Adam Montan Speaks To VIP

by Goldiegirl Fri Jun 05, 2015 12:14 am

Panama, Nevis, St Kitts Report. Foundations, Banking, and more!

Hello VIP members!

This will be a post that won’t focus entirely on technical details, because we have attorneys to handle that stuff. Instead, I’m going to spend a little time sharing some of the details of my most recent trip.

As our investing, financial, and legal world turns, it sometimes becomes necessary to make changes or just be certain to have a solid backup plan. Those of you in OSI (or at least all of you who have listened to the audio on OSI) know that I am a staunch supporter of the Seychelles as a base for our offshore companies. You’ll also know that the Seychelles IBC is only the first step, as a foundation for the great big house we plan to build post-RV for asset protection, legacy management, and more.

You’ll also know that I’m a believer in offshore banking. My intention with offshore banking is NEVER to “hide” my money. I don’t plan on lying to the IRS, and I don’t suggest you do, either! But I’m also a believer in taking precautions to protect myself and my family from whatever greedy money grabbing vermin that might decide to pop up… and the absolute best way to do that is to put it out of reach, which is done very easily through the OSI strategy.

As time goes on, we will always see policies and rules change. The need for flexibility is one of the few guarantees we have… as evidenced by one of our recent long time banking partners suddenly changing their minimum deposit to a number that is more fitting for Post-RV than right now.

(For those of you that are/were banking with one of those banks, you’ll be hearing from Julie shortly with your instructions and options.)

So, we resolve to stay flexible and open minded. I pay a pretty penny to an amazing legal team to keep me apprised of upcoming changes and options… one of these options that has been being talked about amongst "those that know what they are doing" is Panama and Nevis.

One thing that I will promise you is this: I will NEVER suggest you do something that I have not fully investigated and done myself.

I have personally met every person that we do business with in the Seychelles and Belize. I have contacts in Hong Kong, Singapore, and several other places that I will be sharing Post-RV, and I have met every single one of them in person. I can vouch for them and their companies because I’ve seen them with my own eyes, tested them with my own money, and done the due diligence that must be done before I would even consider presenting their names to any of you.

As such, when it came time to get serious about Nevis, St Kitts, and Panama options… it was necessary for me to take that trip, make the contacts, and determine if I felt it was a good fit for us.

I’m going to start at the end – Panama.

Off to Panama City!

(This was day 5 or 6 of this particular trip.)

My journey began with Nevis (I'll get to that shortly), then continued from Nevis with a 16 hour travel day complete with 6 different security checkpoints, a lot of canned airplane breathing, and a very tired Adam by the end of the day.

I figured that would be the case, so I took Sunday as a chance to catch up on emails and didn’t plan to do too much… of course, that never goes as planned. I ended up working 4 hours more than I hoped and sleeping 3 hours less than I needed. Such is life!

Monday in Panama, I only had a few attorneys to visit. This was my 2^nd trip here and I really only had a couple more things to find out in order to determine if I would include Panama in my future plans.

I won’t complain about my experience there, but it turned out to be a bust. Panama banks are not friendly to anyone that’s not Panamanian or Colombian, unless you have a Panama Foundation or Company. Panama Foundations and Companies are entirely too expensive, but more importantly they are inferior in a few important ways to the other options we have (such as Seychelles or Nevis).

I did make some good contacts, but they will be reserved for future use in case things change in a direction that makes Panama more viable for us.

The Panama Canal is amazing if you’re into engineering marvels that were accomplished over 100 years ago. Old town Panama City is rich with history, and the golf is good. I played a round with one of the attorneys there, and about midway through it started raining. I mean POURING rain! It was so hot out that I didn’t mind at all, although I did wish I had another glove with me… it’s hard enough to hit a ball straight without your club slipping out of your hand!

Now, let’s talk about the GOOD part of this trip!

Nevis & St Kitts

========== The following was written on a plane:

Getting to Nevis, then Panama, was a bit challenging… I think I spent a full 5 hours on the computer planning, and ended up using a few sites to complete my entire trip. I ended up booking as follows:

Home to NEV (Nevis), a ferry to St Kitts and back, then Panama to Home. You’ll notice that there’s something missing, like how the heck do you land in Nevis and then leave from Panama?! Easy – you book a separate flight from Nevis to Miami, then another one from Miami to Panama. No problem!

