Euro Pacific bank is a Scam!

[Martin Everson]

Robles said:
It's not a scam. It's probably not the best bank around. But I bank with them since 2015 and never had big problems with them. They offer support.
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What problems did you have?

Which category do you fall into also:

1) Can't find any other bank to accept your offshore company?
2) Hoping to avoid CRS?

There is no other reason anyone would go near this substandard opaque shell bank operating in a bankrupt third world country ns2. None of the bankers are actually in Puerto Rico....why is that?

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Please note my posts should not be taken as financial or tax advice. Please seek professional advice in that respect.

 

[intore]

I bank with them since 2015 as well. I admit it's crap, but after 1 year spent asking here and there NOBODY came up with a valid alternative. You all keep suggesting banks that exchange infos. What most people need are non CRS/AEOI banks. Good luck finding another one, in particular when you have a Nevis LLC, you live in European Union and you need to open the account remotely.

 

[Robles]

Martin Everson said:
What problems did you have?

Which category do you fall into also:

1) Can't find any other bank to accept your offshore company?
2) Hoping to avoid CRS?

There is no other reason anyone would go near this substandard opaque shell bank operating in a bankrupt third world country ns2. None of the bankers are actually in Puerto Rico....why is that?
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No problems. Sometimes compliance for new incoming wires take longer than you hope for and recently their migration to new bankingsoftware didn't go as smooth as hoped for. The bank does exchange tax information by the way. However I live in a country that doesn't exchange yet but even than. I use my construction and therefore this bank because my business was usenet related and I wanted a form of privacy. The only reason I would like a second bank is to have a backup. Bank in the sepa area would be nice for lower transactionfees.
I don't understand all the hate. It's a bank. You bank and pay the fees you know upfront. Other banks ask the same fees. If I have questions they pickup the phone. Mail is answered within 24 hours. What else do you need.

intore said:
I bank with them since 2015 as well. I admit it's crap, but after 1 year spent asking here and there NOBODY came up with a valid alternative. You all keep suggesting banks that exchange infos. What most people need are non CRS/AEOI banks. Good luck finding another one, in particular when you have a Nevis LLC, you live in European Union and you need to open the account remotely.
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I didn't know they don't report yet.

To whom is the information reported:

• For accounts held by Euro Pacific Securities, Inc. (Global Trading), the required information will be reported to Financial Services Commission (FSC) of the British Virgin Islands.
• For accounts held by Euro Pacific Intl. Bank Inc., there is no reporting since the United States and Puerto Rico are non-participating jurisdictions.

When will reporting take place and for what timeframe:

• For accounts held by Euro Pacific Securities, Inc. (Global Trading), the information will be reported for the first time in May 2018 for new accounts opened in the period of November 20th to December 30th 2017

For me this reporting is not why I need an offshore bank. I got my Seychellen company with EPB in 2015. Used ABC bank on Mauritius before that which was the same deal basically.

If you have a Seychellen Limited and you are resident of a "shithole" country and you don't want your money on local banks and you facilitate technically Internet businesses like Usenet you have a hard time finding other banks. If the nay-sayers have alternatives feel free to let me know where I can find it 😉

Last edited by a moderator: Nov 4, 2018

 

[intore]

Robles, you are lucky enough to live in a shithole country, but lots of people doing offshore business are living in the European Union. The first thing EU people does check is if the bank is reporting. Most people owning offshores are total tax evaders, even if they will hardly admit it. Otherwise nobody would stress with those crappy banks.

 

[Robles]

True. I'm European but decided to emigrate 15 years ago. At that time I was not busy with reporting. It's just pure luck I'm now resident of a country that does not yet participate in this reporting. I do however would like a more solid solution. Currently as non EU resident already twice my debitcards stopped working. That is not EPB it's fault as many EMI's and banks have problems getting debitcards out to non-EU residents. If anyone on this forum would be able to tell me which European bank accepts offshore companies I would be obliged. I mainly do business in Europe and it would help.

 

[Martin Everson]

Robles said:
If you have a Seychellen Limited and you are resident of a "shithole" country and you don't want your money on local banks and you facilitate technically Internet businesses like Usenet you have a hard time finding other banks.
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So you fall into Category 1) of the two categories I suggested above that all clients fall into 😉. I am not mad at that at all...lol smi(&%. However banking with a opaque shell bank in a bankrupt country and with a bank you know nothing about is madness. Desperation always leads to bad decisions.

Perhaps you will discover the real reason their card provider pulled the plug in below thread 😉. Fact remains their clients fall into the two categories I describe and even you have proven it now...lol.

