We’ve previously mentioned Das Safe, the well established safe deposit facility in Vienna, as a place where you can open an anonymous safe deposit box to store gold bullion, important documents etc.

But we always warn you not to keep all your eggs in one basket. Readers in the Americas have often asked us about safe deposit facilities in Panama City, Latin America’s financial hub… but up until the beginning of this year there was no such facility. The safe deposit box business in Panama was controlled by established Panamanian banks, who required clients to go through a bueaucratic account opening process and then join a waiting list for a safe deposit box to become free.

That’s all changed with a new safe deposit facility in Panama City, Panama that opened earlier this year. Peter Macfarlane recently visited this facility and was given a detailed tour by the owners. And, he says, it compares very favourably with other safe deposit boxes worldwide. Peter, for example, takes the credit for having suggested putting shredders in the private viewing rooms, a suggestion which management immediately adopted.

Best Safety Boxes is located on the ground floor of the Credicorp Bank building. For those of you who know Panama City, that’s the big green building on 50th Street (Panama’s “Wall Street”), near the Global Bank Building. It’s in the best area of town, and being surrounded by banks make the security excellent. Best Safety have their own top notch security. They offer five different box sizes ranging from $400 per year to $1250.

Now here’s a hot privacy tip! You cannot rent safe deposit boxes anonymously in Panama, but you can do the next best thing: a Panama corporation with nominee directors can rent a box for you. Provided you are present when contracting the box, you (not the nominees who sign the contract) would get the secret code necessary to enter the vault, as well as the two physical keys necessary to enter the box.

If you are interested in getting a Panama corporation with a box set up, contact Peter Macfarlane directly, via the Q Wealth Offices.  If you would simply like to rent a box in your personal name, drop by the facility or contact Scott LeRoy for an appointment

It’s also worth noting that located at the entrance to the safe deposit facility is a casa de cambio (money exchange house) that aims to offer good rates on currency exchange in Panama. Because the country uses the US dollar in daily circulation, not too many people need to exchange money in Panama. But when they do – for example Europeans who arrive in Panama with Euros, Pounds Sterling or Swiss Francs – the rates of exchange have typically been terrible. So much so that you will see signs saying “Compro Euros” (We buy Euros) fixed to utility posts all over Panama City – but this kind of black market exchange is risky. We are delighted, therefore, that the people at the Best Currency Exchange are trying to break this mould by offering the best rates for Euros etc.

Editor’s note: the above article was originally published in Q Bytes, our free weekly e-mail newsletter. If you would like to receive more privacy, wealth and freedom tips like this every weekend, please be sure to sign up for your free subscription here.

Asset protection strategies and products offered by international banks in the various offshore tax havens around the globe don’t differ that much in substance. However, there are some interesting and powerful products you might come across in the offshore banking arena that are very different from what your domestic bank offers.

Here are five privacy-oriented offshore banking services that you might be able to achieve to further your freedom, wealth and privacy!
1. Offshore Safe Deposit Boxes

A safe deposit box is a locked box reserved for you in the vault of your bank. In your safe deposit box you might keep documents such as physical stocks or bonds, or for small, high value goods that they want to keep safe… like valuable coins, jewelry or maybe even a stash of federal reserve notes! You might keep these items for pure investment purposes – say gold bullion or uncut rough diamonds – or for more sentimental reasons (your great-grandmother’s wedding ring).

Increasingly, non-bank safe deposit facilities are becoming available. These are good because they are not reportable financial accounts – you don’t have to tell the tax man about them. Our contact in Panama reports a new safe deposit facility opening there, for example. Others, for example in Austria and in the Caribbean, are identified and reviewed in our free (to registered members) report How to Buy and Hide Gold Bullion Offshore.
2. Multi-Currency Accounts vs. Multiple Currency Accounts

Multi-currency accounts are quite common in offshore banks. These are very flexible since they permit you to keep many different currencies under the same account number. When you log in to the internet banking interface of your offshore bank account,  you will see different balances… X amount of US dollars, Y amount of Euros, Z of Yen etc.

Other banks also allow you to hold balances in different currencies, but allocate you a different account number for each currency. The end result is basically the same, but you will have a series of account numbers and you must take care not to confuse them. For example, if you send Yen to the Canadian dollar account number, the bank will assume you want to convert that balance to CAD and will do so automatically.

3. Precious Metals Storage

Some offshore banks offer a basic service where you can buy gold and simply store it in your safe deposit box. This certainly works, but may not be the most practical way of handling it. Why? Because each time you want to buy or sell, you have to visit the bank personally. Only you have access to your box.

There are various other practical ways of buying gold such as Perth Mint Certificates or Exchange Traded Funds, but the security of such investments in the current financial climate is debatable (see our article on Offshore Precious Metals Investments).

But in terms of offshore banking products (and this is especially common in Swiss banks) it’s important to understand the difference between allocated storage, and unallocated – also known as pooled storage. Both these systems are used by private offshore banks. If you would like to read more about them, read our free (to members) Gold Report for a detailed explanation.

4. Numbered Accounts

We’ve all seen James Bond movies, but what might surprise you is that many European private banks still offer numbered accounts today, simply for the asking. Numbered accounts (or pseudonymous accounts, which are the same but are known by code words instead of numbers) work just like any other offshore bank account.  The  difference is the the link between the code number or pseudonym and the actual customer is known only to a few senior managers within the bank. Of course, KYC regulations mean that a final beneficiary must always be identified. But at least this system protects your information from the hands of low level bank staff.

Typically the way numbered accounts work these days is that you will have a numbered account and a regular account in the same bank. Numbered accounts cannot normally be used for regular transactions such as wire transfers. So when you want to make a deposit or withdrawal, your private banker will personally carry out a cash transaction at the counter between the two accounts. In the accounting records, the transaction will appear on your personal account as a cash deposit or withdrawal, so there will be no direct link to your numbered account.
5.  Offshore Credit and Debit Cards

Almost all offshore banks will offer you the option of linking some kind of plastic payment card to your account. This may be anything from an unbranded hole-in-the-wall cash card through to a premium travel and entertainment card like the Platinum American Express or Diners Club cards. The most common brands, of course, are Visa and MasterCard… but there are far more variations on these cards than there are banks in the world! You offshore private banker will be happy to explain the range of cards available.

What your banker will not explain, however, is that you may well be able to enhance your privacy by obtaining a card from a completely different bank. For that information, you need to download and read our free (to registered members) Practical Offshore Banking Guide. There you will find specific information on prepaid credit cards and anonymous cash cards available from offshore banks.

Want to read more about these five services, plus other offshore banking services you might never have even heard of? Then you need to be a member of Q Wealth Report. The first step is to sign up now for our free five part course, Secrets of the Super Rich. Module one of the course, entitled Offshore Banking Made Simple, could be in your inbox shortly!

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.