Panama offers you the best in offshore banking and privacy. By making use of corporate and foundation entities you can control private, even anonymous bank accounts.

Panama Bank Account
These bank accounts, when setup properly with the assistance of your experienced legal team, are almost impervious. The official currency in Panama is the US Dollar, however we can have your account opened in other currencies. The Euro is a popular alternative and some clients actually request to bank in multiple currencies as well. Panama has no tax treaties and does not share tax information. Forget about ever having your bank account garnished, does not happen here. Judgments and civil litigation are not a way of life in Panama either and you will find yourself protected from those risks, some of which may even present themselves to be everyday risks in your home jurisdiction. Information sharing is entirely minimal. Fishing expeditions are locked out as well. And, even frozen bank accounts are not typical (we have more info available on how to obtain a non-freezable bank account). Basically, unless you are laundering illegal proceeds, such as that from drugs or terrorism or otherwise conducting serious illegal business, then you do not have anything to worry about when operating a bank account in Panama. By the way, income tax evasion is not a crime in Panama. If your local tax authority were to accuse you of owing them, the system in Panama takes a non-cooperative position in your favor on these matters.

Banking privacy is enforced by the Superintendent of Banks and upheld by it's legal system, all the way to the criminal level. The chance of your privacy being violating is nearly nonexistent. Meaning a local bank manager risks a long and miserable prison sentence if they were to compromise your privacy. Entirely unlikely to happen. Also, your security is further sealed with the implementation of proper account setup and the use of your legal entity.

PANAMA: Stable Government. Reliable Infrastructure. Resilient Economy.

These are essential elements that allow Panama to maintain a high quality international banking center. This is evidenced by over 150 banks, many which boast huge landmark towers, doing business right here in Panama City. It means not having to compromise the business climate. Even in the state of the current world recession, Panama has maintained a strong economy and its conservative banks are very reliable and maintain high liquidity. Recent reported figures show a 58% loan to holdings ratio. In plain talk this means Panama Banks will never need bailouts, unlike so many banking systems across the world which had been considered to be reliable.

We charge $650 for a Panama Corporate Bank Account. Your Panama corporation or foundation can have as many bank accounts as you want. Personal accounts are also available and are $450. They are often requested for those applying for a visa or coming to live in Panama.

MERCHANT ACCOUNTS
You can obtain a merchant account to serve the needs of your business. This would be just like any other merchant account around the world and accepts VISA, M/C even Amex and other cards. The fees are competitive and you would be dealing with a large bank in Panama. Our fee for Merchant Account intro is $675. You must have a Panama Corporation and Panama bank account to open a Merchant Account.

Other Banking Jurisdictions
There are other jurisdictions which compete with Panama. When evaluating these one might consider:

Island jurisdictions: These are increasingly giving in to the OECD and other tax bullies. Many small island jurisdictions and countries have well beyond 50% or more of their economies entirely derived from offshore banking and corporate registrations, operating like registry mills. Panama is not a banking and corporate registry mill and has the economic strength to stand up to the tax bullies and send them off. This is evident by Panama's latest public responses to requests which were made by the G20 and the OECD. The response was basically a polite way of acknowledging and rejecting their requests to violate the existing bank laws. These laws are part of the constitution in Panama and the government continues to take these laws very seriously.

Other Latin American Countries: There are some which offer a prospect of useful offshore banking. Unfortunately there are inherent flaws. Belize for example is very underdeveloped and new to the offshore banking industry. They do not have any big cities with strong infrastructure. This has been said about many of the islands as well. They also have huge loopholes in their money laundering and criminal financial acts law which can unexpectedly lead to frozen bank accounts for even those who are not in the criminal element. We would not recommend banking in Belize. Guatemala on the other hand is good contender at the moment, albeit more expensive to do business there. There are different legal considerations in Guatemala. While there are many good things to say about Guatemala it is an increasingly well known fact that is a very corrupt country which is currently being overrun with drug smuggling via the Mexico connection. This problem migrated south as a result of weak law enforcement, providing cartels with a safe haven. How does that leave you feeling about security in Guatemala, especially when it comes to your business and assets. If you have a problem with your business in Guatemala, who is going to back you up? Their legal system which is weak? Their government? Regardless, it has been revealed that they may also soon be cooperating with the USA and OECD. That would put a ruin to offshore banking privacy in Guatemala. This is an alarming prospect for a country which has so much potential to offer in the offshore banking industry. We review mixed prospect on other countries in latin america, while a few may have the fundamentals, again, there are either infrastructure and/or inherent legal issues to consider before choosing those places to bank on.

European Nations: With the Swiss paying an ever increasing amount of lip service to the world's tax police authorities, one can only speculate the path on which they continue. The outlook is not good. Certain foreign nationalities are not even allowed to bank in Switzerland anymore. Anonymity in Switzerland has become a dream of the past. Other once desirable places such as Liechtenstein, Belgium, Luxembourg have already been following suit... if you want any privacy, forget about banking in Europe. Eastern block of Europe has a few options remaining, however, these are countries which offer minimal stability and political security at the present. Latvia is one on the list. We do not recommend it.

We could go on and on regarding other jurisdictions. The idea is to give you a brief overview. Panama offers unique stability and security which is hard to compete with. You may need to use some onshore banking solutions depending on your line of business, which may be coupled with your offshore solutions. We can assist you with this as well. We want you to know that we are familiar with the banking climate in other jurisdictions, including your own, and will advise you on your Panama based options to fit your entire needs.

Panama Law Group recognizes that there are a large number of potential clients who are lawful citizens of this world living in home jurisdictions which have litigious legal systems and oppressive tax regimes which give no reservations about violating your privacy. We are here to provide solutions which may protect you from such pitfalls, restore true privacy and even allow you anonymity. Contact us for a consultation and we will advise you according to your specific needs.