Hotel reservations? Pffft, overrated. I like to get where I'm going, look around a bit, and then choose a hotel. I learned the hard way on my first trip to the Seychelles that you don't tell customs that... when you fill out your forms, just put the name of a hotel on there! Otherwise they make you call and reserve a room, and the hotels know you're in a tight spot when you call from the airport so you can expect no discounts. I think I might have paid double for the first night, in fact!

In this case, however, one of my contacts suggested the Nisbet which was normally a $400/night place. He got me in at $250, so I took him up on it with high hopes of a great experience.

Getting to Nevis in one day from Home wasn’t easy because none of the flights lined up. I would have spent 10 hours on a layover in Miami or somewhere stupid like that, so instead I took a 6 hour flight to San Juan Puerto Rico, stayed overnight, won enough at the blackjack table to pay for my room and more, then a 1 hour flight to St Kitts INTL. They landed on the tiny runway long enough to offload the majority of the plane (about 10 people) and 15 minutes later we taxied out to the runway for the short 4 minute wheels up to wheels down hop to Nevis.

Landing in Nevis, I was a little disappointed to see that it was dry, rather than the lush green I’m used to seeing in the Caribbean. It turned out that Nevis and St Kitts don’t normally look like New Mexico and Arizona, but they had not seen a drop of rain in over 6 weeks. It doesn’t take long for the Bermuda grass to shrivel up and go brown… but next month they hope to get a few good downpours and everything will bounce right back.

The scenery reminded me a little of Anguilla, which is a smaller island not too far away. There is barely anything there or in Nevis, the people live very simple lives with not much luxury, and I wouldn’t be surprised if someone told me that less than half the population has air conditioning. Since I’m here on business, a small part of me starts to wonder if this place is really going to live up to my expectations.

There were only 5 of us that got off the plane in Nevis, with me being the odd duck. Everyone else was on a relaxing couple’s getaway, so I let them get ahead while I gathered my carryon and backpack. That’s all I travel with when I fly solo – I can fit my dive gear and a week’s worth of clothes in my bag, my laptop and work items go in the backpack, and I skip the luggage carousel altogether. ZOOM! Aint nobody got time fo’ dat!

Customs in Nevis consisted of a lone “official” that had a stamp, which he was sure to use on my passport, but other than that I don’t think he really cared. I could have been there to meet a tanker at the dock to accept a boatload of military grade weapons…. But that would have been someone else’s problem, not his. I left the tiny terminal expecting to see a driver holding a sign with my name on it outside, considering I was booked at the fancy Nisbet and I had sent them my travel itinerary just for that exact purpose.

Ha! Nope, and in fact the car had taken one of the couples before me and was gone. “No problem” says the lady at the outside counter, “I will bring him back for you”.

5 minutes later the taxi arrives. I expected the other passengers to be in the car still, and maybe even slightly annoyed because they were delayed by having to come back. Nope again! The taxi was empty, but maybe I’m just that important and the driver left them on the side of the road in his rush to get back and pick me up, as I was the one he was supposed to get in the first place! Sounds reasonable, right?

We leave the airport and about a mile down the road we turn into the Nisbet, where he informs me “$12 please”. I’m slightly taken aback, and ask “U.S.?!” “Yep”, he replies. I shake my head… it’s only 2PM, and I could have walked. Whatever J

Let’s talk about the Nisbet Plantation. I forget which of our founding fathers had a great grandfather who married some Nisbet lady or which lady Nisbet snagged a Hamilton or Washington or whomever, but there’s a long history there. The place is absolutely beautiful. There’s a beach bar, where one of the friendly staff will take you snorkeling and you can spear your lunch, which the chef will cook for you once you get back. There’s a Great House where you can have dinner, and you’ll be treated like British Royalty.

Now for the downside, in my opinion. The internet sucked, and there was no TV in the rooms. I’m here on business – I need to keep up with world events, and I need to be able to communicate with my office and the contacts I’m meeting on my trip. It’s not easy going to a new country and coordinating 10-15 meetings in a place where road signs don’t exist in the first place, but when you take away my Google life gets exponentially tougher!

The beach bar closed at 6, at which time they expect you to put on a fancy coat and head to the Great House for a “proper evening meal”. Ugh… I’m sorry, but I wear a suit only when I have to. When I’m done running around town, popping into lawyers’ offices, shaking hands, and all that… I want to sit on a beach, have a couple cocktails, and do my work with a great view. I don’t want to sit in a stuffy “Great House” and continue the charades.

