Getting set up with a bank account in an offshore jurisdiction can be done relatively pain free and in many cases will not even require you to visit the country itself.  Receiving the level of privacy protection you want with your offshore bank account is an entirely different ball of wax and can get complicated to understand.

Not all offshore banking jurisdictions were created equal and it can be a mine field trying to navigate the rules and laws for each country.  To top it off, many countries have banking secrecy and privacy laws that purport to fully shield you from prying eyes but in many instances these laws are applied unevenly making for an unpredictable banking experience.

There is a certain element of risk associated with offshore bank accounts to be sure since a) you do not live in the offshore country and b) the country may or may not be politically stable.  Your ability to go down the street to ask your bank questions is not exactly a feasible option in most cases and telephone or email contact is not the same as a face to face meeting.

It goes without saying that your ideal offshore banking solution will; fully protect your funds, protect your privacy through strong banking secrecy laws (which are enforced), have a stable political environment and no climate issues that may impact your communications with the bank such as a hurricane or tropical storm.

With these factors in mind we will now discuss how to properly use an Offshore Bank Account:

Personal Offshore Bank Accounts

Personal offshore bank accounts will come with your personal name attached to it.  All transactions including bank wires in and out of the account will be associated with your name directly.  Bank ATM cards, signatory records, checks and other account documentation will be in your name as well.  If privacy is a concern then getting a personal offshore bank account is not recommended.

Corporate Offshore Bank Accounts

When setting up a corporate offshore bank account you can introduce more options to increase your privacy protection.  For example, if you register an anonymous bearer share corporation in Panama you can in turn open a bank account in that corporation's name.  All funds in this corporate account would be owned by the corporation not you. 

Since ownership of a bearer share corporation is very difficult to ascertain the next step for a would be attacker is to get a court order to have the bank release their account signatory records for the corporate account. In the event this release is granted by the courts which is highly unlikely you are still protected because the funds in the account are owned by the corporation not you.

The attacker would need to show that you purposely put money into this corporation for the purposes of avoiding paying a creditor.  This is known as fraudulent conveyance and the court cases associated with this are often; expensive, complicated and take years before they are heard in court.  Bank wires in and out of your corporate bank account will have the corporation name on them not your personal name.

ATM Card Usage

ATM cards can be a convenient banking tool but be careful when considering privacy. Most offshore banks will issue you a debit card for personal accounts without any issues since the account is in your personal name.  Getting an ATM card for your corporate bank account is not as easy but can still be done in some jurisdictions. When setting up an ATM card for corporate bank accounts many banks will print the account signatory name on the card as a security measure. 

This can kill the privacy associated with your corporate account if used improperly which defeats the purpose of having the account in the first place.  A good strategy to mitigate these privacy issues is to obtain an ATM card in a different jurisdiction where your name is not associated with the card in any way.  You can then wire money from your corporate offshore account to this card and safely pull out the money at your leisure with your privacy protected.

Visa / Mastercard Debit Card Usage

When you get an offshore bank account often you will have the option to add a Visa or Mastercard Debit card associated with the account. Sounds great right?  Hold your horses, you really need to watch out here since there is potential for your personal name to end up in a global Visa or Mastercard database associated with your offshore bank account.  If Visa or Mastercard were forced by court order to reveal their records to a government agency your privacy protection will be completely worthless.

As with the ATM card it is possible to get a Visa / Mastercard Debit card from a different financial institution.  You can fund these cards by sending a wire from your corporate bank account directly to the card. Make sure to get the Visa / MC debit card in a country with strong banking secrecy laws.  You will also need to find a vendor who can provide you with one of these cards without your name being sent to Visa / Mastercard.  In this case the issuer would keep these records (they will need at least a passport copy and an address to send the card) and since this financial institution is in a strong banking secrecy country the only way to ascertain that you own this card would be by court order.

To shield yourself even further set up a mail dropbox and have the card sent there instead of your personal address.

Phoning Your Offshore Bank

When private detectives or policemen begin an investigation one of the first things they look at are your telephone records which are fairly easy to get a hold of. If you have used your main telephone to call your offshore bank then this will stick out like a sore thumb on these records and give the investigators an avenue to pursue to further their investigation.

You can protect your privacy by purchasing a pre-paid or "pay as you go" cell phone which you would only use to make calls to your offshore bank never to friends or associates. If you have had a friend go through an ugly divorce this example should hit home hard.

Online Banking Usage

Online banking offers the luxury of convenience but if improperly used can be a lever to explode your privacy. The internet was designed as an open system which is great for communications and web page viewing but leaves a log trail which can be easily read and followed.  To compound this there are no global standards for reporting and privacy associated with Internet Service Providers (ISPs).  What you need to understand is that these companies operate in an unregulated space and as such can pretty much do anything they want with the data they keep about you.  This includes cooperating with authorities with or without a court order.

ISPs log every single packet that goes through their network with a datestamp.  The ISPs know what websites you visit on the internet, what you downloaded, when you sent email and a host of other privacy concerns. You can avoid this problem by punching a hole through their network by creating an encrypted tunnel to another computer on the internet running proxy software.  All of your communications in this scenario would be between your computer and the computer proxy.  Since the communications are encrypted the ISP would not be able to read your communications without the proper key to decode the transmissions. They would still be able to tell that you connected to the proxy and when but they would not be able to know what you were doing.

Make sure to regularly run software to clean up all the temporary files, browser history, cookies and registry entries on your computer. A re-installation of your operating system and program software every 6 months is also a good idea since these cleanup programs are never foolproof.