Who has never dreamt of being a private banker ? On such thin premises a whole market has erupted and some atolls had emerged as financial centre. This market received a boost with the possibility to market financial products via the Internet. This medium pushed the geographical irrelevance to the verge of breaking all banking regulations. Onshore countries were however quick to enact legislation that dealt with financial services through internet (see UK FSA rules).
Offshore licensed banking is now associated with money laundering issues and some noticeable scams. Some offshore licensed banks have collapsed leaving depositors few chances to recover their assets.
Against such a grim background is there a case to advocate for setting up an offshore bank. We believe so as long as the bank operates in a safe and sound manner and have proper internal audit and control infrastructure to support effective compliance with international laws and regulations.
