Offshore Financial Centers Info: Definition Term Paper

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document

Total Length: 3707 words ( 12 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 1+

Page 1 of 12

Similarly, an offshore might set up a wholly owned subsidiary in an OFC to extend offshore fund administration facilities or other facilities. (the future for offshore financial centers (OFCs)) multinational corporation establishes an offshore bank to deal with its foreign exchange operations or to ease out financing of a joint venture spanning on a global basis. An onshore bank sets up a wholly owned subsidiary in an OFC to extend offshore fund administration services. The proprietor of an onshore bank coming under legal regulation sets up a branch "satellite" bank in an OFC. The appeal of an OFC might comprise no capital tax, no restraining tax on dividends or interest, nil taxation on transfers, nil corporation taxes, no capital gains tax, no exchange controls, lenient legal rules and management, less strict reporting necessities, and trading limitations. Offshore corporations or international business corporations -IBCs are means having restricted liability recorded in an OFC. They might be employed to own and run businesses, issue shares, bonds, or raise capital in different manners. They can be employed to build complex financial structures. IBCs might be set up with a single director only. In certain cases, inhabitants of the OFC host nation might behave as nominee director to cloak the identity of the real company directors. In some OFCs, bearer share certificate might be used. (Offshore Financial Centers: IMF Background Paper)

The registered share certificates are adopted in rest of the Offshore Financial Centers, however, no public record of shareholders is dealt with. In several OFCs the expenses of instituting IBCs are minimal and they are normally taken into account for the purpose of calculation of the taxes. IBCs are considered a widely used device for dealing with investment resources. A commercial corporation institutes a captive insurance company in an OFC to address risk and have minimal incidence of taxes. An onshore insurance company institutes an ancillary in an OFC to reinsure some specific threats underwritten by the parent and decline the overall reserve and capital requirements. An onshore reinsurance company includes an ancillary in an OFC to reinsure hazardous threats. The allurement of an OFC in such settings involves favorable income/withholding/capital tax regime and low or weakly imposed actuarial reserve requirements and capital standards. One of the most fast rising applications of OFCs is the application of special purpose vehicles -- SPV to deploy in the financial activities in a more supportive tax setting.

An onshore corporation institutes an IBC in an offshore center to deploy in a specific activity. The endorsement of asset-backed securities is the most regularly cited activity of SPVs. The onshore corporation may entail a set of assets to the offshore SPV, to illustrate a portfolio of mortgages, loans credit card receivables. The SPV then provides different kinds of securities to the investors on the basis of the supporting assets. The SPV and hence the onshore parent take advantage of the supportive tax treatment in the OFC. The Financial institutions also resort to the application of SPVs in order to benefit from the less regulatory legislations on their functioning. Specifically, the banks apply them to raise Tier I capital in the lower tax settings of OFCs. SPVs are also instituted by non-bank financial institutions to benefit from more liberal netting rules than confronted in home nations, declining their capital requirements. (Offshore Financial Centers: IMF Background Paper)

Another application is in Tax planning. Wealthy individuals make use of supportive tax settings in, and tax treaties with, OFCs, often associating offshore companies, trusts and foundations. There is also a range of schemes that while legally defensible, depend upon complexity and ambiguity sometimes involve kinds of trusts not entailing in the country of the residence of clients. The multinational companies direct the activities through low tax OFCs to minimize their total tax bill though transfer pricing i.e. goods may be forwarded onshore but invoices are offshore concerns by a multinational owned IBC with the transition of onshore profits to low tax regimes. There are also individuals and enterprises those depend on banking secrecy to avoid declaring assets and income to the relevant tax authorities. Such transition in money achieved from the illegitimate transaction also searches the utmost confidentiality from tax and criminal investigation.

The affluent individuals and enterprises in nations with weak economies and brittle banking structures may desire to manage assets overseas to safeguard them against the collapse of their domestic currencies and domestic banks and outside the access of the existing or potential exchange controls.

Stuck Writing Your "Offshore Financial Centers Info: Definition" Term Paper?

