Compliance

AEOI Mitigation (How to Avoid AEOI, CRS, FATCA)

The idea of automatic EOI (AEOI) goes back far in time and finding means to avoid AEOI is an idea at least as old. The first realizations were first the so-called EU Savings Directive and then the big bomb: FATCA. EOI is short for Exchange Of Information. The information referred…

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STREBER Weekly The Five Categories of Offshore Jurisdictions

The Five Categories of Jurisdictions

But first Let’s address the elephant in the room first: the dormancy of the blog. I have ideas for blog posts but limited time in which to write them. I don’t want to sacrifice on quality by sticking to a schedule so for the coming months, the blog will probably…


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Flags of Convenience

Ahoy, skipper! Unless you are looking for brief, general information about which tax haven to register your freight ship or yacht in and how flags of convenience work, this probably isn’t going to be an interesting article to you. What is a Flag of Convenience? A flag of convenience (FOC)…


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Territorial Taxation

This is going to be one of those articles that I start with a disclaimer about how irresponsible you would be to take my word as gospel. I talk about complex subjects on a high level, sweeping manner.  As always when discussing legal concepts across jurisdictions and even legal systems,…


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The Roles of OECD, FATF-GAFI, and Others

There are a handful of organizations that we talk about a lot in this industry. In this article, I will talk a bit about what they do and how or why they matter. OECD FATF-GAFI APGML CFATF-GAFIC EAG ESAAMLG GABAC GAFILAT GIABA MENAFATF MONEYVAL Egmont Group OECD The Organisation for…


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Tax Residence

It is finally time to tackle this issue, which is the biggest source of confusion for the would-be, could-be, and often shouldn’t-be offshore entrepreneur. You Pay Tax Where You Live In its simplest terms, this is what it comes down to. Merely transferring your personal wealth to an offshore bank…


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Finding A Tax Adviser

Why You (Might) Need One “I’m afraid I can’t answer that. You need to speak to a tax adviser.” That is a common answer to questions asked in the blog comments and forums here, and elsewhere. There are a number of reasons why you get this answer. The most common…


Offshore Financial Services License

I get a lot of questions about starting various types of financial services businesses. In this article I will go through the basics and – for most of you – shatter your dreams. What is a Financial Service? A financial service is an activity where funds are being handled on…


Dark Side Part 2: Money Laundering

So you have evaded some taxes. Not exactly a cool crime, is it? Time to take it up a notch and move into money laundering. Have your tailor sew you a black-and-white striped body suit and start streching and warming up your ankle for some ball-dragging because you, my friend,…


Dark Side Part 1: Tax Evasion

By now, I feel that it’s clear enough that I advocate for compliance with laws and regulations, and transparency in accordance with international standards. I therefore think it’s time to dedicate a couple of posts to the “dark side” of the international financial services industry – the things that make…


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