One of the most interesting offshore opportunities isn’t an investment. It’s merely keeping valuables—or valuable records—in an offshore safety deposit box or private vault.
This strategy has several advantages. The most important one is that the valuables are outside your domestic jurisdiction. If someone has a judgment against you, the assets are effectively out-of-reach.
For Americans, another advantage is that these assets aren’t reportable as a "foreign bank, securities, or ‘other’ financial account." That means you don’t need to tell the IRS or U.S. Treasury about them. However, if you have a bank account at the offshore bank where you have the safety deposit box, that account—although not the box—is reportable.
Without mandatory IRS or Treasury reporting, your valuables are essentially invisible. They won’t show up in a domestic asset search. And an investigator will have a very tough time trying to find them offshore. With a large enough budget, he might eventually find the foreign bank or vault where you’ve stashed your valuables. But even then, he won’t be able to find out what you keep in your box.
There is one possible exception. In a criminal investigation, the government may be able to get its hands on the assets in your offshore safety deposit box or private vault. Using what’s called a "Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty," or MLAT, the U.S. Department of Justice (or equivalent agency in your country) can enlist the assistance of police in another country.
However, MLATs are used only in investigations of serious crimes. If you’re not doing anything illegal, it’s very likely your offshore safety deposit box or private vault rental will remain private. And, your valuables will remain secure until you need to reclaim them.
Copyright © 2007 by Mark Nestmann
