Offshore Banking – Do You Really Need a Bank Introduction Service to Open an Offshore Account?
If you search on Google, “bank introductions” have become quite an industry these days. Dr W.G. Hill, a famous offshore guru back in the 1980s, once wrote sarcastically about this that he “would be happy to sell introductions to Sears and Roebuck.” For our British readers, that might be more like offering to sell introductions to Marks and Sparks. The point, of course, is that in theory – to this day – you can just walk in to a bank, or even contact them over the internet, and open your account directly. No need to pay any “consulting fees” to intermediaries. The reality these days, however, is that opening true private accounts just by walking in off the street (or off the internet) has become very difficult. Banks are running scared of governments and regulators. It is estimated that opening an offshore bank account requires at least five hours of a senior employee’s time on the bank’s side. Time is money, and when it comes to highly paid bank officers in offshore jurisdictions, all
