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Category: Banking

10 Sep
strond dollar

Strong Dollar Creates Global Property Bargain

The currency gods have conspired against the doom-and-gloomers who have been predicting (even, it seems to me sometimes, demanding) the demise of the U.S. dollar. The dollar continues to appreciate against many currencies, including the currencies of commodity-producing countries such as Colombia, Brazil, Canada, Australia, Chile, and New Zealand. Over the last 30 days, the […]

20 Jul
Offshore Banking in Andorra

Can One Bad Apple Bring Down Offshore Banking In Andorra?

Five years ago, when the U.S. FATCA law had just been passed and the effects it would have on non-U.S. banks were a hot topic for speculation, a banker I knew from Andorra made a remark to me along the lines of: “We’ll all go back to goat herding before we roll over for the […]

06 Jul
Currency Diversification Into Chinese Yuan

Currency Diversification Into Chinese Yuan

Five years ago, a friend recommended that I open an account with the Bank of China in New York. A Bank of China account is an easy way to hold yuan directly, something that, as my friend suggested to me years ago, every global investor should think about doing. Finally, in New York City with […]

08 Jun
Politesse For Investors Abroad

How To Protect Against Currency Fluctuations When Living And Investing Overseas

This week two readers have written to ask about currency risk when moving overseas. One was concerned about moving to a U.S. dollar-denominated destination from the U.K.; the other was wondering about moving to Portugal from the United States. These readers’ concerns about currency exchange fluctuations are valid. A retiree on a fixed income could […]

28 May
offshore corporation bank account is the first stop into Reducing Tax

Aggressive Anti-Money-Laundering Efforts Make Offshore Banking More Challenging

I’ve been reporting on the coming of FATCA for eight years. That’s old news. FATCA has arrived. It’s a reality of today’s offshore world. Banks have decided or are in the process of deciding which path they’ll follow toward compliance. Either they’ll continue to work with American clients and meet all the reporting requirements… or […]

11 May
cartagena colombia as well as medellin are great places to invest in colombia

Risks Of Investing In Colombia

I’m in Medellín, Colombia, this week with about 100 other brave souls with the courage (and the wisdom) to ignore the stereotypes and the bad press and come see for themselves what this city and this country have to offer. What’s there to be afraid of in Medellín, Colombia? My co-host for this week’s event, […]

23 Apr
Chaco Boreal Paraguay

Living, Investing, Banking, And Residency In Paraguay

You can’t fly directly to the capital of Paraguay, Asunción—neither from the United States nor from Europe. Limited direct access to this city has been an option in the past, but today the demand’s just not there. That means anyone coming from North America or Europe has to really want to get to Paraguay. You’re […]

13 Apr
Panama’s new “Specific Countries” residency program is the easiest and quickest way to establish permanent residency in this country, even to obtain a work permit.

Panama Is One Of The World’s Top Offshore Havens, Tax Havens, And Property Investment Markets

“Panama City today is unrecognizable from the Panama City I discovered for the first time 16 years ago,” I explained this morning to the crowd convened for this week’s Live and Invest in Panama Conference. “This city has reinvented itself over the past decade-and-a-half. When I arrived on the scene 16 years ago, this was […]

30 Mar
eiffel tower france

Restrictions On The Use Of Cash In France And Europe

Cash is no longer king. At least that seems to be France’s position. While cash isn’t being exiled from the French economy altogether, the country is looking to reduce the maximum amount of an allowable cash transaction from 3,000 to 1,000 euros. This isn’t the first time the French have had this particular bad idea. […]