And when that’s over, it would be great to have some conversation with locals, or other travellers who can share stories of experiences on the island or other similar places. As I learned a few days later, the Nisbet is great if you’re a “newlywed or nearly dead”. Ha! How accurate indeed. Needless to say, I checked out after my second day, and found the Oallie (“O-Wall-ee”) hotel to be just fine – the internet was great, the bar is on the beach and doesn’t close silly early, and the beds were just fine… plus the price was only about $100 per night. On the subject of price, it should be noted that the country has ridiculous taxes. On a $20 meal you can expect to spend $28 after the 4 separate taxes/fees that get tacked onto everything.

Back to my first day there, I knew I’d have a lot of running around to do, and I’m a little adventurous so I chose to rent a scooter for my trip. One of my contacts came to the Nisbet my first day and we had a nice chat. I decided I liked him and it’s possible we’ll be doing business, but I haven’t made a final decision yet. He was kind enough to take me down to the police station where I got my “drivers license” which cost $24 for 3 months. He also took me to the only dive shop on the island where I booked a couple of dives. (Hey, if you’re on an island for 4 days you better take some time to snorkel or dive!) He dropped me back off at the hotel and we promised to meet up again before I was done on this trip.

Day #2 – Meetings meetings meetings! As some background, Nevis has been providing privacy Foundations and Companies since early 1980’s, and there are also banking options there. (Panama is also a popular one for Foundations and Banking – more on that later.) Since these things fit into our OSI strategy, my goal on this trip was to investigate the legal processes in the jurisdictions, meet the attorneys, judges, and other officials that handle these things, and determine who (if any) of these people I would want to work with.

As it turns out, I probably didn’t need a full 4 days there. Nevis is a very laid back country with all of the real business happening within a stone’s throw of the downtown area. In fact, only ONE of my Nevis contacts was further than 3 blocks from the others – and that one was only away from downtown because they were focused on Citizenship by Investment program and they happened to own an impressive chunk of land and buildings in one of the government approved projects.

I spent the morning meeting 4 or 5 of the big names and set up a couple more appointments that were previously not possible. You have to make an impression with the right people before more doors will open, and that’s what I did. So far so good!

============ Intermission… plane is landing, will have to finish later.

============ The following was written from home. Enjoy!

After that morning of successful meetings, I had to get over to St Kitts to meet with another person… and this was the one I was most excited about. This gentleman has the license to register offshore companies, the contacts to open bank accounts for companies and foreigners, but he’s also a big time real estate developer and is qualified to introduce people into the Citizenship programs.

I’ll sidetrack for just a moment… if you’ve read my thoughts on dual Citizenship, you know that I have the Dominican Republic as my top pick. The reason for that is because it’s the one that’s most accessible to the most people. Getting your Citizenship and Passport in St Kitts or Nevis is easier than the D.R., but it’s also a LOT more expensive. If you have a couple hundred thousand US to spare, let me know and I’ll get you started on becoming a Nevisian or Kittitian.

Anyway, back to my mid-day meeting with “the man”. I had to take a car ferry over to St Kitts, which cost about $20 each way. The ferry, as I later found out, is never on time. As one woman explained to me: “Oh yeah, the captain will pull in about 20 minutes late and then decide to run to town for a couple or 5 errands, maybe have lunch, and then hopefully the boat starts again so we can get across.” Haha! Ok, so I was going to be late and there was no point in sitting on the dusty road in the baking sun for another half hour, so I took a little sight seeing tour.

I learned very quickly that when you’re riding a scooter on this side of the island, it’s not advisable to take your eyes off the road for too long. You’re supposed to be driving on the left, a herd of goats or a pack of monkeys are liable to run out in front of you at any second, and most of the potholes are bigger than your front tire… and those vans that are cruising along at a pretty slow speed? They just stop in the middle of the road with no warning. I almost ate someone’s bumper, but luckily the scooter’s brakes weren’t TOO horrible! Wheels locked up and I screeched to a halt about 2 inches from needing some kind of facial surgery.

A half hour later we were driving onto the ferry, and a short 20 minutes after that we unload on the far side of St Kitts. The road to town is long and bumpy, but you get to climb all the way up to the top of the ridge where you can stop and see two oceans at once, both white sandy shorelines, and it’s just beautiful. I was already running late, though, so I didn’t stop for too long.

When I finally made it into the main town, I once again find that even though St Kitts is much more developed… still no road signs. Eventually I found my destination and my host took me to see his new development project and we had lunch at the on-site restaurant. It was easily a 4 star meal, and the property isn’t even finished! I was impressed to say the least.

