So let’s say you have a small amount of cash and you want to buy gold. In Panama City you can buy gold coins in a number of cambios (in Spanish: casas de cambio). One, for example, is PanaCambios on Via España in the financial heart of Panama City. They are located next to Plaza Concordia, behind the big Adams clothing store. They are conveniently situated just a short walk from business hotels like the Riande Continental, El Panama, the Marriott and The Executive Hotel.

You’ll find, however, that the spreads (difference between buying and selling prices) are quite high. You can usually negotiate a better price for larger quantities, but remember if you enter or leave the country with more than $10,000 you are obliged to fill out a customs declaration. This applies equally to gold coins.

What gold coins can you actually buy? Typically Maple Leafs, Gold Eagles, Krugerrands or Mexican Centenarios. Through the 1970s and 1980s however, Panama produced its own Gold Balboa coins in denominations of $500 and $100.  These are also sometimes available, as are Silver Balboas, now a collectors’ item.

If you are interested in buying more serious quantities of gold bullion in Panama, contact us for a referral to reputable and licensed gold dealers. We can also arrange transactions in many other worldwide! Please use our contact form to reach us.

By the way, if you are interested in further reading on this subject, there’s an interesting commentary called “The Trial of Gold” by David Galland of “Big Gold” experts Casey Research, recently submitted to the Free Articles area at Q Wealth Report.

“Just today we’ve seen the dollar dipping once again into its downward spiral,” says the Q Wealth offshore banking guru Peter Macfarlane, who is in Panama just this week at the Recipes for Success event in Panama City. “Don’t be misled by short term booms!” Peter also offers up further evidence on his blog that the big government’s conspiracy to control money is breaking. It makes interesting reading for those of us who want to study international currencies, particularly Latin American ones, and their relationship to the price of gold.

What does this mean for you personally? Do you have a plan?

Are your finances and savings at risk? Or are you going to be one of those who comes out of the crisis not just unscathed but with big profits?

If you don’t already have a detailed road map for the coming years, the time to start thinking about it is right now. You need to talk it through likeminded, free thinking individuals, and experts who have dedicated their lives to the concepts of personal freedom, financial freedom and privacy.

I won’t beat about the bush. I think the solution for you is to come to Panama next month and sit down with members of The Q Experts Panel. In a luxury resort, in a pampering atmosphere behind closed doors, you will participate in high level discussions that will cut through the lies in the mass media.

We planned this event some months ago for the week after the elections, and recent events have shown that we could not have timed it better. Things may be looking bad now, but they are set to get a lot worse before they get better.

The reason for writing to you today is that I consider this event so useful and so essential for Q Wealth readers, that we have decided to extend the early bird discount to anyone who signs up before next Friday. That means for just $3,497 per couple (instead of the normal price of $5000), you will get a working week full of expert advice in a small group tailored to your situation. There is a further discount for singles and for VIP members. . You will get to meet at least 4 members of the Q Experts Panel, and we expect to have 2 more pending final confirmation.

I’ve been to quite a number of events like this over the years and every one is different. The one thing they all have in common is that, besides the regular program that you can read about at www.qwealthevents.com, everybody gets substantial fringe benefits out of these events. In my view, these fringe benefits are probably the most valuable aspect of the whole event. It’s sometimes hard to express this in words, because I just don’t know what will happen. That is the fun of putting a group of free thinking individuals into a melting pot for a week! There is just no way to put a monetary value on participating in this.

I just cannot tell you what it will be this time, but believe me the people you meet might be a little offbeat but they are the best brains in the business. They are people who really understand the geopolitical situation, economics, wealth psychology and real health. Some of them are TV presenters. Others are very private people who rarely appear in public. That is why the event is by invitation only and we won’t tell you exactly where it is until you sign up. We are not inviting Big Brother!

You will meet people with practical experience who have been there, done that. Just one idea, tip or inspiration could make you hundreds of times the investment involved in attending. You can invite these people aside for a coffee or a cold beer and sit down to chat with them informally about your own ideas and plans, and get feedback from different experts as you formulate your own personal plan.

One thing I feel is very important to point out is that this is a small group. You will get to know everybody on first name terms and make new friends – individuals who think like you. This is a world apart from mass market “offshore” seminars in Panama where you will just meet people who are trying to sell you something – be it real estate, offshore structures or rare stamp collections as investments.

This could be the right opportunity for you that is coming along at just the right time. That is the reason for this special bulletin. You’ve probably already read about this event but maybe you have not thought seriously about attending.

