Here’s another reason why your gold bullion bars and gold/silver coins held for investment purposes should always be under your control – preferably in a foreign safe deposit box, in a reputable institution, to which you and only you have access!

On Monday, a bankruptcy judge  allowed Sovereign Bank to continue the seizure of valuable coins from Tampa’s National Gold Exchange, effectively shutting down what has been one of the world’s largest gold and silver coin wholesalers. NGE was seen as a solid, respectable outfit and was used by a number of people of our acquaintance.

National Gold Exchange sought bankruptcy court protection last Friday. According to reports in the St Petersburg Times, Sovereign Bank alleged fraud the owners of the business, claiming in court that NGE employees had been smuggling boxes of rare coins out the back door of the business to evade creditors. Judge Michael Williamson is quoted as calling the case potentially “serious and troublesome.” NGE were over extended and had been bouncing checks while the owner, who set up the business as a teenager during the 1970s and has made many millions from the coin investment business, continued with multi-million dollar real estate projects.

It’s not yet clear whether any private investors have been affected by this case, but what we do know is that coin dealers typically offer secure storage and safekeeping services as well as consignment for their larger clients. It is therefore likely that private individuals’ coin investments have been prejudiced.

Rare coins have, in our opinion, proven over years to be an excellent hedge against crisis, besides offering numerous advantages to privacy seekers. Unlike gold bullion coins which are priced based on the gold spot price plus or minus a thin spread, rare coins have traditionally been seen as a longer term investment.Basically gold investors either love or hate rare coins. Some people swear by them, while other investors prefer to stick with bullion which is much simpler to price, manage and liquidate.

Whatever view you might take, rare gold and silver coins are definitely a worthy part of an offshore hedging portfolio, but the story above serves as a cautionary tale. Do not just wire money to the dealer and leave your coins in their safe. Despite the inconvenience, it’s better to take physical delivery of any gold – whether coins or bullion – and keep it securely in a safe deposit box.

If you need further information and tips, you’ll find safe deposit recommendations for both Europe (Austria for example) and the Caribbean region in The Gold Report. This report in pdf format by offshore banking expert Peter Macfarlane provides valuable solutions for diversifying your portfolio out of the dollar or euro. You can view sample extracts here, while the report itself  is available free for instant download to Q Wealth Report members. If you are not yet a member, sign up now to gain instant access.

Thoughts for the weekend… by Mountain Vision

As governments are starting to find it more and more difficult to place their debt paper in the market, they have resorted to “monetizing their debt”. Debt monetization in the US has become almost an accepted normalcy. Now, China has proclaimed that it is considering similar measures, while the ECB so far appears to be largely dedicated to resisting the temptation.

Let us be very clear here: Monetizing debt is nothing to take lightly. To most people, the concept of monetizing debt is a sterile term that doesn’t mean much at all. Yet to others, it is possibly perceived as one of the standard tools central banks employ in the process of their job to manage money supply. If you too have that perception, I am unfortunately obliged to destroy your illusions.

Monetizing debt is far from being a normal procedure and it should be. It´s basically equal to a man asking you for a loan. But, since that man is jobless, highly indebted and close to bankruptcy, you decide you’d rather not give him any credit. The man will now have to look elsewhere. And, if there is no credit available to him, he will have to give up on his hope of buying the Porsche that he wanted (but didn’t really need). But if this man was your government, he would simply go into his garage, throw on the printing press and issue himself the credit he needs to buy the Porsche. He already has 10 of them. But heck, if you can print money like that, what is one more Porsche?!?!

Yes, governments are having difficulties to find creditors. It occurs when sovereign debt, i.e. government issued IOUs, are no longer seen as safe and worth the price tag they are being sold at. However, instead of reducing their spending or cutting down on costs, central banks have started to resort to printing yet more money (i.e. MORE DEBT) and then buying their own debt paper FOR THEMSELVES.

How does this affect you? WEALTH PRESERVATION AND ASSET PROTECTION SHOULD BE A THE TOP OF YOUR WISH LIST

“Apart from my love for gambling in Las Vegas and on the Dow, I am an extremely conservative investor and always interested in asset protection and wealth preservation solutions.” This statement by one of our clients portrays very well the two hearts beating inside most investors. Although most do not want to forego the opportunities of investing for growth, it is without a doubt necessary to protect at least part of one’s assets adequately.

