Offshore (non resident banking) for Canadian thinking about Paraguay residency?

[freedomseeker]

As the title states, I am considering leaving Canada and getting residence in Paraguay (not to live full time, but as a base to set myself up tax wise). That being said I would prefer to do most of my banking outside of the country.

Would obtaining Paraguay residence hinder myself from finding adequate banking in safe jurisdictions? Setting up a IBKR accout?

What countries and banks should I look to that would onboard me as a private multi currency account (money in usd and local)? (obviously I would prefer as low of minimum balance as possible unless it can be used toward investing, I am solidly middle class, not high worth)

 

[Dom pedro]

The options are limited but from my research there are some:
Banks/EMIs: AdvCash, Dukascopy, SwissQuote, possibly Puerto Rican banks such as ItalBank. If you are willing to travel, there are probably more options, like even the US.
Brokers: IBKR, Tradestation, Trading212, SwissQuote.

One thing you might consider is opening an offshore just for the purpose of banking.

 

[Forester]

Dom pedro said:
The options are limited but from my research there are some:
Banks/EMIs: AdvCash, Dukascopy, SwissQuote, possibly Puerto Rican banks such as ItalBank. If you are willing to travel, there are probably more options, like even the US.
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Have you checked the banks at Channel Islands? (Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, ...) I suspect that it can also work...

Dom pedro said:
One thing you might consider is opening an offshore just for the purpose of banking.
Click to expand...

Yes, it can work ”“ although perhaps it's a little bit overkill, IMO.

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I am just a simple countryman. Anything I say is only a personal opinion, not a certified advice 🙂

If you think it makes sense, you can like it; if opposite, please, tell me, why I am wrong...

 

[RealDude]

Wise Personal is supported in Paraguay. Wise Business not.

Considering Paraguay too. In 2023, some rules will change. Who knows what will come after that, maybe similar to Panama? Thus, one should hurry up...

 

[Forester]

RealDude said:
Wise Personal is supported in Paraguay. Wise Business not.
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@freedomseeker have asked about adequate banking... 😉 😉

RealDude said:
Considering Paraguay too. In 2023, some rules will change.
Click to expand...

BTW, what will happen? (It's a little bit OT, so take it adequately 🙂.)

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I am just a simple countryman. Anything I say is only a personal opinion, not a certified advice 🙂

If you think it makes sense, you can like it; if opposite, please, tell me, why I am wrong...

 

[MiltonStone]

RealDude said:
Wise Personal is supported in Paraguay. Wise Business not.
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In theory you could live with a simple personal account I would say.

 

[Forester]

MiltonStone said:
In theory you could live with a simple personal account I would say.
Click to expand...

It depends on the way how he/she makes money for living...

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I am just a simple countryman. Anything I say is only a personal opinion, not a certified advice 🙂

If you think it makes sense, you can like it; if opposite, please, tell me, why I am wrong...

 

[backpacker]

freedomseeker said:
What countries and banks should I look to that would onboard me as a private multi currency account (money in usd and local)?
Click to expand...

... "local" = guaraní -> Not achievable with offshore banking (day-to-day transactions).
It also does not make much sense: Only keep offshore what you do not need for a living. If you do not want that because you do not even trust the local system for that amount, better look for another country.

Forester said:
It depends on the way how he/she makes money for living...
Click to expand...

Indeed, that's what he should tell us to get better suggestions.

 

[Dom pedro]

RealDude said:
Wise Personal is supported in Paraguay. Wise Business not.

Considering Paraguay too. In 2023, some rules will change. Who knows what will come after that, maybe similar to Panama? Thus, one should hurry up...
Click to expand...

What rules will change?

RealDude said:
Wise Personal is supported in Paraguay. Wise Business not.

Considering Paraguay too. In 2023, some rules will change. Who knows what will come after that, maybe similar to Panama? Thus, one should hurry up...
Click to expand...

Wise Personal is supported, but there is no Debit Card and no Guarani. The local people use it to send/receive USD from paraguay banks via Swift.

If you want local alternatives in Guarani that you can open remotely, it seems the easiest ones are Tigo Money and Ueno. The most convenient way to top up the cards is by selling USDT on Binance P2P.

 

[freedomseeker]

Forester said:
Have you checked the banks at Channel Islands? (Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, ...) I suspect that it can also work...

Yes, it can work ”“ although perhaps it's a little bit overkill, IMO.
Click to expand...

which banks in the channel islands would you recommend?

RealDude said:
Wise Personal is supported in Paraguay. Wise Business not.

Considering Paraguay too. In 2023, some rules will change. Who knows what will come after that, maybe similar to Panama? Thus, one should hurry up...
Click to expand...

I have done extensive research and I can recomend a agent. (about $2000 for the agent and all government fees and done in 5-6 weeks)

Forester said:
It depends on the way how he/she makes money for living...
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I have a pension, but more then 50% of my money comes from investment in the stock market (mostly usa).

I am using wise to have my Canadian pension deposited each month so I can have access it and have a decent conversion rate. However I need a bank account for the proceeds of my investments and to transfer some money from my wise as the limits on pulling cash out are quite low.

Anyways that is how I see it... Is there a better way to structure? (paraguay might just be my base, and travel from there. I am also considering Malaysia as it also has a territorial tax system)

Forester said:
@freedomseeker have asked about adequate banking... 😉 😉

BTW, what will happen? (It's a little bit OT, so take it adequately 🙂.)
Click to expand...

In the new year it is expected (although not certain) that instead of automatically getting permanent residency, one will only be able to get 2 years temporary and then a chance for permanent (which of course the laws could change again in the 2 years).

backpacker said:
... "local" = guaraní -> Not achievable with offshore banking (day-to-day transactions).
It also does not make much sense: Only keep offshore what you do not need for a living. If you do not want that because you do not even trust the local system for that amount, better look for another country.

Indeed, that's what he should tell us to get better suggestions.
Click to expand...

Yes I would prefer to have the majority of my wealth offshore from my place of residence, it just seems safer.

Dom pedro said:
What rules will change?



Wise Personal is supported, but there is no Debit Card and no Guarani. The local people use it to send/receive USD from paraguay banks via Swift.

If you want local alternatives in Guarani that you can open remotely, it seems the easiest ones are Tigo Money and Ueno. The most convenient way to top up the cards is by selling USDT on Binance P2P.
Click to expand...

read above about the (possible) rule changes.

 

[backpacker]

freedomseeker said:
more then 50% of my money comes from investment in the stock market (mostly usa).
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If that is the case, why Paraguay? The country has no Income Tax Treaty with USA.
The same is valid for Malaysia which means that you will get zero relief when it comes to US withholding tax.

 

[Forester]

freedomseeker said:
which banks in the channel islands would you recommend?
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Honestly, I have no personal experience with them in the last years, only from what I heard from my business partners; so I would definitely recommend you to perform more research; the things are changing. I would start from Barclays and Standard Chartered (both are onboarding on-line), they have a good reputation IMO; but another ones might fit you as well; personally I would avoid HSBC and Santander (bad experiences in the past) and Unicredit (very bad experiences in the past). Barclays has branches in all the islands but they used to direct all international clients to the Isle of Man branch, Standard Chartered has a branch in Jersey.

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I am just a simple countryman. Anything I say is only a personal opinion, not a certified advice 🙂

If you think it makes sense, you can like it; if opposite, please, tell me, why I am wrong...