We didn’t just choose Panama at random. For one thing, it’s easy to get to. Plenty of direct flights from the Americas, and from Amsterdam and Madrid. Another thing, it’s a business friendly offshore and retirement haven. You’ll see how the Panamanian real estate bubble is bursting, and how there are great opportunities there too. You’ll have the chance to visit brokerage houses, banks and credit card providers and open accounts there on the spot if you wish.

Some people are cutting back on spending at the moment. They should be! But now is not the time to cut back on essential things. This is not a holiday or excursion. It is an investment in yourself, that should pay high returns over the coming years. Your life is your responsibility, not the kind of thing that comes with guarantees. Once you acquire this unique knowledge and experience, it is up to you to do something with it. But we will help you make concrete plans, goals and strategies for this.

How can you sign up for this event and qualify for the discount? Either go to www.qwealthevents.com and sign up online, or email me direct (info@petermacfarlane.net) or call our co-coordinator Dana Parkinson today. Call our London office at +44 20 7855 2563 or toll free from the US and Canada at 1-800-583-1637. If you have any questions before signing up, don’t hesitate to call.

This Special Offer closes definitively at close of business London time on Friday 17th. We need this cut-off time to make accommodation arrangements. Don’t miss out – sign up today!

It is relatively common for a Panamanian real estate brokerage firm to offer free corporations for the buyers of properties they are selling. Frequently they have an in-house attorney or their own law firm (in other words, that is an in house lawyer masquerading as a third party law firm) doing the corporate administration and formation work.

The real estate is then titled into the name of the corporation. The corporation has nominee directors, and a resident agent who is tied to the real estate company that sold you the development through their lawyer. The lawyer forming the corporation does not have an arms length relationship. There is a definite conflict of interest in that the realtor is the one who is paying the lawyer not you. All the lawyer cares about is seeing that the real estate deal closes and the developer gets paid.

What if you need to start a lawsuit concerning the real estate because something was not done correctly? Now having his lawyer do the work on the corporation that owns the real estate that your hard earned money paid for does not seem like such a good idea, does it?

Second Year Fees - A decent price for second year fee is $1500 including three nominees, resident agent, resident address and the $300 tax. Some of these law firms charge $5000 or more for the second year fees and that is how they make their money. So the free corporation may not be that free.

Free Immigration Work from Broker - Again be careful if there is a dispute over the real estate why do you want your broker or their lawyer to have involvement with your immigration case. What if a lawsuit is necessary regarding the real estate?

Always get an independent lawyer that represents you without any conflicts of interest. Our firm does not sell any real estate and we are proud to independent.

More and more PTs are making a quiet, but very comfortable, living these days through online trading. Quite a number  of our clients are doing so right now. As their skills and knowledge develop, they are requiring more and more sophisticated services - to create more and more wealth!

The good news is that technology and services are keeping up with demand. Whether you want to be an active day trader or simply maintain full control of your passive investments in a private, offshore and tax-free environment, there are good solutions out there which will meet your needs.

Unquestionably, the best way to benefit from offshore trading is to be offshore yourself. To move your ass, as our American friends would say. To disappear effectively from the records of your home country’s government, buy or rent a desirable home in a country with lower living costs, hook up to the internet and an online trading account, and Bob’s Your Uncle!

But if your circumstances don’t allow you to ‘disappear’ just yet, there are still ways you can send your wealth offshore and let it accumulate tax-free. Here’s a simple 3-step plan…

1. The first, and most basic, step is to form an offshore company through which to operate. That way, you don’t have to do any offshore business in your own name. You don’t need anything particularly sophisticated here - just an offshore company from a respectable jurisdiction which can be incorporated for well under $2000. Depending on your personal circumstances and goals, there are various ‘optional extras’ which may or may not be useful, such as nominee directors. Bearer shares are one way to keep ownership a secret, whilst keeping ownership in trust is a more viable and secure option these days where higher profile businesses (read: larger amounts of money) are involved.

2. A secure, encrypted internet connection via an offshore proxy server is also highly recommended for anybody who values their privacy. This allows you to connect to your online bank or broker from anywhere in the world - with two big differences.

First, it prevents the authorities, or anyone else for that matter, in the country where you are physically located, from monitoring your internet connection and snooping on your online activity.

Secondly, it prevents your bank/broker from tracking your physical location via IP address - after all, I can see no legitimate reason why your bank needs to track where you are at any given time. You’ve nothing to hide, but then you’ve nothing to shout about either.

