Minister rules out offshore banking

Traditional offshore banking which has been affiliated with money laundering will not be one of the services to be provided by the Government's proposed Trinidad and Tobago International Financial Centre (TTIFC).

Finance Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira made the disclosure on Tuesday as she announced the time had come for "an alternate strategy" to move this country's economy away from its dependence on the oil and gas sector. She said development of the financial services sector was one way to do so.

Nunez-Tesheira spoke on these issues during a symposium on the TTIFC, held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, in downtown Port of Spain.

Nunez-Tesheria said the benefits of establishing the TTIFC could be "substantial" since as it could prove to be the key element of a sustainable diversified economy would and would not be provided.

Offshore Banking in Costa Rica

The presence of offshore banks in Costa Rica has grown exponentially in recent years. Within the last three years, the total amount of funds these banks have attracted has increased by 65%. This includes money private citizens and businesses have placed in savings and checking accounts, long or short-term money market accounts, retirement plans, credit loans and other financial services.

The amount of funds collected by Costa Rica’s offshore banks exceeded $2.245 million as of September of 2007. To get some perspective on this number, just imagine that it’s equivalent to 9% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). A reliable source defines GDP as “the total market value of all final goods and services produced within a given country in a given period of time (usually a calendar year).”

A bank is termed ‘offshore’ when its official business address is located outside of Costa Rica. Typically, these banks are structured this way to take advantage of tax breaks and/or other advantages in a so-called tax haven. Some of the advantages offshore banks gain by doing this are: less restrictive regulation, low (or no taxes) and protection against local political or financial instability.

HSBC chooses Dubai as key offshore banking centre

Dubai has been chosen as one of the five key offshore banking destinations for HSBC customers. HSBC have announced the launch of a new offshore and international service for their premier customers.

HSBC Premier offers cross-border banking enabling customers to take their accounts, credit history and banking relationships with them wherever they choose to live and work.

HSBC Bank International provide offshore financial expertise mainly to expatriates from the United Kingdom, Europe and Commonwealth countries, now living and working in the region. Expatriates account for more than 75% of the population in the United Arab Emirates.

Dubai benefits from its geographical position between Europe and the Far East and a robust regulatory framework that is renowned for its economic and political stability. As an offshore centre, it can offer customers convenience, security, taxation benefits and Islamic banking options. In the United Arab Emirates there is no tax on capital gains, investment income, interest income or inheritance and customers can benefit from Savings and Investment products in major currencies.

As Dubai Millionaires Multiply, Money Masks Missing Liberties

April 1 (Bloomberg) -- From his air-conditioned office on the seventh floor of one of Dubai's twin Emirates Towers, Pakistani tycoon Arif Naqvi surveys the metropolis that made him rich.

To Naqvi's left, about 50 skyscrapers rise above the desert city, where thousands of cranes work on $200 billion of real estate projects, according to HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe's largest bank. Sprawling to his right are the palace, gardens and stables of the emirate's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al- Maktoum, his wives and children.

``I couldn't have done a 10th of what I've done if it hadn't been for Dubai,'' says Naqvi, 47, who moved to Dubai in 1994 with $50,000 of savings and now runs buyout firm Abraaj Capital Ltd. His $5 billion of assets include stakes in Turkish hospitals, Saudi Arabian pharmacies and a Jordanian aircraft repair company. Successful investments include Dubai's Arabtec Holdings PJSC, which is building the world's tallest skyscraper, Burj Dubai, on a $20 billion construction site not far from Naqvi's office.

In a ditch near the Giorgio Armani-designed hotel on the tower's lower floors, construction worker Omkar Singh leans on a shovel and wipes sweat from his brow. Singh, 24, went into debt to pay 60,000 rupees ($1,500) -- more than six months of earnings, including overtime -- to an agent to get to Dubai from India. The agent promised eight-hour workdays. Singh says he works at least 10-hour shifts, six days a week. ``I was taken for a ride,'' he says.