Anna Nicole Smith Estate. Better In The Bahamas?

Just got done reading a news letter from www.sovereignsociety.com. Their legal counsel and senior writer is Bob Bauman. Bauman’s most recent article is “Is It Really Better In The Bahamas”?

If you are not familiar with the Sovereign Society, the quickest way to describe them is as a group of experts that sell advice, discoveries and observations concerning wealth attainment, preservation and privacy. Most of their offerings concern “offshore” as in not in the United States.

Anna Nicole fans may be interested to know some facts concerning U.S. treaties with the Bahamas.

Back in a Simpler Time – Pre 2000

Once upon a time, The Bahamas was known as one of the primary offshore tax havens. The Bahamas boasted strict financial and banking secrecy. It still imposes little or no taxes on foreign investors and bank account holders – but other things have changed.

Four years ago next month, I got a reaction in the Bahamian news media with an article in this space entitled: “The Bahamas: 51st State?”

We were flattered that the Bahamians active in the offshore financial community cared enough about The Sovereign Society’s opinion to take note of that particular A-Letter.

What caused a stir was my opinion about The Bahamas parliament approval of a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) with the United States in December, 2003. This was the very treaty that The Bahamas had resisted for many decades.

The TIEA allows the exchange of tax information about Americans with Bahamian accounts. Plus, it applies to all criminal and civil tax matters. I went on to say that the TIEA was another nail in the coffin for The Bahamas lasting as an offshore financial center for Americans.

During the 20th century, these islands off the southeast coast of America blossomed into a major tax and asset protection haven. It was especially useful for citizens of the nearby United States. This island nation offered foreigners tax exemption. The Bahamas also had a series of well-crafted laws allowing international business corporations (IBCs), trusts, offshore banks and insurance – all wrapped in maximum financial privacy, strictly protected by law.

Then in December 2000, the Free National Movement (FNM) government, (currently back in power since May 2007 elections), passed what some locals called the “11 bills of Christmas.” In just one month, they managed to seriously weaken offshore financial and banking laws – especially in all aspects of privacy.

The government wrote many of these laws with the advice of U.S. government “advisors” from the U.S. Treasury and the IRS who were all sent to pressure the Nassau government.

You can read the entire article at http://www.sovereignsociety.com/offshore2363.html