Investors Moving Money to European Banks Fearing U.S. Economy and Major Bank Failures

IndyMac Bank was the second largest bank failure in U.S. history. Washington Mutual Bank collapsed shortly before being bailed out. Wachovia Bank was yet another major bank that needed to be rescued.

The head of the FDIC recently said in a meeting in San Francisco that many more bank failures will likely occur in 2008 and 2009. Could your bank be one of them? Many of the IndyMac deposits were not insured, thus, depositors will lose millions, if not billions of dollars. Many advisors say it may be time for investors to diversify internationally and put their money out of harm's way.

Europe has multitudes of large, safe, banks without exposure to the damaging U.S. mortgage disaster. In contrast, many U.S. banks are sitting on shaky ground.

Which countries have the safest banks in the world? Switzerland and Sweden. So, how safe is your Swiss bank account or your deposit in a Swedish bank? Switzerland depositor protection, for example, is governed by the Swiss Bankers Association's ( SBA ) Depositor Protection Agreement. Since July 1, 2004 it was also written into law in the Swiss Banking Act. The Act adds several additional requirements that have substantially strengthened depositor security in Switzerland. The revised Depositors' Protection Agreement covers all deposits and also applies to non-bank securities dealers. Protecting depositors is essential in maintaining public confidence in the Swiss banking system. In order to solidify this confidence, the SBA had drawn up a self-regulatory Depositor Protection Agreement with its member banks in 1984. This agreement guarantees that, in the event of a bank failure, depositors will rapidly receive their legally privileged claims. As an additional safety measure, Swiss law demands high capital adequacy. Swiss banks can therefore certainly be counted amongst the safest in the world.

In fact, the Swiss franc is considered one of the world's premier currencies with virtually zero inflation and has been historically backed by at least 40 percent gold reserves. Swiss banks are also known to have very sophisticated investment services and Internet banking.

"The first step in establishing a foreign account is to establish an offshore company, since many foreign banks will not open accounts directly with U.S. people or companies. The next step is to open the bank account in the offshore company name," states Mr. Wessell.

"It is very important to note that U.S. people are taxed on worldwide income. So, this is not a tax avoidance strategy, it is a fully-reported financial diversification and asset protection move. The U.S. and many other governments are cracking down on those whom use offshore trusts in an attempt to avoid paying taxes or hide money from their governments. Offshore Company ensures that its clients offshore trusts are set up and filed properly and meet government legal requirements," emphasizes Mr. Wessell.

Mr. Wessell's advice to those thinking about offshore banking. Use a professional service that understands the offshore banking laws as well as the laws of your government. Remember, the government will go after people that not only try to hide their accounts from the government, but those that make mistakes setting up the trusts or improperly file the paper work as well. Ignorance is not an excuse that will save you from governmental action and when you are dealing with a large amount of money and very stiff penalties for mistakes, why take chances."