Setting up an account with a foreign bank can considerably enlarge the range of your financial opportunities. A bank account abroad can help you diversify and better protect your financial assets, first of all. In some countries, banks offer interest rates that may well turn out higher than the interest rates on deposits in your home country.
If you open an investment account in a foreign country, you will have access to a greater number of investment objects located outside the territory of your country of origin. Some foreign banks offer a high level of their clients’ personal data protection. There are also many other reasons why you might want to set up a foreign bank account.
However, the choice of countries where you can bank is enormous indeed: you can apply for banking services in a great number of national states. So, what country should you choose if you would like to open a foreign bank account? This will depend on your primary objectives in establishing a foreign bank account.
Different countries will offer different kinds of advantages and professional advice on the matter will come in handy. Please follow this link to find out more about banking opportunities available in various countries. Below we will give you a few examples of the national states that you might want to consider when applying for banking services abroad.
Swiss banks are famous for the top level of privacy that they provide. We must admit, however, that the banking industry has been changing over the recent years due to the international AML (Anti-Money Laundering) and CTF (Counter-Terrorism Financing) efforts.
You probably wouldn’t be able to open a numbered account in a Swiss bank today and you would have to go through some strict due diligence procedures when applying for banking services in the country. It may be worth it, however, because the quality of the services that Swiss banks provide is superb.
You could also consider setting up an investment account with a Swiss bank. Bank managers in the country have years and years of experience in investment activities. Here is a hint from our banking experts: if you open an investment account in Switzerland, think of the possibility of hiring an external asset management company.
The services of such a company will come at a price, of course, but an external asset manager may well generate a higher return on your investments in comparison to the bank. This is only an option to think about.
Some experts believe that banks in Liechtenstein are even better in some respects than Swiss banks are. Well, Liechtenstein is an independent country but it is associated with Switzerland and the banks in these two jurisdictions are probably equally secure. What might make Liechtenstein and Switzerland a bit less attractive for some people is the fact that banks there like to take primarily wealthy clients onboard.
If you would like to deposit a million francs or more, you can easily set up an account with a Swiss or a Liechtenstein bank. If you’d like to deposit less, you might have some difficulties.
Germany is one more country where banking is highly secure. Of all EU countries, Germany has the largest economy. Banks there use state-of-the-art technologies and provide top-quality services to their customers. All German banks offer a wide range of banking products and most of them are available online. Besides, the costs of setting up and maintaining a bank account in Germany are relatively low.
So, if you are looking for the safest banking possible and the highest level of banking service quality, you should consider opening a bank account in Switzerland, Liechtenstein or Germany. You have to realize, however, that taxes are comparatively high in these countries (this applies to Liechtenstein to a lesser degree).
If you would like to pay as little in taxes as possible, give an eye to the Cayman Islands. The jurisdiction is officially a British overseas territory but it enjoys and high level of autonomy. In particular, taxes in the Caymans are much lower than they are in the rest of GB. They are not non-existent but they are pretty low.
In fact, the Cayman Islands is the most popular tax haven in the world, one of the few remaining. Thus, opening a bank account in the Caymans would let you save on taxes.
One more country that offers attractive banking opportunities is Panama in the Caribbean. Panama is extremely popular with American retirees: you can find quite a number of gated expat communities in the country where Americans live. This should not come as a surprise: the everlasting summer, the warm Caribbean Sea, the fantastic vegetation, the high living standards that come at a comparatively low cost…
What else could a pensioner need? So, American citizens are quite happy to use the baking services available in Panama as they are highly diverse and reliable. You do not have to pay any taxes on the interest that you earn from your bank deposits in Panama and confidentiality of the account owner is strictly protected in the country.
If you are thinking of establishing a foreign company and then opening a corporate bank account in the country of the company domiciliation, we recommend that you should consider Nevis.
It’s part of the country called ‘The Federation of St Kitts and Nevis’ – two islands in the Caribbean, but the corporate legislation of Nevis suits foreign company formation and bank account opening in a better way than the corporate legislation of St Kitts does.
Other countries offer other kinds of advantages to foreign nationals wishing to set up personal or corporate bank accounts there. What country you should choose depends upon your priorities. Because the choice is so great, make sure you apply for professional assistance when opening an account in a foreign bank.
