Over the years, banking secrecy has been seriously eroded, even in tradional banking havens like Switzerland, where banks are now required to be aware of the benificial owners of secret accounts, and under pressure from the U.S., almost 900 court ordered breaches of banking confidentiality laws have taken place since 1991. Banks in 'off-shore' tax havens like the Bahamas, Luxembourg, Cayman Islands etc have also been pressured to disclose the identity of their clients. Should a local court in a particular jurisdiction refuse outside pressure for information where the alledged crime is tax evasion, authorities in several countries may apply to that court with allegations of drug involvement in order to gain information on which of their citizens might have undeclared holdings.

Now that Switzerland has lost its tradition as the ultimate confidential tax haven, all is not lost. Its neighbour, Austria has something to offer those who seek confidentiality from a bank account. In fact the Austrian banking laws, where disclosure of client details to a third party by banking officials is an imprisonable offence, are likely the most confidential in Europe if not the world.

Often called 'Europe's best kept banking Secret' the Austrian Sparbuch is as old as banking itself. The Sparbuch, literally translated is 'savings book', and accounts can be held in either German Deuchmarks or Austrian schillings. The schilling is closely pegged to the German Mark and is therefore a very stable currancy, not

In Portugal, many banks, solid and often state owned are willing to give out plastic debit cards to both their nationals and to foreigners, asking that you deposit a minimum of £50 with which to open a bank account. Cheque books are also available if required. The name of this plastic debit card is the Multibanco.

In Portugal this card can be used in more than 95% of shops and restaurants, payphones, road tolls etc, and this one system covers the entire country and its banks. Because the Multibanco is a debit card you must have enough funds in your bank account to honour payments, which will be debited instantly, similar to the Switch debit card system in the U.K. Money can be withdrawn from over 2,300 ATM's (Automatic Teller Machines), or cashpoint hole-in-the-wall machines in Portugal. Because of the Multibanco's involvement with the rest of Europe, the Multibanco can be used for withdrawing cash all over Europe. In the U.K., the Link ATM system, used also by the Abbey National Building Society and other financial institutions will accept the Multibanco card.

On opening a deposit account from a bank in the Multibanco system, you will be given a plastic card on the spot. The card does not have your name embossed on it as do British cards. There is a signature strip on the back of the card under the dark magnetic strip for you to put a signature on - your signature or any name you wish to use. Because there is no embossing of personal details, there is no expiry date on the card either, so that the card will remain current until it requires

High- tech security of money is a joke. Thieves of the mid-90's all know the easiest way to rob a bank has nothing to do with guns and getaway cars. Just use a computer. The latest in a long series of fraud against ATM's, Automatic Teller Machines, the cash dispensers all but the most privacy-conscious of us use, goes as follows: Install one of those PIN changing machines somewhere with a big sign encouraging people to change their PIN's because of the possibilty that someone has shouldersurfed their old PIN. Away you go; it could even change their PIN for them. In other words, it could be a real PIN changer. This is a lot cheaper than a fake ATM machine and something that high-tech thieves have already done with success in the U.S.

With the PIN, new or old, they embed fake cards and proceed to vacuum your bank account. You will not lose, however. In some countries, including the USA, the banks have to carry the risks associated with the new technology. In Britain, the regualators and courts have not been so demanding, and despite a parliamentry commission of enquiry which found that the PIN system was insecure, bankers simply deny that their systems are ever at fault. Customers who complain about debits on their accounts for which they were not responsible. After these socalled "phantom withdrawls" are told they are lying, or mistaken, or that they must have been defrauded by their friends or relatives. The result in the UK has been a string of court cases, both civil and criminal. The pattern which emerges is not surprising: miscarriages of justice over the years. A teenage girl in Ashton-ubder-Lyme was convicted in 1985 of stealing £40 from her father. She pleaded guilty

Once outside your home country as a non-resident and without visible assets, you pay no more taxes. Considerable thought to "doing it right" must go into the implementation. Lawyers and accountants want to keep you around forever paying their annual retainers. I try to get people off on their own, conducting their business affairs in complete privacy.

That is why I do not usually recommend setting up trusts, foundations, holding companies and any such structures requiring:

a) Involvement of others who really shouldn't know your business.

b) Unnecessary overhead, legal registration and annual tax charges.

Offshore corporations and such are mostly worthwhile only where an active business is involved and there is no better way to get a regular cash flow of royalties, commissions or interest out of a given country without paying withholding taxes. We regard setting up such legal entities only as a last resort. The exception to this is when you work with someone who lets you run the show, who does not want to get any signing powers or a say in your business and who shares our view that

The obvious answer is cash - high denomination notes, but remember, banks in the U.K. and Europe are under an obligation to inform the authorities of transactions in or out of an account of more than £10,000. (try several transactions of smaller amounts over a period of time?). If moving cash on your person, avoid a wallet - the mugger's friend; cash, credit cards, home address in one neat package. Keep it on you in a zipped or secure pocket. Don't wear expensive watches, jewellry; look ordinary. The reason for this report, though, is to look at other non cash methods that do not leave a paper-trail back to you.

MONEY ORDERS: Walk into your nearest American Express office, same as with cashiers cheques, and purchase a money order, then mail it to whoever or wherever you need to pay off. You do not need to show ID and the money order is made out on the spot. These money orders are available at a nominal charge in just about any country and are accepted for clearance by banks anywhere. They are also insured against loss if you keep the carbon copy. You will be asked for a name to be put on the money order when you buy it, but no ID is required.

INSTANT TRANSFERS: Western Union and Thomas Cook offer similar money transfers. How long it takes depends on how much you wish to pay. Western Union is located in all EU capitals and is busy signing up banks and businesses in the provinces. Its charges are steep but head offices are open 24 hours a day. You

Thank goodness for offshore financial centres which attract business by maintaining lower tax rates, fewer disclosure requirements, looser requirements or regulations than in the Western nations, where political pressures to tax wealth have created a restrictive environment for financial dealings. Generally speaking, tax havens are better places for your money to live rather than yourself personally, other than as an "official" domicile. These centres have always attracted investors and businesses wanting to avoid exchange controls or high tax rates. That is why holding companies with taxable profits are often located there. Offshore centres also attract banks, because bank depositors may also want secracy, or low tax rates.

A measure of political stability is essential. There is not much point in sending your money away from a 59% rate if 100% of it is then seized following a revolution. Unlikely, perhapes, but not impossible on a long term view. It is worth remembering that war-torn Lebanon was once regarded as a secure offshore centre. This is why the Carribean centres often have to make up in secracy what they may lack in stability, and why Switzerland, though less keen on secracy than it was, tries to make up for it with 700 years of relative calm.

The offshore tax and investment industry is central to the almost unimaginably vast world of multinational financial transaction. Consider the sheer size of the business accounts, in large part, for the 60 odd centres, many located in Europe or off its coasts. About half the world's financial transactions now take place

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