A common asset protection solution for many investors in the past has been to set up so-called Asset Protection Trusts (APTs). Several offshore jurisdictions are actively promoting such trusts, which are supposed to protect the APT assets from the settlor´s creditors. The name says it all – this must be the ideal device to protect one’s assets.

However, while offshore trusts used to be attractive devices to achieve better protection from creditors while retaining access to the global investments arena, APT‘s are losing their shine rapidly. Increasingly, jurisdictions around the world are passing laws that create problems with regard to the privacy (a key element of asset protection), safety and flexibility of trust structures.

The laws in countries like Switzerland, Liechtenstein or Luxembourg offer a different method of protecting assets, namely through adequately designed life insurance and annuity contracts. The renowned SWISS ANNUITY, in all of its different formats affords affluent international investors a unique and time-tested wealth planning tool. Properly employed, it offers a wide variety of benefits that range from PRIVACY, TAX DEFERMENT, AND INVESTMENT FREEDOM TO VERY SOLID ASSET PROTECTION.

Further reading: This article appears with kind permission of Mountain Vision, the newsletter of BFI Capital Group in Switzerland. If you would like a free subscription simply go here and say you were sent by the Q Wealth Report. BFI Capital is a leading Swiss investment firm specializing in compliant annuity products for residents of high tax countries and for asset protection services. BFI Capital are also regular contributors to The Q Wealth Report.

A lot of readers have been asking me lately about offshore banking and wealth management opportunities in Singapore. Unquestionably, Singapore has some very sophisticated banks and bankers, and it has developed a well-earned reputation for discretion and confidentiality.

However I found the following observation on an internet discussion group, that I found interesting:

“Switzerland said it would seize UBS AG data to prevent the U.S. Justice Department from pursuing a U.S. court order seeking the identities of 52,000 American account holders in a crackdown on tax evaders.”

“The Swiss government “will use its legal authority to ensure that the bank cannot be pressured to transmit the information illegally, including if necessary by issuing an order taking effective control of the data at UBS that is the subject of the summons,” according to the filing.”

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“The Singapore government is proposing changes to its tax laws to meet demands from the U.S. and Europe to clamp down on bank secrecy.

“Singapore will seek to amend its domestic laws to allow it to extend further cooperation on information exchange” via double-taxation agreements with other countries, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.  It is seeking public comments through July 28 on the amendments.”

So, how can we interpret these two news items?

First of all, they both have to be taken in context. While it’s good to see Switzerland sticking up for its sovereignty, we have always recommended clients against doing business with big, international banks like UBS or Credit Suisse. Iwas hardly surprising that UBS were targeted, given their large US presence that makes them something of a sitting duck. We have numerous articles about the Right Way to do Swiss bank accounts (Cantonal Banks, for example), and our Practical Offshore Banking Guide includes contact details of other recommended sources for private banking in Europe (not necessarily Switzerland).

Singapore is a place we’ve never done a lot of banking business with, and the quotation above goes some way toward explaining our reticence. But we full admit that our geographic bias when it comes to banking is more towards Europe and Latin America. Singapore is certainly convenient for Asians and Australasians, due to time zones, languages and culture. On the other hand, it would have to be up there with Hong Kong at the top of the hit list for say the Aussie tax authorities, who are getting more and more agressive these days.

But is banking in Singapore and Hong Kong such a good idea for Europeans and North Americans? In my view, probably not. Both the EU (particularly the UK) and the USA have quite strong influences there, and neither of these entities are friends of offshore banking. Canadians might be OK in Singapore. If you are interested in banking in Asia, then World Offshore Banks has some intriguing services worth exploring.

Generally, the rule is that convenience is a threat to privacy. If you are looking for the most private, best offshore bank for you, you want to be as far away as possible – both geographically and culturally – from your home country and the places where your fellow countrymen do their offshore banking. Europeans might do well in Latin American havens like Panama and Uruguay. North Americans might do well still in obscure corners of Europe.

