2024 Update Banking & EMI (Offshore)

[inector]

Finish my notes for banking / EMI options for offshore entities (Belize, BVI, etc.) in 2024

Banks:
- Caye Bank
- Heritage
- OCBC (unlikely)
...

EMIs:
- Bankera
- Bilderlings
- Paysera (unlikely)
...

Crypto-friendly:
- Advcash (unlikely)
...

 

[Forester]

You can add e.g. Statrys, Airwallex, Verifo and (probably) Currenxie to BVI-friendly EMIs.

 

[GrumpyMess]

You can add e.g. Statrys, Airwallex, Verifo and (probably) Currenxie to BVI-friendly EMIs.

Doesn't that list make BVI a best jurisdiction now?

 

[wellington]

What does unlikely stand for?

 

[daniels27]

What does unlikely stand for?

It means they do not exclude those but only onboard select clients where they anticipate substantial Forex transactions.

 

[Forester]

Doesn't that list make BVI a best jurisdiction now?

What do you mean by “best”? I can imagine a ton of interpretations...

 

[inector]

What does unlikely stand for?

My bad, had to specify. I meant that you likely would need to have high volume and white hat business to qualify.

 

[GrumpyMess]

What do you mean by “best”? I can imagine a ton of interpretations...

Acceptable cost of incorporation and annual fees, ability to connect bank/emi accounts and acceptable privacy. Seychelles/Belize is cheaper but difficulties with emis, especially with banks, Hong-Kong is more difficult with compliance & auditing. Is any other affordable 0 tax jurisdiction left?

 

[inector]

Is any other affordable 0 tax jurisdiction left?

Let's stick to the thread! The thread was primarily to just list EMIs and banks, without clutter.

 

[Forester]

Let's stick to the thread! The thread was primarily to just list EMIs and banks, without clutter.

You are completely right. @GrumpyMess, please create a new thread in Tax & Legal if you like to discuss zero tax jurisdictions.
I'm sorry for taking part in a hijack attempt

 

[cherry]

Forgive my ignorance, but will these institutions report to your home country (e.g. the UK?)

 

[daniels27]

Forgive my ignorance, but will these institutions report to your home country (e.g. the UK?)

They report to whatever you give them as tax id / tax residency.

 

[Cloudbanck]

They report to whatever you give them as tax id / tax residency.

And maybe to your passport country as well if it differs from your tax residency country. Nobody seems to know for sure though.

 

[daniels27]

And maybe to your passport country as well if it differs from your tax residency country. Nobody seems to know for sure though.

Not automatically. Depending on the bank, they will just tell you to furnish the tax id for your passport country and then add it to the list of tax residencies.

 

[JohnLocke]

I might be missing an explanation of which offshore jurisdictions these banks support, or conversely, where the companies you wish to apply for an account with these banks and EMIs on your list are registered.

 

[CoinMaster]

ALL of the list at OP's post will report me if I have an account with them right?

 

[Sols]

The reason lists like these never end up being maintained and useful is because it's almost never as easy as Bank A accepts Jurisdiction X.

There's so much more than just jurisdiction that goes into whether a bank accepts or declines an application. Some jurisdictions are indeed blacklisted with some financial institutions. Poor choice of jurisdiction that can be a detriment. But even then — unless we're talking sanctioned countries — exceptions are often (but not always) possible if you get management approval.

UK company selling barrels of toxic sludge to children = unbankable.

Labuan company running a digital marketplace = bankable.

Labuan company running a digital marketplace of pictures of children doused in toxic sludge = unbankable.

UK company operating a web hosting business = bankable.

Marshall Islands company operating a web hosting business = bankable, but a bit harder.

And then you factor in UBO residence/nationality, directors residence/nationality, shareholders residence/nationality, counterparties residence/nationality, currencies involved, amounts, frequency, and so and so forth.

 

[inector]

I might be missing an explanation of which offshore jurisdictions these banks support

The reason lists like these never end up being maintained and useful is because it's almost never as easy as Bank A accepts Jurisdiction X.

True! The reason I created the thread is because majority of banks / EMIs that I successfully opened for clients were found in real random places across the forum, and some didn't have links to the thread.

Unless they openly say "restricted country A" - many of them say "contact us if your country is not on the list" or "contact us if your business should be reviewed".

A lot of it is just trial and error.