I am often asked about how the US and Panama will make it harder to move money here and what the IRS may start doing with Expats who have accounts here.  Here is one of many along these lines:

Question:

I thought you might have info on something in the NOv. 3-9th. issue of the Visitor.

“Panama requested, from the OECD, a supplemental report to update all the actions that the country has taken from May 2010 to the effective implementation of tax information exchange”

This sounds like something I would like to know about, but I really don’t understand what this is saying, any idea’s?

This follows on the heels of a message sent to me about current doings in Switzerland re: tax evasion and tax havens and turning over thousands of names of U.S. citizens. AND their money!

Answer:

You bring up an interesting point, but unless the US presents a case to Panama that it has belief of tax evasion, the banks are unlikely to just roll over.  They will however provide information and the compliance departments are working overtime to insure that they abide by the treaty (see this link for the agreement http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/28/49/46569716.pdf )

That said, if you are a gringo and want to open up an account with $5,000 good luck.  If you try to wire $500,000 here to fund a deal, you better be a customer of HSBC in the US and here as most banks now routinely kick the wire back, rejecting the fund transfer.  However, if you are Panamanian as I am, you can go to a bank locally and start up a process to open a foreign account outside Panama as I have done and transfer some money there.  It would never to spread you money around these days as nowhere is safe from the institutions that may fail and governments that may take drastic measures to confiscate wealth or make it difficult to transfer it offshore.

Very best regards,

Tom

PS:  I think that Panama made the request to the OECD because Sarkozy made a comment at the G-20 meeting recently that Panama was a tax haven.  Ricardo Martinelli is headed to France and plans a meeting for a formal apology and he will probably refer to this recent request.  As my friend Don Winner would say, time to kick some French butt!!