Financial assets are highly controlled for obvious reasons: savers’ money is handled and can be a means of recycling or subsidizing terrorism. For this reason, nowhere in the world can you operate without strict controls. If you want to undertake a financial activity you need to keep in mind three key factors:
1. In addition to having the necessary capital, it is essential to have a good reputation and contacts in the financial world.
2. If obtaining the license may seem difficult, opening and maintaining correspondent bank accounts that allow you to operate can be an insurmountable problem. The banks, in fact, consider these activities to be at risk of money laundering and before opening an account they will make grueling investigations.
3. It is practically impossible to remain anonymous in this type of activity: the banks and financial institutions with which you wish to undertake a collaboration will ask for a detailed business plan and information on the shareholders.
Taking these factors into consideration, it is necessary to establish according to one’s economic availability, capacity and market what type of activity to undertake and which jurisdiction to choose. A physical presence will be required in the licensing country, with offices, telephones and a minimum of personnel.
Obviously, in order not to pay taxes or pay the minimum, offshore financial centers are convenient. Offshore : literally means “outside territorial waters” or, in the case of a financial transaction “carried out outside the country of residence” (extraterritorial operation). The problem operating with licenses of these jurisdictions considered tax havens is that it is much more difficult to get accepted by European and US financial institutions, necessary to be able to move money, issue credit or debit cards, etc.