Birgulino and Funster hit on good reasons - frivolous litigation threat is an especially big one. The laws of the foreign country combined with foreign corporations and trusts can serve as a shield. The international law aspects of it get very complicated, but generally a US court must have jurisdiction to enforce a judgment... I'm speculating, but there may also be some estate planning/inheritance benefits offshore, especially if an individual owns property internationally. another is financial privacy - which is now essentially nonexistent in the US...
Well done Mettooxx. For those that are US citizen, you must report ownership in any foriegn entity to the IRS. The big thing about offshore credit card information is the tip of the iceberg in the IRS' never ending effort to get every last dollar from money earners. If you think the IRS is going to turn a blind eye once they get wind of ownership in a foreign entity, guess again. They would likely open you up to an unlimited review spanning far more than the 7 year statute due to misrepresentation of income. It's in how you structure the entity which gives you the advantage, not the fact that it's located in a foriegn land. Many structures are available to US based traders that are beneficial, but, not as nice as some that are offshore. Later, Cracked
I have a great broker offshore. No online trading. Great personal service and he knows how to make money in the market. Great for option strategies. Great for shorting stocks under $5 and for shorting Bulletin Board stocks. He specializes in shorting BB scams. You will have to pay .25% for stocks. Option trades are competitive. Send me private mail for more info.
Doesn't matter if you only pay $12 trade if you are losing your ass. I will gladly pay more for good service. Help with margin calls ect. I was in a margin call for a month with this guy and he helped me save my account once.
You are right .25% is too much for day trading. But if you are doing swing trading and options strategies it is ok. I'm up 100% in 2 months with him so i'm not too concerned about commissions.