-Caveat Lector- from: http://www.wired.com/news/news/business/story/21610.html <A HREF="http://www.wired.com/news/news/business/story/21610.html">Business News from Wired News</A> ----- updated 3:00 a.m. 11.Sep.99.PDT Anguilla Creates Indelible Inc. by Declan McCullagh 12:00 p.m. 7.Sep.99.PDT BRISBANE, Australia -- Alan Jones is an unlikely advocate of tax havens. The veteran British bureaucrat seems visibly uncomfortable talking up the benefits of hiding money where tax collectors can't find it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ See also: Bulletproof Email for the Masses ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "I never thought I'd see the day as a civil servant where I'd be talking about this," he says. But when Jones moved to Anguilla three years ago and became the registrar of corporations in this tiny British protectorate with no personal or corporate income taxes, he overcame his doubts and got laissez-faire religion. "It's my business to allow people to trade anonymously and avoid paying tax," he admits. To lure offshore investors hoping to dodge the IRS or conceal assets from a divorcing spouse, the government recently opened a Web site that lets registered users form a completely official Anguilla-based corporation online. It takes about five minutes and costs US$250. When you're done, you get a certificate of incorporation with a bright red seal on the bottom of the screen that you can print out -- and, believe it or not, that's all you need under Anguillan law to go into business or to open an account at a US bank. "Setting up a company is a matter of filling out a very simple form," Jones said Tuesday at a conference here organized by the John Galt Society. "We're the only registry in the world that uses this sort of system." The idea is that savvy investors can transfer valuable assets such as cars, houses, or bank accounts to an offshore corporation -- where they'll be outside the reach of all but the most determined tax authorities. The form requests no information about directors or shareholders. But how to get, say, cash from a Caribbean bank account back to the United States, undetected? "Stuff it down your trousers and look innocent when you're going through customs," Jones said. "There is no other way of doing this. It is very difficult." So is setting up a truly anonymous bank account in Anguilla, a Caribbean island of 36 square miles and 10,000 people. Like many other governments, Anguilla has adopted so-called Know Your Customer rules that require banks to monitor customers for normal and expected behavior, determine the source of their funds, and alert the authorities to "suspicious" activities. (In the United States, banking regulators abandoned a Know Your Customer plan -- at least temporarily -- after more than 250,000 irate Americans complained that it would invade their privacy.) Jones explains the apparent mixed message by saying Anguilla doesn't want to attract money related to the sale of illegal drugs. But it's perfectly happy being a tax haven. "In Anguilla there are no taxes, which means there are no laws, which means you can't break laws, which means there are no offenses," Jones says. Translation: When the IRS comes knocking, you can bet that the door won't open. Some technology companies have been attracted by Anguilla's hands-off approach. Vince Cate of Offshore Information Services Ltd. moved his Internet company there a few years ago, and Hushmail avoids US restrictions on encryption exports because the site's crypto products were developed in Anguilla. Cryptographers now regularly flock to the annual financial cryptography conference held there every February. To register a company online through the government's Web site, you need to go through an agent (some are helpfully listed). Registration as an agent is free, although Jones said the government must verify your identity. Prospective incorporators also need to retain a local representative, who will typically charge a few hundred dollars for the service. Under Anguillan law, that person or firm is supposed to know the identity of the corporation's directors and shareholders, although privacy rules limit the disclosure except in limited circumstances. A US attorney specializing in offshore trusts and corporations said he welcomed Anguilla's move. "It's a refreshing new venue that hasn't been found," said Morty Ebeling, a Salt Lake City, Utah lawyer who charges clients US$3,000 to register companies in other Caribbean countries. "The Bahamas takes -- if I'm lucky -- 10 days, and it's more costly. But the problem is still, can we overcome the banking situation? If you have to 'Know Your Customer,' anonymity is gone," he said. Copyright � 1994-99 Wired Digital Inc. All rights reserved. ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, Omnia Bona Bonis, All My Relations. Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. Roads End Kris DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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