Reputable offshore financial centers play a legitimate role in international finance and trade, offering huge advantages in certain situations for both corporations and individuals. This book provides an informative and comprehensive survey of the legitimate uses of offshore financial services. It deals with both background and practice relating to offshore financial services, their provision and regulation, and assists prospective users by acting as a guide to the benefits and pitfalls they may encounter. The second edition has been thoroughly revised and includes a new chapter on offshore banking services. The first chapters cover offshore financial centers (OFCs) and matters of general relevance. The following chapters describe the principal services commonly available in OFCs. The last chapter looks at the future for these centers. The use of offshore financial services is not exclusive to the UK or the USA, but is global in nature.

Reputable offshore financial centers play a legitimate role in international finance and trade, offering huge advantages in certain situations for both corporations and individuals. Offshore Financial Services Handbook provides an informative and comprehensive survey of the legitimate uses of offshore financial services. It deals with both background and practice relating to offshore financial services, their provision and regulation, and assists prospective users by acting as a guide to the benefits and pitfalls they may encounter. This new edition has been thoroughly revised and includes a new chapter on offshore banking services. The first chapters cover offshore financial centers (OFCs) and matters of general relevance. The following chapters describe the principal services commonly available in OFCs. The last chapter looks at the future for these centers. The use of offshore financial services is not exclusive to the UK or the USA, but is global in nature. The Offshore Financial Services Handbook reflects this and will appeal to professional financial advisers, their clients, and financial services regulators.

This handbook is a comprehensive and up to date work of reference that offers a survey of the state of financial geography. With Brexit, a global recession triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as new financial technology threatening and promising to revolutionize finance, the map of the financial world is in a state of transformation, with major implications for development. With these developments in the background, this handbook builds on this unprecedented momentum and responds to these epochal challenges, offering a comprehensive guide to financial geography. Financial geography is concerned with the study of money and finance in space and time, and their impacts on economy, society and nature. The book consists of 29 chapters organized in six sections: theoretical perspectives on financial geography, financial assets and markets, investors, intermediation, regulation and governance, and finance, development and the environment. Each chapter provides a balanced overview of current knowledge, identifying issues and discussing relevant debates. Written in an analytical and engaging style by authors based on six continents from a wide range of disciplines, the work also offers reflections on where the research agenda is likely to advance in the future. The book’s key audience will primarily be students and researchers in geography, urban studies, global studies and planning, more or less familiar with financial geography, who seek access to a state-of-the art survey of this area. It will also be useful for students and researchers in other disciplines, such as finance and economics, history, sociology, anthropology, politics, business studies, environmental studies and other social sciences, who seek convenient access to financial geography as a new and relatively unfamiliar area. Finally, it will be a valuable resource for practitioners in the public and private sector, including business consultants and policy-makers, who look for alternative approaches to understanding money and finance.

Filled with in-depth insight and expert advice, Tax Havens Today arms you with the knowledge, strategies, and contacts needed to avoid expensive mistakes and make the most of your offshore endeavors. Divided into four comprehensive parts, this timely resource will bring you completely up to speed on a variety of issues that anyone aspiring to go offshore must be familiar with.

2011 Updated Reprint. Updated Annually. Global Offshore Financial Services Providers Directory

This new edition of the leading comparative work on offshore financial law provides a fresh look at the current legal landscape in this sector offering guidance on complex legal issues and context for matters of practice.

Developing countries lose billions each year through bribery, misappropriation of funds, and other corrupt practices. Much of the proceeds of this corruption find 'safe haven' in the world's financial centers. These criminal flows are a drain on social services and economic development programs, contributing to the impoverishment of the world's poorest countries. Many developing countries have already sought to recover stolen assets. A number of successful high-profile cases with creative international cooperation has demonstrated that asset recovery is possible. However, it is highly complex, involving coordination and collaboration with domestic agencies and ministries in multiple jurisdictions, as well as the capacity to trace and secure assets and pursue various legal options—whether criminal confiscation, non-conviction based confiscation, civil actions, or other alternatives. This process can be overwhelming for even the most experienced practitioners. It is exceptionally difficult for those working in the context of failed states, widespread corruption, or limited resources. With this in mind, the Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) Initiative has developed and updated this Asset Recovery Handbook: A Guide for Practitioners to assist those grappling with the strategic, organizational, investigative, and legal challenges of recovering stolen assets. A practitioner-led project, the Handbook provides common approaches to recovering stolen assets located in foreign jurisdictions, identifies the challenges that practitioners are likely to encounter, and introduces good practices. It includes examples of tools that can be used by practitioners, such as sample intelligence reports, applications for court orders, and mutual legal assistance requests. StAR—the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative—is a partnership between the World Bank Group and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime that supports international efforts to end safe havens for corrupt funds. StAR works with developing countries and financial centers to prevent the laundering of the proceeds of corruption and to facilitate more systematic and timely return of stolen assets.