Planning to open an Offshore Bank Account for Yourself or your Company ?

• SFM has extensive experience with both private as well as corporate bank account opening in 18 key banking jurisdictions, with over 40 of the world’s leading top tier banks
• Provides maximum confidentiality.
• SFM is recognized as a partner by banks with the highest quality reputationand a long track record of financial excellence. A rigorous application and drafting procedure is applied before a bank has the opportunity to cater its services to SFM’s international clientele
• SFM is partnered with banks that have guaranteed low fee structures, and acustomer focused approach.

What Banking facilities are available?

St Vincent

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island country in the Lesser Antilles Island arc, in the southern portion of the Windward Islands, which lie at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea where the latter meets the Atlantic Ocean. The official language is English. English is used in education, government, religion, and other formal domains.

Banking in St Vincent

St Vincent is a major offshore financial jurisdiction, which offers maximum confidentiality, a modern banking infrastructure, and excellent stability. SFM is closely partnered with all of the top tier banks in the region and can offer clients unrivaled support in setting up an offshore bank account in St Vincent.

History

St Vincent was a French colony for most of the 1600’s, before being handed off to Britain at the end of the 1700’s. St Vincent and the Grenadines is now a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The St Vincentian economy is well diversified. Banking, along with tourism and international trade, buoyed economic growth in the years since its independence. Its financial sector remains an important pillar of its economy, with banking taking its lead. St Vincent has become a well-known banking centre for high net worth individuals the world over. Many bankers call it “the new Switzerland”, and citizens from Western Europe and Asia use it as an important business hub. St Vincent has not suffered as many other countries did during the international economic crisis, and its banks remained stable and profitable, adding to its excellent reputation.

Banking Institutions

Despite St Vincent being a small island nation, there are 42 authorized banks. Banking in St Vincent is controlled and regulated by the Financial Services Authority of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Laws and Regulations

St Vincent is a well-known and respected offshore banking jurisdiction. The Financial Services Authority of St Vincent and the Grenadines is the main governing and regulatory body of banks registered in St Vincent. Furthermore, as St Vincent is a member the Commonwealth of Nations, and banking deposits are stable. This includes accrued interest up to the date of maturity of the deposit or the date on which the deposit fell due. Deposits in the name of a particular person and/or company, held with different banks, are considered as being separate deposits.

Bank Secrecy

St Vincent was ranked at the 62nd position worldwide by the 2014 Financial Secrecy Index, as a calculation that has been based on its share of the global market for offshore financial services. St Vincent accounts for about 1 per cent of the global market for offshore financial services. The St Vincent Banking Law states that all employees, directors, managers, agents, etc and any persons who have access to the records of a bank are forbidden from revealing in any way any information regarding the account of any individual customer of the bank, even after their employment with the bank has been terminated.

Electronic Payments

St Vincent and the Grenadines is a member of the the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT). The SWIFT network is the safest and most secure system for financial transactions worldwide.

Banking Facilities

SFM has a relationship with an extensive network of private and major banks in St Vincent and the Grenadines. All of the banks we refer our customers to offer a full international banking platform, with multi-currency accounts (£, € & $) as well with online banking and debit/credit cards. Cyprus also offers prepaid credit card services for both corporate as well as private bank accounts.

Once your order has been completed, you will be assigned a dedicated account manager that will guide you through the bank account opening procedure. Then, we will carefully select with you a bank from one of our leading partners, that perfectly fits your requirements like a tailored suit.

Which documents are needed to open a bank account?

As a general rule the bank asks for a certified copy of the shareholder's and director's passport (beneficial owner), as well as recent proof of residence which, must be less than three months old. If the client goes to the bank in person to open the account, a certified copy of the passport is not required.

We will send you the additional documents necessary for opening the account by email, as an attachment, for you to sign and return to us preferably by special courier ( DHL, FedEx or Chronopost), along with the other documents mentioned above.