View All Our Example Offshore Financial Centers Info: Definition Term Paper

Have A Custom Example Essay Written

While such individuals also search for secrecy then an account in an OFC assists sometimes as the preferred tool. In some instances, the threat of wholesale confiscation of legally acquitted assets is also an inclination for going offshore. In such cases, the secrecy is very significant. Also, many individuals confronting unlimited responsibility in their home jurisdiction search to reorganize ownership of their assets through offshore trusts to safeguard those assets from onshore lawsuits. Some offshore regions have regulations in force that safeguards those who passes the property to a personal trust from the compelled inheritance provisions in the home countries. (Offshore Financial Centers: IMF Background Paper)

Future:

The International efforts those were conceived to be inclined towards OFCs have resulted in some sort of uncertainty about their future. Actions made by individual nations to illustrate, the 'advisorie' are applicable to jurisdiction enlisted by the FATF as non-co-operative has supplemented to such uncertainty. But there is rising acknowledgement of those offshore jurisdictions that are complying with international standards. The market place can be anticipated to strengthen the attitudes and actions of governments in this regard. The quality business will be allured towards the qualitative financial centers. Those centers that do not entail the suitable status will discover that it is growingly difficult to allure good business and their long-term future and must be in greater doubt. There is no cause as to the fact of non-continuance of the OFC to make use of the niche market scopes and continue to have an appeal in the world financial market place.

Many of the reasons for the effectiveness of quality OFCs like Jersey will be unaffected by the international initiatives - comparatively low rates of taxation - the acceptance by the OECD of zero tax regimes, entailing they are non-discriminatory, is as good an indication as one could hope for that there is a future for tax differentiations, more reactionary to the market requirements- the faster the speed with which OFCs can enact regulations which caters to the needs of the international financial market place will continue; their record of political and fiscal stability- of particular significance for those residing in politically unbalanced areas; the secrecy offered to those engaged in legally admissible business and those have legal reasons for safeguarding the privacy, the greater flexibility of small area of operations; the quality of the services entailed and the expertise entailed. No one would recommend that the financial centers of London, Zurich, Geneva, Luxembourg, Dublin, Singapore or Hong Kong - centers that entail the same cross border financial services for the benefit of non-resident individuals and corporate investors those are entailed by quality OFCs normally are at risk of disappearing. (the future for offshore financial centers (OFCs))

The OECD is eager to dismantle prejudiced preferential tax regimes. This can be performed however, without influencing the essential attractions of an OFC. One illustration is the substitution of a preferential regime by a non-prejudiced corporate tax at a low rate, as the Irish Republic is to perform thereby maintaining the attractions of the Dublin International Financial Centre. The prevalence of a level playing field is considered significant for the future. There is a little potentiality of achieving a successful reaction to the international initiatives, specifically in the area of taxation unless all countries deployed in the strategy of the cross border financial services act in unison. There will always be scope in the market place for a quality niche market operator. With the persistent advantages of OFCs referred to above, the continued growth in wealth world-wide, and the integration of the financial market place worldwide there is every possibility to anticipate both small and large financial centers engaged in cross border financial activities, operating in international standards to discover a place in the sun.

This ideology is backed by the anticipation that financial institutions of stature will desire to eliminate reputation threat and strengthen their own status by functioning only from regions of stature. The potentialities for a prolonged and effective partnership between companies and individual investors employed in legitimate activities and quality OFCs are quite largely better. A more international co-operation in the pursuit of those engaged in fiscal fraud and other criminal activities and this will be noticeable in requests for more substitutions of information in testimony of criminal probes and prosecutions. But there is no cause as to why the companies employed in legally acceptable business….....

Show More ⇣

     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Offshore Financial Centers Info Definition" (2005, April 23) Retrieved June 28, 2025, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/offshore-financial-centers-info-definition-65829

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Offshore Financial Centers Info Definition" 23 April 2005. Web.28 June. 2025. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/offshore-financial-centers-info-definition-65829>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Offshore Financial Centers Info Definition", 23 April 2005, Accessed.28 June. 2025,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/offshore-financial-centers-info-definition-65829
   

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document
order custom essay example