Most business owners know that they need to form either a corporation
or LLC to protect themselves from the risks associated with running
businesses in our modern world. Alas, most don't think through the
process to its logical end when evaluating these risks. As a result,
they often don't realize that they may need two, not one, business
entities.

Let's start with a simple question. Why do you form a business entity?
Yes, there can be tax reasons, but most form them to protect themselves
from the risks associated with being in business. These risks include
being sued for a ton of money or having creditors come after the company
to collect debts. Business entities are great at creating a shield
between you, the owner, and these debts. The question is whether that is
enough. For many businesses, it is not.

So, what is the problem? The problem is most of your valuable and
critical assets are actually owned by the corporation. This means they
are exposed to the risks of running the business. Consider an example. I
own a hosting company for websites. I incorporate it and business goes
really well. Everyone knows "Chapo's Hosting". I have a trademark, logo
and the whole nine yards. My servers get hacked in the first week of
December and all the sites of my clients are down for the first 10 days
of the month, the busiest on the web. I get sued for millions. While I
am not going to be personally liable, I am going to lose all my servers,
equipment, trademark and logo to the companies suing me. Once I lose
all of those, it is just a matter of time till I can't meet my personal
bills and lose my home, car and so on. We are talking about a nightmare!

A Second Passport?

Second citizenship can be something like a global insurance policy that
entails any individual to make use of the dissimilar parts of two
countries for a better set of options, most likely financially. It can
become quite apparent in small nations with a not-so-bright
socio-economic condition, where individuals often find it easier to make
a better living in another country. One that you can choose. Dual
nationality has always been held by wealthy people with a knowledge of
world history. They know of the dangers of placing an entire future in
the hands of politicians. Patriotism might be OK if governments were
consistent and let you be free. But socialistic Big Brother
bureau(c)rats now have the power to run your life from cradle to grave.
Most of them think that all people who own businesses. securities, gold,
foreign bank accounts or property are criminals who should be relieved
of them and what little freedom they still have left. It is therefore
imperative for the security of anyone of substance or ambition to have
at least one other passport and nationality.

A second passport can give you peace of mind. It can help save you
taxes. It also expands your travel opportunities. In some circumstances a
second passport could even save your life. Here more specifically are
some of the reasons someone might want a second passport.

Residence.

Residence gives you the right, without having to ask permission, to live
and work in the country of your choice.

Security.

"Just in case." The world is an unstable place. Anything could happen -
although it probably won't. Against the day when it might, however, a
second passport, or second nationality, means that when you decide
you're no longer happy in your normal place of residence, you do not
need to apply for
permission to reside somewhere else, because you already have the right
to do so.

Travel.

A second passport can make it easier for you to travel to many
countries, especially if you now hold a restricted passport such as a
Hong Kong Certificate of Identity, or a Taiwanese, Israeli or South
African passport. Depending on your choice of second passport, or second
nationality, the process of
gaining entry to many other countries can be made much more simpler.

Safety.

Even if you hold one of the world's most respected passports~ such as
that of a US citizen, there can be times when you wish you were able to
show some other piece of identification. For example: when the aircraft
in which you are traveling is hi-jacked by anti-American terrorists.

Business and work.

Another passport will more often than not give you the right to work and
do business in its country of issue without obtaining a work permit,
and similar advantages above and beyond those of your current national
status. Citizenship of a member state of the European Economic Community
gives you the right, under the Treaty of Rome, to live, work and/or
establish a business in any other member country of the EEC.

Many investors are puzzled by the various terms used by bankers in
describing ways to protect their money. Here is a short list of some of
the most common ones.

Asset Protection Trust (APT) is an irrevocable trust, usually created
(settled) offshore for the principal purposes of preserving and
protecting wealth against creditors. Title to the asset is transferred
to a trustee. It is used for asset protection and usually tax neutral.
Its function is to provide for the beneficiaries of the APT. A trust is a
contract affecting three parties, the settlor (who sets up the offshore
trust; also called the grantor in U.S. or IRS terms), the trustee and
the beneficiary. A trust protector is optional but recommended, as well.
Through the trust, the settlor transfers asset ownership to the trustee
on behalf of the beneficiaries.

Business trust is created for the primary purpose of running a business.
These trusts are treated as persons under the Internal Revenue Code
(IRC). It must have a commercial purpose and actually function as a
business.

CARICOM is the Caribbean Common Market. Its members consist of 14 member
countries of the Caribbean community, including Antigua, Bahamas,
Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica,
Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Surinam,
Trinidad and Tobago. The purpose of this organization is to encourage
free trade and free movement of labor. Conspicuous by their absence are
the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands, the two major players
in international banking and finance, which did not wish to be
regulated by a small local community because of greater international
ties.

Discretionary Trust is a grantor trust in which the trustee has sole
discretion as to who among the listed beneficiaries receives income
and/or principal disbursement. The trustee has full authority over the
fund, or it would cease to be a discretionary trust. A letter of wishes,
or side letter, can provide guidance to the trustee without having any
legal and binding effects. The letter(s) must be carefully drafted, as
the trustee cannot be seen as a pawn of the beneficiaries or there is
basis for the argument that there never was a complete renouncement of
the assets.

Estate is the sum of personal interests in real and/or personal
property.

Flight Capital is money which flows offshore and likely never returns.
It is exacerbated by a lack of confidence in government fiscal
management.

GmbH is a German form of a limited liability corporation.