Euro Pacific Bank dataleak?

intore said:
I bank with them since 2015 as well. I admit it's crap, but after 1 year spent asking here and there NOBODY came up with a valid alternative. You all keep suggesting banks that exchange infos. What most people need are non CRS/AEOI banks. Good luck finding another one, in particular when you have a Nevis LLC, you live in European Union and you need to open the account remotely.
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And you fall into Category 2) 😉.

Two perfect examples proving my point. However I guess for some its better to bank with a shady shell bank in bankrupt country just to get an account number for their shell company. No hate intended. EPB is the bottom of the barrel in banking terms and putting up with sub-par service, long payment times and opaque operation is worth it just to get an account number for a shell enterprise. Never mind that most EU countries CFC rules generally nullify the point of an offshore shell company. I guess it is still worth the effort and risk for some rather than re-thinking their whole setup 🙁.

Last edited by a moderator: Nov 4, 2018
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[Robles]

It's just not true what you state. Long pay times? My outgoing wire transfers are processed the same day and arrive within 24-48 hours on their destinations.

Another reason for EPB to not be able to provide debitcards? Do some research https://www.quora.com/Visa-and-Mast...the-start-of-2018-Is-there-an-alternative-for

If you have a better alternative than let me know. I'm very interested . Sent me an PB for example. For now you only burn EPB to the ground with no legit arguments at all. I didn't lose a penny in 3 years. My transactions go flawless.

 

[intore]

The only other options I have are North Cyprus and Montenegro. North Cyprus opens account only for offshores registered in North Cyprus and you must be introduced by a local lawyer, so it would take some time. Not sure about Montenegro, I wonder if they would open an account for a Nevis llc and also not sure about how many questions they would ask.

 

[Robles]

intore said:
The only other options I have are North Cyprus and Montenegro. North Cyprus opens account only for offshores registered in North Cyprus and you must be introduced by a local lawyer, so it would take some time. Not sure about Montenegro, I wonder if they would open an account for a Nevis llc and also not sure about how many questions they would ask.
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I honestly don't really need offshore solutions since over time my work is just working on software development with my team. Since my developers all reside in Europe and most of my clients also reside in Europe I want an European company with European bankaccount in the most tax friendly country there is in Europe. I had me informed about Estonian e-residency. Not hard to get but no Estonian bank will get you a bankaccount unless you provide business within Estonia. So much for e-residency which was ment for digital nomads. I don't feel comfortable to have my annual return of 250k euro go through companies like Revolut, Paysera and N26. I rather have a normal bank with some form of warrantees.

 

[Martin Everson]

Robles said:
It's just not true what you state. Long pay times? My outgoing wire transfers are processed the same day and arrive within 24-48 hours on their destinations.
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I am referring to both inbound and payments in a round trip. If you get fast payment processing then that is good news for you.

Robles said:
Another reason for EPB to not be able to provide debitcards? Do some research https://www.quora.com/Visa-and-Mast...the-start-of-2018-Is-there-an-alternative-for
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So nobody outside the EEA has a Visa or MasterCard you are implying? Come on now just think through and use common sense please 🙂

Robles said:
If you have a better alternative than let me know. I'm very interested
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My guess is you want remote opening and not to visit in person? Have a look around the forum firstly.

Robles said:
I honestly don't really need offshore solutions since over time my work is just working on software development with my team. Since my developers all reside in Europe and most of my clients also reside in Europe I want an European company with European bankaccount in the most tax friendly country there is in Europe. I had me informed about Estonian e-residency. Not hard to get but no Estonian bank will get you a bankaccount unless you provide business within Estonia. So much for e-residency which was ment for digital nomads. I don't feel comfortable to have my annual return of 250k euro go through companies like Revolut, Paysera and N26. I rather have a normal bank with some form of warrantees.
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Yes the Estonia solution is failing because of Estonia's banking scandal. You can however still use it with Transferwise but that's not a long term solution. Never tried to open a plain EU bank account with an Estonian company. But will give it a go for testing purposes in the future 🙂

Last edited by a moderator: Nov 4, 2018
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[Robles]

I did search the forum whole week. I have been talking with an Estonian company for days and almost thought I had the solution. During the research I found out it's quite simple in my case. EU company with EU account. Pay corporate taxes and pay income tax in my country of residency. That way I keep my capital safely in Europe and not on a weak bank in my country of residency. Opening bankaccount preferably remote since traveling to Europe is quite expensive for me.

 

[Martin Everson]

Lets not get off topic here. Open a new thread for that discussion.

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[Milky Moon]

Martin Everson said:
Yes the Estonia solution is failing because of Estonia's banking scandal. You can however still use it with Transferwise but that's not a long term solution. Never tried to open a plain EU bank account with an Estonian company. But will give it a go for testing purposes in the future 🙂
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You can use holvi.com.

