It offers a fantastic mixture of bank secrecy, corporate secrecy, a financially & politically stable environment, & strong banks. Nonetheless perhaps most importantly, it’s a safe offshore purchase haven for individuals who want to diversify out of sinking western currencies into booming Asian industries, and China in specific.
So how could you go about opening an offshore bank account in Hong Kong? Do you are compelled to travel there? This post will answer these questions & give you several practical hints & ideas. But first some background.
A Effective Gratis Sector Experiment For East and West Alike
Hong Kong, in my opinion, is the only practical example in the world of a major city that has been developed from scratch and run as something of an offshore, gratis industry experiment – first by the British, then by the Chinese.
The main Island (& later Kowloon plus the New Territories, parts of the mainland) was a British colony for most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In the course of this time it grew from a fishing village & opium trading hub, into a city-state of 7 million men and women. It started to become known as a zero cost-wheeling, free marketplace paradise for capitalists, with an economy characterized by low taxation, gratis trade and no government interference in business.
In 1997 the British returned sovereignty over Hong Kong to China. The former colony became one of China’s 2 Particular Administrative Regions (SARs), the other being Macau. Plenty of folks were initially doubtful about one of the world’s capitalist bastions being run by a communist power, & at the time a considerable amount of investors pulled out, a number of taking their dynamic business acumen heading to places like Singapore & Vancouver.
Although, the “1 country, 2 programs” model adopted by Beijing to coincide with zero cost marketplace reforms and the growth of China into an financial superpower has verified extremely productive. The Basic Law of Hong Kong, the equivalent of the constitution, stipulates that the SAR maintains a “high degree of autonomy” in all matters except foreign relations & defence. The SAR today operates as a major offshore finance center, discreetly oiling the wheels of commerce between East & West.
These days, instead of being put off by the Chinese influence, most international investors who are attracted to Hong Kong are coming precisely on account of this Chinese connection. Hong Kong is the point of access to Chinese trade, without the legal & cultural difficulties of doing business in mainland China.
Those who don’t trust their own governments are reassured by the fact that below the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s foreign relations are run from Beijing. While most offshore jurisdictions humbly submit to demands from the USA and other western countries, in the case of China, the relationship is definitely reversed. Hong Kong does have numerous Tax Data Exchange Agreements (see beneath) but these are sensibly policed and do not enable for fishing expeditions.
Offshore Banking in Hong Kong
The region’s population is 95 % ethnic Chinese and 5 % from other groups, though English is incredibly widely spoken and is the primary language in companies like banking.
1 factor I like about employing Hong Kong for offshore bank accounts is the same argument I’ve used for Panama & Singapore: it is a ‘real’ country with genuine trade going on. The Hong Kong dollar is the ninth most traded currency in the world. Compare this to doing business on a little island or other remote banking jurisdiction, where everyone knows your only reason for doing business there’s offshore banking. It also signifies that there’s no dilemma doing your banking in money, if you so wish.
For now the HKD, the neighborhood dollar, still tracks extremely closely the US dollar, though this appears to be altering as the Chinese Yuan circulates freely in Hong Kong, both in money & in bank deposits. We think this represents an remarkable opportunity to diversify funds out of the US dollar now, gaining exposure to Chinese growth in the meantime. (Obviously, you could also hold HKD in banks in other parts of the world too)
Bank accounts in Hong Kong are essentially all multi-currency by default, permitting all significant local and international currencies to be held below one account number and exchanged freely & quickly within the account at the click of a mouse.
There’s no capital gains tax, no tax on bank interest or stock sector investments, & no tax on offshore sourced income. This, combined with a welcoming attitude to non-resident clients in the banks (which includes US citizens by the way, who are typically unwelcome in conventional offshore banking havens like Switzerland), and powerful cultural & legal respect for economic privacy, makes Hong Kong 1 of Asia’s greatest offshore banking jurisdictions.
For those that need to establish a small offshore account below reporting limits, or merely to have the bank account established in view of future business, Hong Kong is also appealing given the low minimum deposits demanded by the major banks there. The minimum bank account balance may be as low as HK$ three,000. As you can imagine, you cannot expect red carpet, VIP private banking at this level – but you get a perfectly good functioning bank account with all the technological trimmings.
Offshore Corporate Bank Accounts in Hong Kong – Do’s and Don’ts
Commonly, offshore customers pick out to open accounts making use of corporations, as opposed to individual accounts. This not only offers greater privacy, but also flexibility and can – based naturally on how things are structured – offer considerable tax and asset protection advantages.
Accounts can easily be opened both for pure offshore businesses like Panama, BVI, Nevis or Marshall Islands, or for local Hong Kong organizations which are set up using nominee directors and shareholders.
When contacting neighborhood corporate service providers in Hong Kong, you will find that most of these corporate service providers will recommend you use a Hong Kong company to open the account. The reason they do this really is that it is simpler & more profitable for them. They can include a neighborhood company at low price, opening the bank account is smoother and faster with a local company, and they can carry on billing nominee director fees every year. Nonetheless it may not be the correct factor for you.
