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An offshore bank is a bank located outside the country of residence of the depositor, typically in a low-tax jurisdiction (or tax haven) that provides financial and legal advantages. These advantages typically include: *greater privacy (see also bank secrecy, a principle born with the 1934 Swiss Banking Act) *little or no taxation (i.e. tax havens) *easy access to deposits (at least in terms of regulation) *protection against local, political, or financial instability While the term originates from the Channel Islands being "offshore" from the United Kingdom, and most offshore banks are located in island nations to this day, the term is used figuratively to refer to such banks regardless of location, including Swiss banks and those of other landlocked nations such as Luxembourg and Andorra. Offshore banking has often been associated with the underground economy and organized crime, via tax evasion〔http://www.irs.gov/uac/Offshore-Tax-Avoidance-and-IRS-Compliance-Efforts〕 and money laundering; however, legally, offshore banking does not prevent assets from being subject to personal income tax on interest. Except for certain people who meet fairly complex requirements,〔Such as perpetual travelers〕 the personal income tax of many countries〔For example, the United States, France and Malaysia. In other countries, it makes no difference so long as you are resident and domiciled there (for example, the United Kingdom)〕 makes no distinction between interest earned in local banks and those earned abroad. Persons subject to US income tax, for example, are required to declare, on penalty of perjury, any foreign bank accounts—which may or may not be numbered bank accounts—they may have. Although offshore banks may decide not to report income to other tax authorities, and have no legal obligation to do so as they are protected by bank secrecy, this does not make the non-declaration of the income by the tax-payer or the evasion of the tax on that income legal. Following the 9/11 attacks, there have been many calls for more regulation on international finance, in particular concerning offshore banks, tax havens, and clearing houses such as Clearstream, based in Luxembourg, being possible crossroads for major illegal money flows. Defenders of offshore banking have criticised these attempts at regulation. They claim the process is prompted not by security and financial concerns, but by the desire of domestic banks and tax agencies to access the money held in offshore accounts. They cite the fact that offshore banking offers a competitive threat to the banking and taxation systems in developed countries, suggesting that (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ==Offshore banking comparison by jurisdictions== To obtain a view on the most popular destinations for people willing to open their offshore bank accounts, a stable political and economical jurisdiction is a criteria for opening bank accounts in (well-established offshore banks ). In terms of offshore banking centres and in terms of total deposits, the global market is dominated by two key jurisdictions: Switzerland and the Cayman Islands. A letter by the District Attorney of New York, Robert M. Morgenthau, published by ''The New York Times'', states that the Cayman Islands has 1.9 trillion United States dollars on deposit in 281 banks, including 40 of the world’s top 50 banks, although official statistics published by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority suggest the amounts held on deposit are actually around 1.5 trillion U.S.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Banking Statistics (Cayman) )〕 Numerous other offshore jurisdictions also provide offshore banking to a greater or lesser degree. In particular, Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man are known for their well regulated banking infrastructure.〔Trust Law in Wealth Management and Estate Planning, p.429〕 Some offshore jurisdictions have steered their financial sectors away from offshore banking, as difficult to properly regulate and liable to give rise to financial scandal.〔For example, despite being the largest offshore jurisdiction by some distance in terms of number of incorporated offshore vehicles, the British Virgin Islands has only ever licensed seven offshore banks. This compares against hundreds in Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, and (third in number of total banking licences) the Bahamas.〕 Weakened bank secrecy Since starting to survey offshore jurisdictions on April 2, 2009, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) at the forefront of a crackdown on tax evasion, will not object to governments using stolen bank data to track down tax evasion in offshore centers, such as in the 2008 Liechtenstein tax affair. The recent sharing of confidential UBS bank details about 285 clients suspected of willful tax evasion by the United States Internal Revenue Service was ruled a violation of both Swiss law and the country’s constitution by a Swiss federal administrative court. Nevertheless, OECD has removed 18 countries, including Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg, from a so-called "grey list" of nations that did not offer sufficient tax transparency, and has re-categorized them as "white list" nations. Countries that do not comply may face sanctions. A notable exception is Panama, whose canal is currently needed by all Western nations, provides it with a unique type of immunity to international pressure. Given the enlargement of the canal to accommodate larger shipping, it is unlikely in the foreseeable future that Panama would likely succumb to international pressure toward transparency. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「offshore bank」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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