Best Place to Start a Physical Privacy Business?

[zacb]

Let' say I wanted to start a business for expatriate to protect their privacy, and I needed a place to base it. Where would you suggest?

[Jester]

David Finzer's company, now known as Capital Conservator, used to be in Costa Rica, then moved to Uruguay, then Montenegro, then Serbia. He was a real character and worth googling. (God rest his soul.) They provided anonymous banking services and debit cards to wealthy players. I gathered they had to change countries occasionally when OECD or one of the banking cartels pressured their host government.

It takes a lot of money to do that stuff. Plus connections and know-how in banking operations. (Finzer was ex-CIA operative.)

Why not just front for an existing lawyer/bank team? Introduce clients and collect a finder's fee.

BTW Guatemala has been touted by PanamaLaw as having tougher privacy laws than Panama. Probably they got run out of Panama for some stuff they are accused of, I'm not sure. Anyway their website, if still up, talks about communicating with them via encrypted emails so they were pretty serious about privacy.

Thing is, you have to think who clients would be. Even if Guate IS a good place, how many North Americans would touch it?

Belize is nice because your clients wouldnt have to actually go there, just sign papers. Plus English speaking. You could sell introduction services to a lawyer there. Bak of Belize has three lawyers they work with who set up IBC's. Some people are doing this now, selling the whole package of IBC, bank accounts and merchant card service for a reasonable price over the phone. OK to sell to people doing internet business. But if clients are American dont tell them its private, cause it aint. Just a way to remove cash collection point from Uncle Sam's immediate control, and not dink around with PayPal.

I guess you could do the same thing with a Vanuatu IBC or something exotic like that. I guess exotic places like that are just used as holding companies, hard to sue. I'm not sure what countries would open a bank account for a Vanuatu IBC. And might be a big ticket item.

Start with selling Belize IBC formation, as a finder for a lawyer, and you will actually get some sales.

Then you can get exotic later.

Or come to think of it maybe Panama? Americans believe in Panama, doesnt seem so far away. Just dont call it privacy. Just call it a Panama corporation. You might have to go there to start one, plus have a local director. Maybe a lot to convince a client to accept.

Belizey is easy.

PS I guess one angle would be to sell "shelf" corporations. Already formed. Lawyers in tax havens and banking havens have those available and would pay you a commission probably. No big advantage that I know of, but it sounds sexy.

BTW YOU will probably need an offshore IBC of your own if receiving commssions or fees related to any banking business or bank accounts. (Americans as usual not allowed.) Even then might not be strictly kosher.

Trip to Belize is recommended.

[zacb]

I wa sthinking Belize since it is closest to the largest formation of Americans outside the US, but after that John Mcaffee deal, I am a little leery. I was thinking more like storing docs and such.

[Jester]

I wa sthinking Belize since it is closest to the largest formation of Americans outside the US, but after that John Mcaffee deal, I am a little leery. I was thinking more like storing docs and such.

McAffee, though I like him, is a radical troublemaker, not a freedom-lover. He is involved in fabricating and smuggling barely-legal drugs, and enjoys tweaking the nose of authority.

Plenty of "ordinary" financial buccaneers do just fine in Belize.

Re doc storage, thats another matter.

On server, or physical?

And how accessible does it have to be?

Am I storing birth cert, will, marriage cert, etc, stuff I might need every six months or year or two on short notice?

How would you deliver it? DHL?

Might be better to be local in the country near population of expats, say outside Mexico City or something? Wherever DHL has a hub?

Maybe GDL, it is a major air and truck hub, with Americans nearby in Ajijic and Chapala as a beginning prospect base, plus an international airport so you can expand to Guatemala, Belize etc without opening new locations.