Whatever you decide, remember that nothing is for ever. You need to monitor the situation and changes taking place in the world of offshore finance. It pays to work with banks that are nimble enough to help you with this. We can recommend a few. And The Q Wealth Report is here to help you with offshore banking advice and recommendations. If you haven’t yet signed up for our Free Offshore Banking and Asset Protection course, I would recommend you do so!

by Peter Macfarlane for The Q Wealth Report

by Peter Macfarlane for The Q Wealth Report

Anyone looking for currency diversification strategies should consider a multi-currency bank account. Unfortunately this banking product is virtually unknown in North America and the UK, although it is commonplace in some European countries. I say ‘unfortunately’, because this is one of the most simple and convenient tools for anybody looking to diversify out of the dollar. In this article, I’ll explain more about multi-currency accounts and how you can open one.

A multi-currency account is simply a bank account, with a single account number, in which you can hold balances in various different currencies. For example, you log in through internet banking and immediately you see a summary screen showing you have so many US dollars, so many Euros, so many Canadian dollars, so many British pounds etc. Many banks allow you to hold a wide range of currencies, including more exotic currencies. Some European banks now even allow you to hold ounces or grams of gold in your account alongside national currencies.

Advantages to this are numerous:

• For a start, it is clearly a very convenient tool for anyone who is serious about diversifying currency risk. Instead of having lots of different account numbers and logins, you keep everything on one convenient screen. At any time you can easily exchange your balance in one currency (or part of it) for another currency.
• You can wire money in and out in different currencies, to and from anywhere in the world, without the need for currency conversions.  This type of account is therefore ideal if you frequently send and receive money internationally, perhaps dividend payments, or transfers related to an overseas property or family living abroad.
• Banks normally permit you to go overdrawn in one particular currency, provided your overall ‘global’ balance is in the black.
• You can have credit cards and checks linked to your main multi-currency account. Checks can be drawn in any currency. For credit cards, you normally have to choose one particular currency balance that will be debited.

Multi-currency accounts are a good, conservative way to hedge against currency risks or make profits with fluctuations. Unlike ‘forex trading’ your account is not leveraged, so there is not so much potential profit but there is also less potential for loss. This is an easy version of forex trading – for people who don’t want to have their eye on currency rates every minute or even every day.

A multi-currency bank account also beats currency ETFs hands down. With currency ETFs you buy and sell back to your base currency, paying a brokerage fee each time. With multi-currency accounts you hold the actual currency on bank deposit, rather than stock in an ETF.

Anyone who is serious about diversifying outside the dollar needs a foreign bank account –and for many people a multi-currency bank account is the logical choice. But what about the IRS’ Foreign Bank Account Reporting requirements? Simply by opening a personal account like this, you will not affect your tax situation in any way, neither positive nor negative. US persons will be liable to declare foreign bank accounts to the IRS.

However, as outlined above, there are many extra benefits besides tax benefits. One of the greatest advantages, besides the currency diversification out of the dollar, is privacy. Privacy is a basic human right, which is unfortunately disappearing fast when it comes to financial services, where domestic investments are basically an open book these days. Although you might be obliged to report your offshore multi-currency account to the IRS, private parties like credit rating agencies or lawyers who might want to sue you certainly won’t know anything about a private foreign bank account of this nature.

The multi-currency account was not designed as a sophisticated financial instrument. Rather it’s an accident of history, something that developed in smaller European countries like Switzerland, Luxembourg and Andorra where individuals commonly needed bank checking accounts in various currencies. This was especially true in the old days before the euro when Europeans did business in many different national currencies. Not coincidentally, these countries now offer the best international financial services as well as good banking privacy.

However, in modern private banking terms, such an account can provide a basic transactional banking relationship with a foreign bank, onto which you can tag many much more sophisticated wealth management services: for example, foreign currency loans for investing in bond holdings or stock portfolios. Most banks offer such services.

Needless to say, corporations, trusts, foundations and the like can also open multi-currency accounts and in such cases there is an even greater privacy benefit, and in some cases, depending on individual circumstances, tax reporting requirements may also be legally sidestepped.

