Attributes of a Good Offshore Jurisdiction
 by: Ronald Edwards

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.

This article was posted on November 22, 2006

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