Bowman Offshore Bank Transfers How to Open and Access an Offshore Bank Account

Bowman Offshore Bank Transfers on How to Open and Access
an Offshore Bank Account
Offshore banking is often associated with a high level of financial sophistication and, sometimes,
chicanery. However, the reality is that the average person can open an offshore bank account with just a
few hours of work. Each offshore bank and foreign jurisdiction has its own requirements, so you'll have to
do some research to find the specifics relevant to your situation. The following is an overview of what you
can expect, based on common offshore banking centers such as Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, and the
Channel Islands.
The Basic Requirements
The basics of opening an offshore bank account are similar to opening a bank account in your home
country. Offshore banks will ask for your personal information, such as your name, date of birth, address,
citizenship and occupation.
To verify your personal information, you can expect to submit a copy of your passport, driver's license or
other identifying documents issued by a governmental agency. Additionally, banks are concerned with
verifying your residence or physical address since this may affect taxation issues. This requirement may
be satisfied by presenting a utility bill or similar documents.
Due to the wide range of different identification documents that may be presented to offshore banks,
additional assurance of a document's authenticity is often required. A notarized copy of certain
documents may suffice in some cases. Other offshore centers prefer an "apostilles" stamp, which is a
special type of certification mark that is used internationally. Where this is the case, you will need to visit
the government office that is authorized to issue this stamp for your state or nation. (For a general
overview, also see taking a Look at Tax Havens.)
Additional Verification Documents
While the basics are similar, there are often considerable additional requirements to open the account.
These requirements are in place to discourage money laundering, tax fraud or other illegal activities that
are often associated with offshore banking.
First, offshore banks may ask for financial reference documents from your current bank, indicating
average balances and a "satisfactory relationship." Most commonly, this is satisfied by bank statements
for the last six to 12 months.