enough China is involved heavily in commercial operations in the canal ports and also has a vested interest in seeing Panama and the Canal operate freely and smoothly. If anything happened to the Panama Canal shipping worldwide would be interrupted which means there are a lot of nations that want to see Panama operate as a free democracy maintaining it’s neutral status. Panama is at very low risk for revolution or military attack.

Panama holds free elections as a democracy, really and truly. Panama cares about their people. Medical care is affordable, food is cheap, housing affordable with special projects for the working folks to own their homes, homeless people are absent, college is made affordable and many young people attend. Panama has two medical schools, two dental schools, two law schools etc. In Panama 15%-20% of the work force are employed by the 135 banks domiciled there. Since Panama values these jobs do not expect to see any changes in banking laws, same for their corporate laws. Panama has over 400,000 corporations domiciled there. The only information sharing going on concerns bona fide criminal cases on file in a court as a criminal prosecution, serious criminal cases of money laundering and narcotics trafficking, terrorism, and child pornography. Panama has little interest in pursuing fiscal crimes. Income tax violations in Panama are civil offenses only. Panama also serves as a maritime registry for ocean going vessels. Panama is anything but a banana republic. You can feel safe and secure in Panama. Go for a visit if you like.

Panama Banks are stable and well established with substantial assets. Panama Savings and Loans have $10,000 insurance on the individual accounts. Panama Banks have the best privacy laws in the world; the BEST got it, the VERY BEST. You have the greatest chance of protecting your money from your potential or actual financial enemies in Panama. If you go to actually visit some of the other frequently used asset protection countries you see unpaved streets, poor impoverished people, lack of computerization in government offices, ancient telephone systems, poor health care, a government that is as corrupt as can be and you may find out your "Bank" is located on an unpaved road, in a second story walk-up office building over a grocery store. You do not want to bank in these places. People have lost billions banking in these island and banana republics. In Panama your bank may very well have a 40 story modern hi rise office building with their name on it.

In Panama as one of our clients you are going to be banking with a bank that has a real banking license. This means that the bank can conduct transactions with citizens of Panama as well as citizens and companies located outside of Panama. The bank will have branch offices with tellers, drive through windows, ATM machines etc. The bank has to post $10,000,000 cash with the government as one of their license requirements. In many offshore jurisdictions there are “Offshore Banking Licenses.” These licenses allow the bank to only open accounts for people who are not citizens of the country. Sort of makes you feel scared or it should. These offshore banks can't do business with residents of the country they are located in! Additionally the deposits required for an Offshore Banking license in some of these jurisdictions is typically $100,000 to $1,000,000 compared to the $10,000,000 Panama requires. Panama banks have their own ACH system which allows for online transfers from one Panama bank to another at a cost of about $1.00 per transaction. Currently thirty Panama banks are in the system. These transfers do not go over the international wire systems. Panama banks allow for the deposit of checks drawn in US dollars, clearing takes two to three weeks. Most offshore banks will not take checks any more or if they do, they put long holds on them like ninety days.

Panama was built and maintained by the Americans up until 2000. Panama is loaded with skyscrapers that are 30 to 50 stories high. You can drink the water, there is American type electrical systems, you can use American appliances in Panama, good paved roads, really excellent internet perhaps better than what you have in your country, good phones, and it is only 2.5 hours from Miami, Florida. Panama is a remarkably crime free country - New York City has more violent crime in one day than Panama has in a year.

English is always spoken by people working in Panama Banks and the Nicer Hotels, Fine Restaurants, Law Firms and by the Doctors.

You DO NOT have to physically go to Panama to get a corporation, foundation or bank account in Panama WITH US. Our business connections are unique in this regard. Panama is the undefeated world heavyweight champion when it comes to privacy and asset protection.

Tax Treaties - Panama is in none of them. Click here to see a list of countries with tax treaties with the U.S.

Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT). Most websites do not even want you to know about this, we give you the link to read it all yourself.

http://travel.state.gov/law/info/judicial/judicial_690.html

Essentially Panama will cooperate in a multi-national case involving narcotics and money laundering (these crimes need to be tied to narcotics). If you are not a narcotics dealer and are not a money launderer you should not be concerned by this. Panama will also cooperate in cases of terrorism and child pornography. The MLAT requires that there first needs to be a criminal prosecution case on file in the criminal courts of the requesting government (which means no fishing expeditions). Then through diplomatic channels involving the embassies, requests are made for information, then reviewed by Panama officials and a decision on compliance is made or requests for more information are made so a determination can be arrived at. These cases can take months and even years for completion. At times the country where the bank is located has been known to once alerted to the problem, conduct their own investigation first and this usually requires them to seize the relevant records and documents which can stall the process for a long time even years since their justice systems typically moves quite slow and statues of limitation can run out. Please don't construe this to mean Panama does this routinely, it is just something that does occur from time to time around the world. The MLAT has no application to civil cases such as divorce, civil judgments, bankruptcy, business litigation, any sort of civil litigation, civil tax matters etc. Taxation matters of any sort are not covered by this as far as Panama is concerned. Income tax evasion is a civil (non- criminal) offense in Panama as are all tax matters. Even Switzerland cooperates on income tax cases if the return is filed falsely like all income was not declared, things were omitted or so the complaining government says. Belize has tax treaties as do most of the so called "tax havens". Panama has no extradition treaties.

To learn more about Panama go to. http://www.panamalaw.org

The author is a member of a Panama Law Firm fluent in offshore procedures, tactics and practices.

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