Asset Protection

Lawsuits have become a way of doing business in the United States and other countries.  The economic climate is shaky in the US banking sector.  Companies are now taking a serious look at where and how to keep their money safe.  Putting money into a large US based bank is no longer a secure option.

Asset Protection Offshore vs Onshore

Since traditional banks onshore are no longer considered safe, many companies are now looking for a safe place to do their banking.  Panama is the heart of the Central American banking system, due to it's stability and strong banking laws.  In addition to bank secrecy, Panama's laws are very conservative and require the banks to keep far more cash on hand relative to investments than their onshore counterparts.    Panama is also favored among offshore banking jurisdictions, due to its political stability (true democratic elections) and strong bank secrecy laws.

Foreign Judgements

Legal challenges from abroad are basically ignored here in Panama. Foreign judgements are politely returned to sender.  All legal challenges have to be done through the Panama courts, which are decidedly slanted in favor of supporting local Panamanian companies.  If a foreign court or other entity were to try to attack your Panama company's funds, they would have to convince a Panama court there is a good reason to even have their case heard.  Foreign evidence must go through a series of  difficult steps to be considered authentic and admissible in Panama.  Furthermore, Panama courts are not interested in the activities of individuals outside their jurisdiction.  In addition, they do not enforce foreign judgements.  So an attacker is at a loss as to how to proceed.  The Panama courts won't take a foreign court case seriously, and they won't hear evidence that didn't take place in Panama.  Situations that arise out of onshore lawsuits, domestic disputes, divorce, etc are ignored by Panama courts. 

Panama Asset Protection Structures

We setup our legal structures so that an attack on your assets does NOT need to be defended.  Instead, an attack on your asset protection structure will only serve as notification that an attack is underway, at which time, we have a set of procedures to help you continue to keep your assets both private and safe.  Many people don't understand why we go to such lengths to make sure we register a corporation and foundation in the unique way we do.  It seems a little unnecessary until there is an attack.  Our asset protection packages have outer warning layers built in that do not require you to defend yourself.  This is critical to your privacy, because if you have to defend yourself, you will also be giving up your identity.  Whether you choose our law firm or not, please ensure the asset protection plan you choose does not require you to defend an attack on the outer most layer.  

Help - I am already being sued.

What can I do now?  I get asked this question a lot.  Basically this is what it comes down to.  If you try to move your money once court proceedings have begun, or even if you have been notified by a lawyer in most jurisdictions, you would be committing fraudulent conveyance.  At this point, its too late.  Some people do proceed anyway (against our advice as we will never advise you to break the law in any jurisdiction)  and form a Panama foundation which they donate their money to.  The foundation is setup so that its beneficiary (beneficial owner) is a trust.  The trust structure is further complicated by a trail of trust structures throughout 3 jurisdictions, all with their own strong privacy laws.  The donated money is now out of the control of the domestic court.  The court cannot prove why you made the donation, nor can it make you return the money that is now out of your control.  The foundation can then invest the money into one or more anonymous bearer share Panama corporations.  Again we cannot recommend you follow any actions considered illegal in your home country.  We can, however, recommend this solution to anyone who feels they might be sued, but no legal action has been taken yet.  Call for details on how we can adapt this solution to your situation.