How, then, can you open a multi-currency account?

Quite a number of banks in some European countries offer multi-currency services by default, as soon as you open account. Unfortunately, especially for US citizens, it has become very difficult to find a foreign bank that will open an account.

It is undoubtedly best if you can travel to meet the bank and open the account. Personal meetings and referrals from known and trusted parties still open a lot of doors that initial research might suggest are closed! It is, however, possible even today to open a multi-currency bank account through the mail.

If you would like further information, including links to specific banks that offer this service, you might like to check out my Practical Offshore Banking Guide, available free to Q Wealth members (just one of many asset protection, offshore banking and wealth creation related benefits). Another major advantage of Q Wealth membership is a free e-mail consultation on your personal situation, in which we can also make referrals to banks where we have working relationships as trusted business introducers.

You can either go sign up now, or if you prefer, sign up first absolutely free and without obligation to receive our five part online course, Secrets of the Super Rich.

In this article: a quick preview of a way to profit from economic turmoil… Canada’s largest ever gold discovery. This is something our Q Bytes subscribers already received details of today. If you are not yet on the Q Bytes list (and remember it’s FREE!) you have a second chance, because we will send out this link again on Saturday. Read on for more details…

The $787 billion approved in February was not enough, it seems! For example Laura Tyson, an  adviser to President Barack Obama, is quoted by Bloomberg as saying it was “a bit too small.” See also this link about Gold Price Speculation.

As I seem to remember there have been quite a few stimulus deals already…  so where somebody got the idea that this is only the second, I don’t know. But anyway, the chatterers are asking for a “Second Stimulus.” Whether this craziness actually goes ahead or not, it is once again highlighting the potential for decline of the dollar – and the consequent rise in Gold.

I see inflation as the most imminent threat to your capital. Allow me to explain. The Monetary Base is made up of currency in circulation, reserves that banks have on deposit with the Fed, and (last but not least) Federal Reserve Notes (FRNs)  stashed away in bank vaults. This is themoney used in our daily transactions, and as such is the most accurate indicator of inflation.

Between 1960 and 2008, the Monetary Base grew at roughly 6% annually, with a spike around 15% just before the turn of the century. But get this: Between September 2008 and April 2009, the Monetary Base exploded to a 110% growth rate. That means cash available to do business more than doubled in the space of just eight months. And since April… well, you get the idea!

With this level of liquidity, prices have to start rising in a big way. In fact, market guru Marc Faber says he is sure that U.S. will soon go into hyperinflation. Meanwhile other experts suggest that the UK is equally on the edge of a serious currency crisis.

What does all this mean? One short, four letter word:  G O L D ! We’ve written many times about Gold and Precious Metals Investing generally, and more specifically in our Members Section about how to buy and hold gold bullion offshore for the ultimate privacy, hedging and completely legal non-reportability.

But today I am not writing about Gold Bullion. While gold is slow, steady and relatively conservative… there is a way to leverage gold investments and make a lot of money very quickly when the gold price soars. I’m talking of course about gold mining stocks. And right now there is a very interesting opportunity that has come my way, from a couple of highly reputable people, both industry insiders, that has a very high potential upside. It’s interesting because it has two upsides… not just the leverage on the soaring gold price, but the fact that it’s currently undervalued and this is a chance to get in on a new gold find at the ground floor.

It’s not every day that the biggest gold find in Canadian history goes on record! But that’s what’s about to happen.

So I believe the time is right to introduce you to a contact who has all the inside information on it… an veteran ‘hands on’ investor of the Canadian mining business. I named him to Q Bytes readers in an email this morning, but will decline to name him in public here.  Suffice to say, if you missed out you still have a chance. Get on our Q Bytes list by midnight Friday, and I’ll make sure you get this information on Saturday.

He is going to tell you a great story… about a “renegade geologist” and his “mom-and-pop” company who are right now sitting on a mother lode of 10.6 million ounces of gold on their mining property. It’s soon going to go on record as the biggest gold find in Canada… the seventh largest in all of North America.