Robles said:
I did search the forum whole week. I have been talking with an Estonian company for days and almost thought I had the solution. During the research I found out it's quite simple in my case. EU company with EU account. Pay corporate taxes and pay income tax in my country of residency. That way I keep my capital safely in Europe and not on a weak bank in my country of residency. Opening bankaccount preferably remote since traveling to Europe is quite expensive for me.
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If it is too expensive you do not 'need' it anyway.

Last edited by a moderator: Nov 4, 2018

 

[Robles]

Milky Moon said:
If it is too expensive you do not 'need' it anyway.
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The most succesfull entrepeneurs are the ones who find all unneeded costs too expensive. Trust me. In business since 1997 and survived the Internet bubble. Living a comfortable life in South America.

 

[Milky Moon]

Robles said:
The most succesfull entrepeneurs are the ones who find all unneeded costs too expensive. Trust me. In business since 1997 and survived the Internet bubble. Living a comfortable life in South America.
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My apologies then. I clearly know nothing.

 

[ivan1911]

@Milky Moon
You Sir strike me as person who knows a lot , so if you have time please give me some advice on this:

I am contemplating opening a Euro pacific bank account , I would need it to receive payments form USA mostly but other parts of the world as well.. in a year I'd get about $50.ooo , that's the extra from my legal business that I so not wish declare to my EU country.

Can I simply open account there with my own real name and be relatively worry free as EPB is not a part of CRS and they do not share any info with EU ?

I would have my normal business like 70%~80% of it done legally with all taxes payed but just would like that 50k a year 'tax free' as I'm sick of paying ~45% to my home country.

btw my paypal still works with my payoneer but i'm afraid to use it as paypal also reports.. so i just stopped using paypal.

Thank you for your time!!!

 

[Robles]

Milky Moon said:
My apologies then. I clearly know nothing.
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So first instead of giving constructive advice you somehow felt the need to act like an a*s with the 'need' remark and as soon as I respond to this totally unneeded flame you start wining like a little kid on a schoolyard. Grow up man. Are you on this board solely to insult other people? I reckon you run a hell of a business if this is your attitude towards total strangers. The contrast in attitude between you and @Martin Everson is huge. But have a good life. You are probably young and still learning.

 

[Milky Moon]

Guess where you are on the graph.

 

[Rouffian]

ivan1911 said:
@Milky Moon
You Sir strike me as person who knows a lot , so if you have time please give me some advice on this:

I am contemplating opening a Euro pacific bank account , I would need it to receive payments form USA mostly but other parts of the world as well.. in a year I'd get about $50.ooo , that's the extra from my legal business that I so not wish declare to my EU country.

Can I simply open account there with my own real name and be relatively worry free as EPB is not a part of CRS and they do not share any info with EU ?

I would have my normal business like 70%~80% of it done legally with all taxes payed but just would like that 50k a year 'tax free' as I'm sick of paying ~45% to my home country.

btw my paypal still works with my payoneer but i'm afraid to use it as paypal also reports.. so i just stopped using paypal.

Thank you for your time!!!
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Hi Ivan,

You are me 5 years ago. I had the exact same need, though for different reasons; my partner is Greek and had just had his savings haircut by the Greek government. He had sold his apartment in order to buy one together with his wife, and had the sale price in his Cyprus account. He lost a shedload and decided henceforth to keep his money out of sight of what is basically a kleptocracy.

We both opened personal accounts with EPB, and later opened a business account when we got a great business opportunity. We both pay taxes in France, but figured that the business would be at risk if the Greeks found out about it.

So, if you can explain where your money comes from and it's not criminal I would recommend an EPB account. Most of the moronic moaning against the bank on this forum is ill-informed. It's not the most efficient bank in the world, but you do have access to a manager who remembers you and the costs are acceptable if you consider them versus the alternatives. I had to wait a long time for an incoming payment twice so far, but the afore-mentioned Devin Baldo pushed it for me last time, and most of the time I don't have issues.

I did once have to fill in a form explaining why I was sending my daughter €3,000 which provided some hilarity to me. (How did your relationship with the payee come about? : "I inseminated her mother."), but you do that once for each payee, and it's not a lot harder than doing it through RBS or Barclays.

I don't get money from the USA, so I can't advise on that issue, but in general terms I say go for it.

Salut, Rouffian.

 

[ivan1911]

@Rouffian
Thank you for your reply!
I emailed EPB and am waiting back on their reply.
I would get money mostly from private usa residents and business is 100% legal.
Just need to see is i can do it with private account or if i absolutely need corporate account , if i need corporate then i of course will need to set up a company, just have to do some more research on where to open it as i wouldn't like to be a part of a public register