Peter Macfarlane reports on Offshore Banking, Offshore Investing and Asset Protection for Q Wealth Report.

The FDIC yesterday shut down seven more banks in five US states, bringing to 37 the number of bank failures in the U.S. so far this year, on top of the 140 that collapsed in 2009. The news was particularly bad for depositors of Advanta Bank in Utah, as regulators were unable to find another bank to take it over. Therefore anyone with deposits exceeding the FDIC insurance level of $250,000 loses the excess.

These Friday afternoon bank raids have become commonplace by now. What’s interesting, however, is that regulators, quoted by AP, are now saying that “The pace of bank seizures this year is likely to accelerate in coming months, as losses mount on loans made for commercial property and development.”

It was not many months ago here in Q Bytes that we warned you about the coming US commercial property bust, which will make the residential/sub-prime crisis look tiny in comparison.

The FDIC is planning to spend about $100 billion bailing out banks over the next four years. But  get this: they will only deal in future with smaller bank failures. Legislation now in the senate proposes to set up a completely different system to cover failures of big, complex financial institutions. Besides, for reasons we’ve written about frequently including in the latest Q Wealth Report, we believe $100 billion will be nowhere near enough. The government printing presses will soon be rolling again, leading to further devaluations.

Our intention here at Q Wealth is not to scare you. In fact, we have always said that with careful planning and a little thought, there are numerous ways you can profit from the crisis… turn the crisis to your advantage.

First of all, our advice is to reduce dollar exposure. If you have savings, the first thing you need is a simple multi-currency bank account that allows you to switch currencies online. That way you maintain flexibility and privacy. Very few if any US banks offer multi currency accounts, so you’ll probably need to go to an offshore bank. While we do believe FDIC insurance will protect the dollar amounts in US bank accounts, what is the value of having the same amount of dollars in five years, if you can only buy half as much with those dollars?

Fortunately, the best offshore banks are a much safer place to stash your money. If your know how to choose an offshore bank carefully, you can avoid exposure to risky business practices which are bringing down so many US banks. And whilst a million will get you better service in a different class of bank, offshore banking is not just for millionaires. There are good offshore banks out there where you can test the waters by opening foreign currency accounts with $500 or less. Another myth, also untrue, is that US citizens cannot open offshore accounts. Full details of some of these recommended banks, including  our list of offshore banks and contact information, can be found in our free Practical Offshore Banking Guide 2010 available to members.

The last laugh, however, is with the real estate speculators – whom many blame for causing the crisis. No matter what happens to financial markets, people will always need a place to live. When there is ‘blood in the streets’ there are bargains around. Our Q Wealth Expert and Real Estate Guru Thomas Bolther has recently said he believes it’s time to BUY US real estate. Real estate investors who have followed Thomas’s advice from past Q Wealth events and stayed liquid are now set to make a killing. Thomas will be writing more about this on his own blog over coming weeks, at bolther.com He’s also confirmed as a scheduled speaker at our event in Ireland in September (see below)

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!