Now I’d like to point out, to those people out there who want everything for free, that good, hands-on type research costs money (just look at my travel bills each year…) So I’m not saying I’m going to give you all the insider research and contact information you need to take advantage of this deal for free. But Q Bytes readers will have the opportunity to read this story and get full information and insight on how this could work,  and very importantly how you could make money in short order. We mailed some info to our readers today, and we will repeat the relevant links on Saturday, to anyone whois a current Q Bytes reader as of midnight tomorrow Friday.  And Q Bytes is completely free and without any obligation whatsoever. You can sign up to Q Bytes here. Don’t miss out!

Late in June another ponzi scheme went belly up. It didn’t receive the same media attention as Madoff’s, probably because it didn’t involve financial institutions as victims. But once again people’s lives have been destroyed by malicious scammers playing on people’s greed. In this case we are talking about Prosperita Group also known as PGI International, run by a shady character named ‘Belinda’ (allegedly one Belinda Eigenmann with addresses in Switzerland and Canada) who has been associated with other similar scams in the past.

It turns out this Prosperita scheme was responsible for all the enquiries we started receiving recently about Hatfield Oak (also known as Hatfield Oak International or Hatfield Oak Savings and Loan) This financial group, with addresses in Panama City, New Zealand and Norway was thesubject of our earlier blog posting entitled Comments about Hatfield Oak International.

Whether Hatfield Oak are directly associated with “Belinda” and the perpetrators of the Prosperita Group scam, we are unable to say. But even if they are innocent of any wrongdoing, they are certainly guilty of very bad judgment in the company they keep.

The scam followed a common pattern: investors were told to keep their involvement in Prosperita Group a secret and not to post anything on the internet, or even mention the name to companies like ourselves offering due
diligence services for offshore investments. They were told that their returns would only be paid out to accounts in a certain financial institution – in this case Hatfield Oak. Victims were therefore instructed to open accounts at
Hatfield Oak, something which of course involved additional upfront fees – about $700 each we hear.

More and more Prosperita people were setting up corporate structures with Hatfield Oak until June 18th, when Prosperita deleted all previous messages, disabled their e-mail and support ticket systems, and posted a message that begins as follows:

Approximately two (2) weeks ago we sat down across the table with one of our banks and handed them our paperwork (your transfer request forms) for the initial test run of €1,000 EUR. During our meeting with this bank we also held a telephone meeting with our other bank whom was going to take care of the so long-awaited draft.

All time lines were set out and all preparations were made accordingly. Everything was indeed going as per plan! … Our Senior Management then flew halfway across the globe to finalise everything.

So far, so good. What happened hereafter is absolutely mind blowing and shocking. Someone whom could not keep their mouth shut has managed to temporarily ruin everything for everyone! Posts started to be made on various forums, which one of our banks found out about. As a result of this the bank has chosen to freeze our accounts and everything has come to a complete standstill.

(If you would like to read the whole thing, it is posted here at World Law Direct.)

This above roughly translates as “the game’s over… we’re keeping the money… adios suckers!”

Richard and I can realistically claim credit for having saved our readers and clients millions over the years by warning them against variations on ponzi scams like Prosperita, Global Pension Plan (GPP), OSOpps, The Hope Foundation. Our motto has always been “return OF your money is more important than return ON your money.”

Unfortunately we have seen millions more stolen by scammers during this time, and many people have found Q Wealth Report too late – only after they have been scammed.

Bank Debenture Trading Programmes, Roll-over programmes, Instant High-Return Investments, Standby Letters of Credit – Do these terms ring a bell? And how about the great new financial terms I was alerted to the other day by a reader – Freshly Cut Securities, issued by a ‘cutting house’ then supposedly ‘Seasoned’ by a Forfaiting Bank and Extra-Seasoned Securities? Of course, if they keep rolling over too much, the eventually end up over-done and somebody gets burned…!

As Richard says in his report HYIP-Hype (available free of charge in our members area):

“Do roll-over trading programmes really exist?” It’s a question I’m often asked.

“Yes,” I answer, “They do. An associate of ours was paid a high sum to ascertain exactly whether they exist, and where they are operated from.”

“Great! How do I get involved?”

“You don’t!”

