Offshore Accounts: Bahamas International Banking

The Bahamas, formally the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, are an independent member of the British Commonwealth since 1973 and have one of the oldest parliamentary democracies in the Western. The population is approximately 255,000 centered principally on the capital city of Nassau, on the island of New Providence.

Bahamas

Geographically, the Bahamas are a chain of around 700 islands which form an archipelago placed in the Atlantic Ocean, from the Southeast of the United Stated to the coast of Cuba. The Islands have excellent communications with a modern telephone system and convenient flight links to most major international air routes.

Other than being one of the most attractive tourist destinations, the Bahamas has been a protected offshore banking center for several decades, boasting one of the most popular and successful offshore banking system worldwide. Generally, the Bahamas’ offshore banks offer significant lower service charges and much higher interest rates on deposits than banks in other offshore jurisdictions. They also permit their customers to make transactions in world’s major currencies and be charged under considerably lower rates than onshore banks would have charged.

Bahamas Islands

Actually, the Bahamas has an excellent range of international banks in the islands, with currently 396 banks holdings licenses under the Banks and Trust Companies Regulations Act 1965. The Bahamas legislation allows establishment of international business companies and provision of offshore banking services for them. International investment in Bahamas has been very intensive and providing financial services to international business creates over 15% of Bahamian GDP (Gross Domestic Product).

Banking secrecy in the jurisdiction remains one of the most attractive features on offer to anyone considering opening an offshore bank account in the Bahamas.  The laws governing the maintenance of secrecy can only be overridden with a court order from the Supreme Court.  It has been promote as the best tax haven for offshore bank accounts indeed, where deposits are not taxed and the exchange of foreign information is free, except for treaties covering mutual assistance in cases of drug trafficking.