We had some good conversation, where I learned that he spoke only 4 languages in comparison to his wife, who speaks 6. More importantly, we both felt that we could work together in a mutually beneficial manner. Once again… successful meeting.

As much as I would have loved to see the town, by the time we were done viewing his properties and getting to know each other, I was almost late for the last ferry back to Nevis. I pointed the scooter back towards the other end of the island and zoomed off. About halfway there I realized I had neglected to look at the fuel gauge and started thinking about what I would do if I ran out of fuel on this desolate road with no cars or gas stations. I tried turning off the engine on downhill stretches, but this silly thing didn’t have a “neutral” so that didn’t work. Oh well, you only live once!

I made it to the ferry without running out of fuel. The ferry was only 30 minutes late this time, and luckily I had cell service for the ride across because my realtor called me with a counter-offer on a commercial property I’d been working on. We chatted for a bit, he told me how cold and rainy it was back home, and I gave him a verbal counter to prepare.

Day 3 – FINALLY some downtime! I didn’t book any appointments for this morning because I wanted to see some fish. Had a great dive – saw 3 turtles, a beautiful coral wall down to about 85’, an octopus, some lobster, a giant ray, and more. On the second dive we saw more turtles and underwater hot springs. THAT was interesting! You wouldn’t know it by looking, but when you stick your hand into the opening in the coral, you can feel warm fresh water coming out. Looking at my dive computer I could see that the temperature was at least 90! Very cool J

Back off the dive boat, I showered up and headed back into town where I met with some more of the local uppity uppitys and learned about as much as I could expect to learn... not least of all was some incredible information about something that is pretty unique to Nevis: The “multi-form” foundation. Here are some quick details on it – use your imagination on how this can be beneficial!

The Nevis Multi-Form Foundation:

·      Provision for existing foreign and domestic business entities to continue, transfer, convert, consolidate or merge into a Multiform Foundation.

·      For administrative purposes it may take the form of a trust, a company, a LLC or a partnership.

·      This form may be changed at any time without affecting existence, rights or obligations.

·      By-laws are filed with register and may be certified, apostilled etc but are not subject to public inspection.

·      A multiform foundation may choose to be governed by foreign law either completely or in part.

·      The name of the Foundation must end with the word 'Foundation' or the abbreviation 'FDN.'

·      There is no requirement for beneficiaries to be named.

·      The Foundation is tax-exempt by default but may elect to become tax-resident of Nevis and pay taxes at a maximum rate of 1% in order to qualify for treaty benefits if desired.

·      Any legal action against the Foundation must be brought exclusively in Nevis and any proceedings apart from criminal proceedings will be held in private.

·      Statute of limitations of one year for fraudulent conveyance claims. Statute of Elizabeth is excluded from Multiform Foundations by the governing law.

·      Use of the Foundation as a self-owned structure may avoid CFC legislation in other jurisdictions.

For reasons that are beyond the scope of this post, I will not be electing to use this vehicle to replace my Seychelles IBC… but this is definitely something that I will be using to compliment my IBC. This is something that most people can do Post-RV, but if you’re interested in forming one immediately simply email Julie at corpoffshore@gmail.com.

Anyway, back to my adventure… day 4 went pretty much the same, with more good contacts made and I was able to narrow down my choices on who I want to work with.

Travel tips: For those of you that may one day have the opportunity to visit Nevis, my strongest recommendation is to head over to Lime, get up to the rooftop bar, and let Jack overserve you. Jack is a formerly wealthy Brit that decided one day she no longer cared for her “stuff” or her then-current lifestyle. She sold it all, moved to Nevis, and has been there ever since. You can expect a classy live saxophone on some nights, dancing on others, and good times regardless of the day. J

by Goldiegirl Fri Jun 05, 2015 1:03 am

I posted this earlier today but it seems it disappeared after over 120 views.

I posted this for the Adam Montana folks who don't get to see what goes on in VIP.

He's got a new ride for the people in VIP. I wanted to let those who want to know (and yes I get emails from them) what Adam has to offer in VIP.

Well here is a sample. Yes folks now he wants you to get into other offshore banks.

So he took trip...Yup in his mind. Looks like he's taking a course from someone else I know who makes up stories.

by **Ssmith** Fri Jun 05, 2015 1:52 am

GoldieGirl:

This site has turned into a rumor and I hate Tony site. There is no conversation other than lets get our hate together and YOU think I bring the hate.

Adam Montan Speaks To VIP

Adam Montan Speaks To VIP

Re: Adam Montan Speaks To VIP

Re: Adam Montan Speaks To VIP