There’s a third advantage to using a proxy server too - your online account can be secured by limiting access to just one fixed IP address, which can be that of your proxy. This is the kind of security banks use between themselves, but is impractical for most home users because you are allocated a different IP address each time you log on. So the proxy adds to your online security.

3. A regular bank account is pretty much a necessity for any company. You can use the bank account as a passthrough for moving funds in and out of the brokerage account, and you can order a debit or credit card for easy access to your funds. This should be a secure and efficient bank in a respectable jurisdiction, but outside your home country. If you’re not the travelling type, then you need to find a bank which will open the account by mail. Whilst there’s technically no minimum deposit or balance, depending on the bank you choose, you should reckon on keeping around $10,000 or equivalent in the current account. Besides keeping the bankers happy, these funds will be available to you via the plastic in case you need access to your funds in a hurry.

With the above three steps in place, you need the actual mother lode trading account. In selecting that, we need to look carefully at the facilities you need versus what is available on the offshore market. Buying and selling stocks and shares on major markets is relatively simple. But if your investment and research skills dictate that you need to trade a specific commodity on a specific market in real time, then the search for the right brokerage becomes more complicated.

As an example of what’s available, I’ve recently been working with and referring clients to a European-owned brokerage house in Panama which welcomes accounts from offshore companies and focuses on cutting edge technology. They offer, for example, from a stocks and options point of view:

• US American Stock Exchange
• US NASDAQ
• US New York Stock Exchange
• UK London Stock Exchange
• France Euronext Paris
• Germany Xetra
• Switzerland Swiss Exchange
• Switzerland Virt-X

And many other International Exchanges available by online chat or telephone.

For Forex and Commodities trading they offer:

• Live trading of over 120 FX crosses on spreads as low as 2 pips
• Leveraged stocks from 19 exchanges around the world with CFDs
• Easy investing in stock indices with CFD Index-trackers
• Invest in Gold and Silver on live tradable prices
• Hundreds of online futures contracts on low commissions

I should add that this brokerage house is tried and tested, and works well. I’ve personally met the owners and they are good people.

If you don’t want to bother with any of that, we can arrange managed accounts with a conservative, through to a leveraged, growth program. These would need an investment of around $100,000 minimum. I tend to point clients in the direction of European asset managers (Austrian or Swiss) if they require portfolio management rather than sophisticated online access.

In order to open accounts, brokerages will, of course, need the standard due diligence package of a financial statement, notarised passport copy, and bank and professional references. Can this be avoided? The answer is yes, it is usually possible to disguise the beneficial owner through the use of trust arrangements, while still allowing online access for the day trading and via debit card. But this does bring with it a new set of complications and costs. So clients should seriously consider whether it is really necessary.

For the “average Joe” who wants to move a middle-class-sized portfolio offshore, the protection offered by taking an offshore company with nominee directors and bearer shares, then mixing and matching accounts across several jurisdictions, all of which offer statutory bank secrecy, is more than enough. Bank references may be addressed “to whom it may concern” so there is no direct paper trail.

The issue of “paper trails” brings us of course the question of how to move the money offshore in the first place. If you are starting out offshore trading with a seed capital of $10,000 - $20,000 that you are planning to grow, then it’s no major problem. If you have hundreds of thousands to move, that would be better handled via a personal consultation.

Made-to-measure solutions are always available and, at the opposite end of the spectrum, there’s always the option of going it alone and setting up bits and pieces direct with different providers. If you were to choose to do everything through my firm, by way of example, I could offer the following package deal:

• Panama corporation
• Nominee directors
• Bearer shares
• Registered office
• Power of attorney to beneficial owner
• European bank account in EUR, USD and other major currencies
• Internet banking
• Debit or credit card
• Secure offshore tunneling proxy, including support
• One of the following:
• o Opening of offshore trading account with specs, as above
• o Opening of European-managed account at a private bank

Total package price: $4,995

Ongoing costs after first year for renewal of nominee services, payment of offshore fixed tax, registered office and secure tunneling service: $1,900

If you would like to order the above package, or if you have any questions about it, please contact the Peter Macfarlane at the Q Wealth Report office. If you would like to order an in-depth personal consultation (by email or at a personal meeting) with Peter Macfarlane, ask for the appropriate referral.

What do we mean by bearer shares? The person in actual possession of the shares is considered the actual owner of the corporation and the bank account, creating an excellent level of privacy for the parties involved.

