Does the offshore bank offer any monetary protection schemes?
One reason many Americans like banking in the United States is because the money in the banks is federally insured or FDIC. Many feel this makes their money safe. Unfortunately, American banks have a higher risk of failing and so this money is not as safe as many believe. In comparison, most offshore banks are not federally insured. However, some offshore banks are. If this issue is very important to you, be sure to look around. One thing you should keep in mind is that offshore banks rarely fail in comparison to US banks. For this reason, most investors do not need this type of security blanket. In addition, whenever funds are insured in this way, it raises the cost of doing business. This results in smaller returns to investors. 3. When in doubt, choose an offshore bank that is relatively close by. It is generally a good idea to choose an offshore bank that is only few hours away from your time zone. This makes it easier to travel to the offshore bank account to handle any business.
