In the last few years and since September 11th in particular, things have definitely changed in relation to the approach I have noted from Offshore Review readers who contact me about setting up some kind of offshore structure.

On the one hand, I now get many e-mails which start with words like "In view of all the recent erosions of confidentiality, I don't suppose it is now possible to set up a useful offshore structure ……" and there are probably many more that now do not even bother to contact people like me because they think the same.

But on the other hand, with Big Brother Governments daily giving themselves more power, particularly with asset forfeiture and reporting demands on banks, I also get many potential clients wishing to do SOMETHING to protect their hard earned assets but not realising that the ground rules HAVE changed and things DO now need to be done somewhat differently.

In the old days, buying an offshore company and setting up a bank account for it in one of those nice offshore islands which catered for such structures was the way.

Often the banks did not need much, if anything, in the way of ID for the signatories to the account and, even if they did, it was on the assurance that even the existence of the account would not be revealed to anyone. In some jurisdictions, it was even a criminal offence for banks or other financial institutions to reveal such details to anyone, and I mean anyone!

The previously unheard of crime of terrorist money laundering has changed all that!

Now it is being used by Big Brother Governments all over the world to make reporting demands on banks to which they never would have previously responded, but the mere mention of which now makes all banks go weak at the knees. So much so that they will hand over any and all details that are in their possession to any government authority who might demand it.

Even banks in jurisdictions which previously have resisted such demands are having to comply, regardless of what they might still say about client confidentiality. Otherwise, their governments will simply revoke their banking licences, as is happening in many of the Caribbean offshore islands.

So if you have an offshore bank, brokerage or credit card account and the financial institution involved required any details of your ID when setting up that account, even if you are using nominees and are not the signatory to the account, you should now work on the basis that sooner or later your involvement or beneficial ownership of that account could be known to Big Brother.

So what are the practical solutions to this problem if you already have such an account to which you can be linked, or you have a need for an offshore account to which you cannot be linked?

First, if you already have an account where the bank, broker or credit card issuer holds some kind of ID about you and it is an account that you would not wish to come to the knowledge of any 'authority', then you should immediately engage in some damage limitation. If the account was opened in the name of an IBC and you are on record as a director or the beneficial owner of the IBC, then the quickest way to deal with that and still keep the account is to inform the bank or whoever, that the IBC has been sold to someone else.

That should at least put a stop to any further damage, although it will not protect you from any already done! How and to whom the 'sale' of your IBC is apparently made is, of course, important, at least in relation to what the banks are told, because there is no point in apparently moving the ownership of it to any entity or individual to which you can still be linked.

A trust, an individual trustee or another IBC are all possibilities for new ownership, but some expert advice will certainly be needed because, if the disposal is done carefully, it could even help mitigate any damage done before the sale is made, depending on how the account has been used.

If you are in the position of not yet having, but still needing an anonymous offshore banking, brokerage or cash card account, then there are still plenty of ways this can be done. But do not be tempted to purchase any such package which asks for ANY kind of ID that will be passed onto the bank. If you want the existence of that account to be totally confidential for whatever (legal!) reason, it is now simply naïve to think it will remain so, if you provide such ID.

The alternatives are to use Trusts, Individual Trustees, Banking Groups or other third party arrangements to open such accounts or to effectively provide you with banking facilities. All of this will, of course, require a large degree of faith and trust in whoever is going to 'stand in' for you as the apparent signatory and/or beneficial owner of the account. But, in many cases, it was ever thus!

While many IBC owners have, in the past, had their names on record with the banks as beneficial owners, presumably to give themselves some comfort, the accounts have frequently been operated via Nominee Directors, Powers of Attorney or Trustees who have effectively had the day to day control of those accounts. With the right relationship, trust, and above all, proper documentation in place, there is no reason why such arrangements cannot work perfectly well. But, it is all fairly pointless if the real identity of the beneficial owner is still known to the banks.

So, it is but a small step for the 'Trust' of the recorded apparent beneficial ownership to be passed over to such a third party as well, but a giant step in terms of removing the potential of being connected with that account!

But it does not end there. Having done so it is then vital that transactions with such accounts do not link the real beneficial owner with the account.

Just sending funds directly to an offshore account even one which there is absolutely no evidence that you are connected, is not always smart unless there is some sound commercial explanation for doing so.

With governments in many countries monitoring all but the smallest transactions that go 'offshore', it could lead to suspicion and possible investigation at the very least and can be easily avoided by the use of pass-through accounts, third-party invoicing or other similar methods.

So if you have commercial and legal reasons for still wanting to operate 'offshore' it IS still relatively easy to remain anonymous, it just needs doing with care and regard for the changing times!