Offshore jurisdictions change in their effectiveness over time. Once Switzerland was the king. Now they are a mere shadow of the former offshore self. The same is now true for the Bahamas. After changing their offshore banking laws a few years ago, over 80% of their offshore banking deposits went elsewhere.

The Government of Switzerland has changed the Swiss banking laws to such an extent that no one can really take Switzerland serious as an offshore banking jurisdiction. In fact, in spite of the fact that Swiss bankers still have their noses high in the air, with huge initial deposit requirements, the anonymity factor has been largely eliminated.

Most industry analysts now agree that Panama is the country of choice when making an offshore banking and asset protection plan. Government stability combined with strong privacy laws that are enforced in practice, give peace of mind to those choosing Panama.

A corporation domiciled in Panama distinct advantages, not the least being the fact that the share certificates can be in the form of bearer shares. A bank account in Panama can be setup to tie to the anonymous bearer share company only. This combination is as good or even better than the old Swiss numbered bank accounts.

Number bank accounts, sought after by many persecuted jews in the nazi era, drove Switzerland to fame, for its banking secrecy. Today, the numbered bank account is largely illegal because of anti-terrorism legislation around the world (largely pushed by the United States). Fortunately, Panama bearer share companies have come to the rescue. In fact, if you were to wire money to a numbered bank account, your wiring instructions would be a red flag, showing no name for the beneficiary. When using a bearer share corporation, wiring logs will have recorded only the anonymous corporate name, thus the transaction does not appear suspicious.