Whilst it’s correct that Hong Kong institutions do not must pay any tax provided they do not make any nearby source revenue, administering such a company isn’t so straightforward. E.g., Hong Kong institutions are needed to file audited accounts every year. They must file pages & pages of documents to convince the Inland Income Department (HKIRD) that they don’t have any neighborhood business, and, from practical experience, the HKIRD is getting much stickier about this. Long-established companies are usually left unmolested though newly established organisations can anticipate a considerable amount of compliance work in their first couple of years. Once again, this suits the Hong Kong corporate service providers who charge handsomely for such services.
Another factor to think about is Controlled Foreign Company (CFC) legislation in your home country. (For an explanation see Wikipedia ) Countless customers opt for to set up LLCs as they may be treated as passthrough entities, vastly simplifying reporting requirements in some countries like the USA. Hong Kong companies are not LLCs and can’t be treated as passthroughs for tax purposes.
My guidance – provided you don’t intend to do any business in Hong Kong besides banking & possibly the occasional trip to visit your money – would be to open the account in the name of a company from a foreign offshore tax haven. It is a small more work and expense to begin with, and the bank may ask you more questions, though it will save you a whole lot of revenue and headaches in the long term. In the event you want a neighborhood look and feel for your company, countless virtual workplace services are accessible.
Hong Kong Tax Data Exchange Agreements
Contrary to what you will read on several out-of-date web-sites, Hong Kong has signed numerous Tax Data Exchange Agreements (TIEAs). Nevertheless, the HKIRD is at pains to point out that fishing expeditions are not going to be tolerated.
The HKIRD has issued Practice Note 47, accessible on the net, which usefully explains how the HKIRD seek to accomplish a balance between the needs of compliance with the OECD needs, whilst providing checks & balances to defend the rights of businesspeople.
The HKIRD are experts and must be well positioned to cope with TIEA requests effectively and justly in accordance with the treaties and guidelines. I am confident not going to allow their ‘clients’ rights to be trampled on.
Regulation of Banks in Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s Banking Ordinance was revamped in 1986. It has since experienced several amendments to improve prudential supervision. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) was formed in 1993 as an one-quit monetary regulator, responsible for everything from banks to stored value anonymous debit cards.
The SAR maintains a three-tier procedure of deposit-taking institutions, comprising licensed banks, limited license banks, & deposit-taking organizations. Only licensed banks might operate existing and savings accounts, and accept deposits of any size & maturity. RLBs are only allowed to accept deposits of HK$500,000 & above, while DTCs are only permitted to accept deposits of a minimum of HK$100,000 with original maturity of not less than 3 months.
Both these latter categories provide an opportunity for overseas banks to conduct wholesale, expenditure or private banking activities in Hong Kong without having to jump by means of the hoops of applying for a full banking license. Furthermore, a number of foreign banks have selected to open representative offices in Hong Kong, which are not allowed to take deposits though can assist in opening accounts at other offices inside their groups.
As Hong Kong is an international financial centre, it’s an explicit policy of the HKMA that the regulatory framework in Hong Kong ought to conform as much as attainable with international standards, in specific those advised by the Basel Committee.
Hong Kong’s 5 greatest banks, in terms of total assets, are as follows:
- Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Organization (HSBC)
- Bank of China (Hong Kong)
- Hang Seng Bank Ltd
- Standard Chartered Bank
- Bank of East Asia Ltd.
A full list of updated Hong Kong banks may be identified on Wikipedia.
Going to Hong Kong to Open a Bank Account
In case you are going to Hong Kong to open your account, it can in most cases be opened the same day provided you have made a lot of arrangements with a neighborhood service provider, or directly with the bank, in advance. This really is let’s say you use one of the major banks, that nearly everyone does. You could then just visit the bank, sign documents & get the bank account number instantly. This will be a full multi-currency account & you’ll mostly receive a digital token for net banking, a password as well as a debit card.
The documents necessary for opening offshore bank account are:
1) Formation documents (in the case of corporate accounts. Apostilles are demanded in the case of foreign corporate accounts – your offshore provider will know how you can obtain these.)
2) Bank forms & business plan/expected activity (a corporate service provider will in most cases provide these as part of the service)
three) Passport copies of each director, signatory and shareholder (take particular note of this requirement in case you are employing nominee directors – if the persons aren’t present, copies will need to be notarized.)
4) Proof of address (such as updated bill statement which shows up your name & address) and signed (of each director and shareholder)
A bank reference is frequently required in case you are dealing direct with the bank. In the event you go by means of a corporate service provider, they as a rule write a reference so you do not need to supply a bank reference. But, in the event you can acquire a bank reference it’s better.
Opening an account without going to Hong Kong
It’s also perfectly probable to open accounts without visiting Hong Kong (known as ‘remote account opening’) although this process tends to take substantially longer as banks will ask a lot more questions. In this case, your bank or service provider will mainly e-mail you the forms, that you’ll want to print out and sign.
Depending on the bank, there may well ensure particular directions about how & where to sign – for example, HSBC in Hong Kong will mainly request that you have your signature witnessed in the HSBC Bank nearest to you. As with all foreign bank accounts, you need to make sure to use the same signature that appears inside your passport, otherwise the documents will be rejected.
In the case of remote account opening the bank will as a rule courier the password, debit card, & token direct to your address inside your home country. Then you need to activate them via the bank’s web-site.
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