Increasing benefits to offshore banking

As increasing numbers of Britons move abroad there are increasing benefits to be found in banking offshore, one financial expert has claimed.

Natwest said that if you are working abroad or moving abroad benefits are “around the taxation side”, with consumers having increased access to specifically designed products.

Dave Isley, head of NatWest International Personal Banking, said: “Banks are becoming more and more sophisticated at providing very good products to help them do that.”

He adds that those looking to move abroad should ensure that consumers do their research “very carefully” as each country varies in terms of medical assistance and housing.

Consumers moving abroad need to know that they can afford to live there comfortably, Mr Isley concluded.

The comments come after Natwest’s latest report on British expatriates from across the world.

According to the new research, the desire for a better way of life was a strong reason to leave the UK, with over a third (37 per cent) of expats surveyed putting quality of life as their top factor for living abroad.

Tags: access, Legal entities, quality of life, financial expert, research, Banking

Bank says there is a “lack of understanding” in offshore banking

Offshore banking suffers in the UK from a “lack of understanding”, NatWest said today.

Traditionally thought of as offering tax benefits and little else, the bank says that offshore banking gives the customer a raft of advantages if they have “international requirements”, and that the service had “changed” over the past decade.

Head of international private banking for NatWest Julian Gouge said that those who retired abroad might have particular reasons to bank offshore, though he admitted that “there is a degree of complexity” to the understanding of the international taxation systems which is necessitated by the service.

“It’s [about] having an understanding of what you’re doing and when you’re going, in the same way that you would medical facilities or whatever before you go overseas” he added.

“Like all the things, the majority of people think it’s probably best to look at these things beforehand, and the tax is no different.

“I think there probably is some nervousness using them, but just because there’s a lack of understanding if anything,” Mr Gouge surmised.

Tags: past decade.Head, Banking, Taxation, Legal entities, Private banking, NatWest Julian Gouge, natwest