All posts by: Christian Reeves

This article considers Intergovernmental Agreements (IGAs) and Puerto Rico international banks. These entities are also referred to as offshore banks in Puerto Rico and International Financial Entities in Puerto Rico. This post does not consider fully licensed local banks, only how IGAs relate to IFEs operating under Act 273 as an offshore or international bank.

When building an offshore bank, there are four steps you must work through. Here’s what you need to plan for and understand when building an offshore bank. These are the four steps to taking an international bank from permit to operational. First, keep in mind that this article is focused on offshore banks. That is,

I get a number of emails from readers each week asking how they can manage money for friends and family offshore. They want to trade cryptocurrency and make investments for others without going to the expense of setting up a licensed and regulated exchange. So, here’s how to trade cryptocurrency and manage investments for others

You’ll find a lot of partisan bickering on the web about President Trump’s tax plan. Here’s my effort to give you the facts and just the facts (a la Joe Friday of Dragnet) on how President Trump’s tax plan affects expats and Americans living abroad. Keep in mind that this article is focused on US

The top two jurisdictions for ICOs in 2018 are the Cayman Islands and Switzerland. Most companies focusing on the EU and UK markets issue from in Switzerland and those from Asia and the Americans will be in Cayman. Here’s why you should issue an ICO in the Cayman Islands. I chose Cayman to write about

The US IRS will begin certifying tax debts on January 22, 2018. If you have a “seriously delinquent” tax debt, your passport can be revoked. Likewise, the government can refuse to renew your passport if you owe more than $50,000. Here’s where you can travel without a passport after it’s been revoked by the IRS.

I expect cryptocurrency to remain a hot IRA investment in 2018. Almost every call we get these days is about investing in cryptocurrency offshore. Clients want to manage their crypto offshore in private and avoid the IRS audits we all know are coming. So, here’s how to take your IRA offshore and invest in cryptocurrency.

International banking is the most challenging issue when setting up a cryptocurrency exchange. If you’re in a highly regulated environment, such as the US or UK, and have a lot of startup cash, then you’ll get a bank account. If you’re in a less regulated environment, best of luck to you. In this post, I’ll

When applying for a new banking license, you must have a certain amount of capital. This article is on the capital requirements to apply for a banking license in Mexico. Note that this is the amount of cash you need to have to apply for the license. To operate the bank, you must maintain an

As other countries wait for government officials to dictate what happens with cryptocurrency and Fintech Companies, Mexico just took a big step forward. After making several adjustments to the proposed bill, Mexican senators finally approved with 102 votes in favor and none against a law that regulates financial technology companies in Mexico. Delegates still need

Here’s how to cut your corporate tax rate for a US cryptocurrency exchange to 4%. If you’re operating a licensed exchange in the United States, and you’re willing to move some or all of your employees, we can get your corporate tax rate down to 4%. This article considers a tax efficient structure for US

When you take your IRA out of the United States and invest it into an offshore IRA LLC, you become the custodian for the account. In this capacity, you’re responsible for following all US IRA rules. Here are the basic IRA rules and prohibited transactions you must watch out for when you operate an offshore

The United States has forced most ICOs out and will launch an all out attack on Bitcoin in 2018. If you want to hold Bitcoin in your IRA, you should first move your retirement account offshore. Here’s how and why to take your IRA offshore and invest in ICOs and Bitcoin in 2018. In 2017,

If you wish to live and work in a country in Latin America, Mexico might be your best option. It’s proximity to the United States and its high ranking schools make it one of the most competitive economic countries in Latin America. Mexico also has one of the most relaxed immigration systems compared to the

Nicaragua is the second most popular residency program in Latin America. Residency in Nicaragua is for those who don’t want the high pressure life of Panama City, Panama and for those who aren’t from a top 50 country. Here’s how to get residency in Nicaragua no matter what country you’re from. The top two Latin

Each and every Bitcoin transaction is taxable. If you sell Bitcoin and buy Ethereum, that’s a taxable trade. If you use Bitcoin to buy a laptop on Amazon, that’s a taxable transaction. If you sell bitcoin, hold dollars in your wallet for a week, and then re-buy Bitcoin, that’s a taxable transaction. Here’s how to

The list of items you can buy with Bitcoin hasn’t changed much since 2014. Yes, there are some good websites in the group of 100,000+ that accept Bitcoin, and there are restaurants that accept crypto, but there have been very few large transactions done in Bitcoin… until now. To date, Bitcoin has been a buy

The 330 day test for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion is being eliminated by President Trump. If you want to keep this tax break, you need to become a legal resident of a foreign country as soon as possible. Here’s what you need to do to become a nonresident of the United States for tax

The IRS smells blood in the water over Bitcoin and it’s coming hard for Coinbase users. The war on cryptocurrency is just getting started and it’s going to get ugly fast. Expect US citizens with US crypto accounts to be put in jail to send a message to the rest of us to fall in

The ICO market went on a wild ride for 2017. Over 75% of the ICOs that were funded blew up and hundreds of millions were lost. Here’s where I see the ICO market going and which will be the best ICOs for 2018. Nearly $2.5 billion has been raised through October in ICOs worldwide, with