Any ex-offshore bankers out there

[offshore xpert]

Any ex-offshore bankers out there? I have been working for the last 20 years in offshore banking in several jurisdictions, now I am a financial consultant working on my own. A lot of offshore bankers I knew are saying that offshore banking is dead and they are dedicating themselves to other things.

Just curious to know if fellow colleagues have the same experience and if they are also considering moving on into other activities (which ones?). I am in two minds about it.
Thanks.

 

[tradingworldwide321]

Hi there, I am not a professional on banking industry however I like to read and find out an article that explains that things has changed a lot and now the things that used to work in the past now it's not possible anymore.

I also read that Switzerland as the "golden jurisdiction" is "anymore" interesting because all the cash flow that used to be there it's gone. Well, I do certainly know that they lie but I respect it. Also, I read about the fallen banking in Caribbean. Mostly because bad practices all thanks to people who conduct illicit and inmoral activities.

The Law put it in force by USA to the whole world has impacted the way we used to bank, they want us to control, they want us to keep our money in their land and pay taxes. The only people I know that doesn't pay too much is the ones that belong to the high sphere.

Now we need to be more creative, adapt to the new rules and play with it.

I certainly don't know which activities you may think but what I seen is play with working for/with EMI institutions, payment providers, investment licenses, tax planning and networking with other people and not the be the black shepherd.

I was thinking, if I success on my fiel, why do I run my own bank? For that I will need to find the best talents, the best people who do great in the field running, managing a bank or EMI etc...

What do you think?

 

[offshore xpert]

Hi, I did that change. I started setting up EMI, PSP, MSO licenses. For the last two years I have been setting up the whole package: establishing the shareholding company, obtaining the license in the desired jurisdiction, providing the core banking software, banks cards, correspondent banking. But the rules have also changed so much that it is becoming a hassle to keep up with the requirements.

I see that regulators are beginning to crack down these "disruptors" as they were not being so regulated as banks. So they started targeting them, example Latvia closed a third of the crypto licenses they issued.

Difficult times ahead!

 

[JohnLocke]

Any ex-offshore bankers out there? I have been working for the last 20 years in offshore banking in several jurisdictions, now I am a financial consultant working on my own. A lot of offshore bankers I knew are saying that offshore banking is dead and they are dedicating themselves to other things.

If you are a consultant yourself today then you may know very well that offshore banking is not dead. The offshore banking as we all were used to is dead but the people with the real money have still their waterholes.

 

[CSB]

We're certainly well alive in the Cook Islands.

 

[Davis123]

We're certainly well alive in the Cook Islands.

I had an ac with your bank 5 to 6 years ago . I had usd correspondence issues back then. Still a problem?

 

[CSB]

I had an ac with your bank 5 to 6 years ago . I had usd correspondence issues back then. Still a problem?

Not at all, we have a number of USD payment providers now.

 

[Tax Cow]

Start an onshore EMI or Fintech.

Little or no hope of turning a profit doesn't stop Fintechs from being valued $50M+. With your skills and your background, it would be a waste to look for a regular job or working as a consultant, instead of starting your own business. Your business idea doesn't have to make much sense. Someone with a deep pocket will get an erection when you say "Fintech" and "banking experience" just as "blockchain" did the trick in 2016-2017.

Vanilla offshore banking is choked by low interest rate policies (must be made back in much higher fees). And the compliance costs have quadrupled compared to 20 years ago. Not dead in the water, but the business is brutal. Better milk the clueless venture capitalists and sell them a dream.