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, natwest, Private banking, Taxation, NatWest Julian Gouge, Legal entities, complexity