That is all there is too it. Or to use another cliche, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

We frequently write about scams by the government, and there are certainly plenty of those. The Social Security system, for one, is a big ponzi scheme that simply pays out old investors from new money coming in. The US dollar itself is a giant ponzi scheme too. But at least with government-operated ponzi schemes… well, you have a better idea where you stand! Governments do tend to act predictably.

All I can do is repeat our advice. Richard and I are more than happy to look at and review and investment schemes you are presented with. If it is so secret you are not allowed to tell us about it, well you
can be sure you want to run – not walk – away from it. Anything else we will take a look at and nine times out of ten we can give you an answer on the spot. Likely, we’ve already seen it. If we are really not sure, we have contacts in the serious due diligence world, former police and intelligence officers who are licensed as private investigators and specialize in due diligence on offshore hedge funds and the like. We will get them to work on it for you.

This service is restricted to our members – but if you are looking at this kind of alternative investments, $87 for a
year’s membership is possibly the best value insurance you can buy. Not only can we protect your assets, but we can show you real, legitimate and honest ways to make money too.

In the meantime, if you found this article because you’ve been scammed by Belinda and her Prosperita Group, all I would say is please sign up for our free e-mail newsletter and our ‘Secrets of the Super Rich’ course. It’s all about offshore asset protection and wealth building… and did I tell you it’s free? I think you would find it useful, and it might save you making another expensive mistake.

The author, Peter Macfarlane, is an offshore banking and asset protection consultant, and joint editor of wealth management and offshore wealth building newsletter The Q Wealth Report.

As we’ve seen this week, more and more things are happening around the world – things that should not make us feel particulary comfortable.

The US and the UK have embarked on another major offensive in Afghanistan, with Britain announcing the loss of the highest ranking officer killed in action since the Falklands War.

Meanwhile as bank doors closed across America yesterday night for the fourth of July holiday weekend, the FDIC got busy.  Founders Bank of Worth, IL, was the seventh US bank to be shut down last night, the 52nd this year. Earlier in the night the FDIC had already closed down Millenium State Bank of Texas, First National Bank of Danville, Elizabeth State Bank, Rock River Bank, First State Bank of Winchester, and John Warner Bank. BankImplode.com has the details.

Also this week Feds arrested the founders of Liberty Dollar, a currency they alleged set out to ‘compete’ with the lawful currency of the USA.

Whilst the above certainly doesn’t reinforce confidence in any talk of ‘green shoots’ or even of the survival of the dollar in the short to medium term, at least we can take comfort in the fact that it’s not just the USA that’s against currency competition… China too officially banned this week the use of so-called virtual currency for real world transactions. The Register has the full details of that one. China, of course, controls the US dollar anyway.

The Register has some well-informed readers and the comments section at the bottom of that article is worth reading. We like this comment, simple and to the point:  “All money is virtual, a concept that too few people understand.”  Another reader is “surprised they [the Chinese government] are being quite so restrained over it all. Liberty Dollar and eGold have been raided (the former loosing lots of precious metal to the feds in the process) and criminal charges brought against their owners in the US for daring to offer a stable alternative to fiat national currencies.”

Meanwhile you’ve got to admire the brass of our public health officials who all gathered in Cancun this week to talk about Swine flu. According to a Yahoo news article filed by Associated Press World Health Officials Tackle Swine Flu Challenges, “Mexican officials wanted the meeting held in the Caribbean resort city of Cancun – where tourism has plunged – to highlight the country’s success in controlling its epidemic with a five-day national shutdown of schools and businesses in May.”

The UK, according to the above article, is expecting to have 100,000 cases of Swine flu daily by the end of August, though they admit that many of the people who are infected won’t even know it.  “It seems like a lot of mathematical modeling and not too much common sense,” said John Oxford, a professor of virology at St. Bart’s and Royal London Hospital, is quoted as saying in the Yahoo/AP article. Still, it’s enough justification for the UK to buy 60 million doses of Tamiflu with taxpayers’ money.

With that, we will leave our American cousins with best wishes for their holiday weekend and try to forget about economic woes to enjoy a few days with family. And belated greetings for Canada Day!