What you REALLY should Know

In this the introduction to a four-part series where we will work through WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW when dealing with Multi-Jurisdictional Estate, Tax, Asset Protection, and Family Governance Strategies.

The world isn't what it used to be.

We have sacrificed privacy on the altar of security. Geopolitical events from the 1990s onward and especially after 9/11/ 2001, have forced governments to track individuals' communications in order to pre-empt terrorist attacks. In their attempts to track the funds used to finance these attacks, governments have incrementally enforced transparency requirements, both in the location and movement of these funds, that were unheard of before.

The explosion of technology and, more particularly the Internet, and its shadier applications, as in the dark web, have given rise to new professions such as hackers, which depending on their attitude to protecting privacy, or do harm, have been denominated as white hats or black hats. What is evident is that nothing is sacred anymore, and information is the ultimate commodity.

When in 2008, the global financial system nearly collapsed, because of Wall Street bankers' greed, it was estimated that the bad loans that brought the system to the brink, amounted to approximately US$ 6.7 trillion. What is little-known, or spoken about, is that at that time there were, depending on who's doing the counting, approximately US $ 50-60 trillion circulating around the globe anonymously.

Notwithstanding conspiracy theories, it was evident to governments worldwide, that something had to be done to give these funds an identity, and in doing so, assign some fiscal responsibility.

We saw since then, traditional tax havens being pressured to expose their clientele and their convoluted efforts to avoid disclosure, with the EU adding Seychelles, Cayman Islands, and Panama to the tax haven Blacklist last week.

International tax law at the time, had such gaping holes, that some international corporations paid very little or no tax, by legally manipulating statutes, befuddling the average man on the street, whose taxes are not up for debate.

The Panama papers scandal, that came to light three years ago, exposed a lot of individuals and corporations, who, in contravention of their own national legal statutes, were actively engaged in tax evasion, and the disclosing requirements circle is becoming ever tighter.

Under the guise of trying to securitize the planet and avoid terrorist attacks, whether in cyberspace or physically on the ground somewhere, national governments have banded together, especially the Western democracies, to track down and punish offenders from other classes of transgression, casting an ever-widening net for fiscal offenders.

In previous decades, in an opaque financial planet, when national governments were not closely cooperating, it wasn't difficult to hide transnational assets. Nowadays, not so much.

If one is not careful, in planning, generational and tax mismatches will dilute the family legacy until nothing is left. Now more than ever, it is important to structure correctly, with long term vision in mind.

If you own businesses or properties in more than one country, or your ex-wives or children live elsewhere around the globe, or if you are envisaging to physically relocate, then structuring for these circumstances, is now more important than ever. That is if you wish, that your blood, sweat, and tears, that went into building your legacy, remains as intact as possible after your passing.

Will your legacy reach your great-grandchildren?

Contact UCHI Advisory today to ensure your planning kept up to date with the fast-paced changing world we live in today!