Of course there has to be someone as a signatory on the company bank accounts… but within every corporation there can be more than one person with signing authority. Being a signatory on an account is not proof that the corporation funds are your funds.

Technically, the owner of the bank account is the corporation and not the people with signatory privileges. Panama’s banking secrecy laws are what make it an appealing place for offshore companies to be formed.

Lets Take a look at some of those laws:

Article 74 of Decree 238 makes it so the banking commission of Panama can’t conduct an investigation on personal banking clients. Additionally, if it uncovers any information during normal operations they aren’t allowed to reveal that information to any person or authority. They may only do so if they are subpoenaed by a Panama court. Violators of this law are subject to another law which imposes fines or jail time on the guilty party.

Article 65 of Cabinet Decree 238 regulates the manner in which the National Banking Commission can gain access to banking information and documents. The law states that they may only inspect the banks general books and that they may not single out individual bank accounts. That law covers both deposits and securities at the bank, and this to can only be broken by a court order.

Article 170 states that any person with access to confidential banking information through either occupation or activity, that uses this information without the consent of the involved parties, in a way that causes someone damages, they can be punished and possibly imprisoned. That sentence can be anywhere from ten months to two years, it may include monetary fines and they will also be barred from practicing their profession for a two year period.

Regardless of where you bank today there are three reasons that can lead to your banking secrecy being violated. Those three reasons are severe criminal activity such as terrorist funding, money laundering and drug smuggling.

In Panama tax evasion is not considered a serious crime. There is no court in Panama that will allow your banking secrecy to be violated for tax related violations unless a case is brought that can show this money was also involved in a serious crime.

Panama is a member of the mutual legal assistance treaty. After 9/11 it is required that all jurisdictions who move funds to and from North America and Europe be a part of this treaty. When you analyze this treaty it does not threaten any of the strict secrecy laws set fourth in Panama.

The following are the basics of the treaty. The activity in which an investigation is being conducted must be a crime in both countries. If a country wants information they have to prove they have no other alternative method of obtaining it and they must also show they can not go fourth with legal action without the information. When information is requested it has to be specific. They can’t just be fishing for information.

They must also first file a criminal case in its court system on a national level, which ensures that smaller cases are not covered under the treaty. If another country meets all of the conditions, the request is pushed through diplomatic channels and then Panama must consider the information request.

Panama values its banking secrecy laws and they may ask for more information before they break the laws they hold with such esteem. It is not uncommon for Panama to deny an information request since they need to feel the matter is serious on their end to bring action against a person. They do have the right to refuse a request within the aforementioned guidelines.

Panama does not in any way shape or form participate in any tax treaties. They also do not acknowledge tax related investigations as criminal situations. Panama will never disclose a person’s financial information for any reason relating to a tax issue. Tax evasion is considered a civil matter in Panama. In Panama you must commit a serious crime to risk your financial privacy.

The Complete Package includes:

• Panama Family Foundation

A foundation is a sophisticated asset protection and estate tax planning tool as it does not have owners, and bypasses probate, estate and inheritance taxes and duties. A foundation legally speaking owns its own assets and operates on behalf of designated beneficiaries, who do not appear on public record. In fact the beneficiaries will be completely private. Only the lawyer and bank will know who they are.

• Panama Corporation (one of the assets of the Family Foundation)

The Corporation is the “visible” arm of the structure, which owns the investments and assets. The Corporation will be the name which appears on shareholder registers etc. The bank account will be opened in the name of the corporation, and it may also open other bank and brokerage accounts worldwide.

• Panama virtual office

In order to ensure a real verifiable presence internationally, we provide a street address and a Panama City phone number where a secretary will take messages for the Corporation.

• European bank account (with cards)

This is a full service, multi-currency account at a respectable and discreet Western European bank (we currently work with two different banks)

• Secure internet banking

All accounts include secure and sophisticated internet banking.

• 3 x anon cash cards with wire facilities

This very interesting part of the structure is not linked to the bank account. You can use these cards to withdraw cash from almost any ATM machine worldwide. You are free to give them to other people, or keep them as backups, or for times you need to withdraw more than the daily limit applied to individual cards.

• Passthrough Trust Account

This allows you to transfer funds initially into the structure, without creating a link from your onshore account to the international account(s).

• Secure computing setup (VIP support)

This set-up can be up and running in as little as ten minutes and encrypts and protects all your internet communications against snoops.

If purchased individually, the total price of these services is estimated at $12,500.

As a Special International Traveler’s Package, we offer it for $7,800.

In order to set up a consultation, please initially contact us here.