IBC stands for International Business Company, originally from the International Business Companies Act of 1984 in the British Virgin Islands. It has since been copied – with slight variations – across a plethora of jurisdictions. #148814545 / gettyimages.com In this post, I will quickly go through all IBC jurisdictions. If…
Part nine of the Jurisdiction Spotlight series will focus on Gibraltar, or as it’s affectionately called – The Rock. A thorn in the side of Spain and a shining beacon among offshore financial jurisdictions. But just exactly why are the Spanish authorities so grumpy when it comes to Gibraltar? Let’s…
Today, we will take a look at the jurisdiction to which Hong Kong is perhaps most often compared: Singapore. History Singapore, with its strategically important location, has a rich history as an important trading hub connecting Europe and Asia. Recorded history starts around the very end of the 1200s. The…
Time to take a look at another British Overseas Territory: Anguilla. History Anguilla was likely settled as early as 2000 BC, when settlers from the Orinoco basin in modern-day Brazil explored the Caribbean islands. The name Anguilla is attributed to a French explorer, who likely landed in the island in 1565, naming…
Part eight of the Jurisdiction Spotlight series will focus on Labuan, which has grown significantly in the last couple of years. Labuan is a rather complex offshore jurisdiction with cleverly written laws and tax codes. This post is by no means exhaustive, but should serve as a good primer on…
For a long time, Djibouti had just been one of those lesser known tax havens that I would see listed here and there, very inconsistently. I had inquired with contacts at FIUs and FSCs about Djibouti, and all they could tell me was that it has a FZ and the…
Time to take a look at a British Overseas Territory: Turks and Caicos Islands (often just Turks and Caicos, or shortened TCI), a group of eight large and several smaller islands south of The Bahamas. Turks and Caicos have quite an interesting history which sheds light on the history of The…
What is a TIEA? A TIEA is a Tax Information Exchange Agreement. The term tax treaty is used as an umbrella term for TIEA and DTA (Double Taxation Avoidance agreement). Historically, DTAs did not contain a clause for EOI (Exchange Of Information) but this has changed in recent years with…
Part seven of the Jurisdiction Spotlight series will focus on Vanuatu, one of the lesser known best known offshore jurisdictions. It is a jurisdiction that offers among the highest secrecy of all offshore jurisdiction, which is good and bad. History helps us understand the present, so let’s start thousands of…
In this article — the sixth article in the Jurisdiction Spotlight series — I will be focusing on the Country of Curaçao. History Curaçao’s very early history is poorly recorded. By the time the first European settlers arrived, the island was inhabited by the Arawak people, a collection of indigenous Caribbean…