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Buying a Bank: Discover your opportunities in Puerto Rico

10/5/2020 8:00:00 AM
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Right now, if you’re a ultra high net worth individual, one of the most attractive options to protect and expand your wealth is opening your own bank in a safe jurisdiction. Thus, we present you an unparalleled possibility: we can help you acquire your own bank in Puerto Rico.

Buying a bank in Puerto Rico means involving yourself with a robust jurisdiction that has not succumbed to international pressure.

If you are acquainted with banking licenses, you may know that they are incredibly hard to obtain. It can be a long, tiresome process, and in the end, a small mistake can mean you won’t receive the license.

But buying a bank takes that part of the problem away. It is the best way to simplify the process—no endless meetings with the regulator, unpayable fees, and no mountains of paperwork.

Further, this bank brings the following advantages:

● It has SWIFT and Fedlink, plus two correspondent partners. It is a fully operational bank.

● It is eligible for Fedwire. International banks in Puerto Rico can open accounts in the Federal Reserve. To qualify, a bank must’ve been operating for 12 months and go through an audit. This bank has been operating for 3.5 years, and, thus is eligible to apply.

● Puerto Rico is the best offshore jurisdiction to invest in right now. The best-known offshore jurisdictions, such as Cayman Islands, Dominica, Belize, etc., are having net loss of over 30% per year and/or losing offshore banks. Even Panama, Luxembourg, and Switzerland are having a tough time. Puerto Rico is booming: it has about 50 new banking applications pending and multiple bidders on any bank that comes up for sale. The US territory is the only offshore banking jurisdiction where we see growth.

Why has Puerto Rico become the best jurisdiction? Simple:

● The improved jurisdictional reputation over competitors in the Caribbean.

● The relative ease of securing correspondent banks compared to competitors.

● It avoids the high cost of US FATCA by being located in a US territory.

● The 4% tax rate on the net profits of international banks with no withholding tax when those dividends are paid out to the shareholders or an offshore corporation.

● The ability to join the US banking system with Fedwire, SWIFT, ACH, MasterCard and Visa, e-commerce acquiring, etc.

● As part of the US, Puerto Rico is a non-CRS jurisdiction.

● The fact that US bank holding company rules don’t apply and foreign shareholders are allowed (in fact, they are encouraged).

Buying your own bank in Puerto Rico means you won’t have to apply for an additional license and pass through the whole process. As usual, we can help you with that.


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Why Puerto Rico?

First, the island is a popular destination for US citizens who want a more beneficial tax policy. In the US, the overall tax burden is almost 40%.

In contrast, Puerto Rico applies several tax incentives that can reduce the income tax rate to a microscopic 4%. Financial institutions enjoy tax benefits such as a 20-year exemption from tax payments on their foreign-origin income and the same 4% on their local-origin income.

As a bank licensed in Puerto Rico, you can conduct all manner of international banking, trading, investment, FX, and money management business. You can also operate as a private bank, Fintech bank, fund manager, asset manager, family office, a captive bank with reduced compliance requirements, and so on.


Your best option in Puerto Rico

The idea of creating a bank sounds like something almost impossible and more appropriate for ultra-high net worth than for the standard-sized business entrepreneur. But it's not as unattainable as you might think, nor as risky. Today we are going to show you an even better possibility. You can buy your own bank in Puerto Rico and receive a license with it.

We are selling a US Bank located in Puerto Rico, organized and constituted under law 273 of Puerto Rico.

This bank was founded three years ago. It is aimed to be a “Boutique Commercial Bank.” It means that all products, services, and organizational structures are designed to provide tailored solutions to each customer´s specific needs. Therefore, the bank strives to make the difference between traditional commercial banking and “Solutions Driven Banking.”

An important asset of this bank is that technology plays an integral role in the development of its strategy. They have a Tier-1 technology environment and protocols that are the cornerstone of their business model.

It has some characteristics that might help you with your choice. For instance, they provide global reach, flexibility, accessibility, etc. Also, they are risk-oriented.

However, what makes this bank especially attractive is how they managed to have a broad range of tech allies. These include allies to improve its Bank Core System, Wire Transfer System, BSA/AML Monitoring System, IT Cloud, and Manage Service. Besides this, they have a SWIFT Alliance and SWIFT Service Provider.

Regarding the Bank Core System, they have different modules such as the Deposit Module (DDA, Savings, CDs, Money Market), Lending Module, etc.

Other important tools are the ones included in the BSA/AML Monitoring System, such as daily Account’s Transactions monitoring (Automated), risk alerts (Daily, Weekly, and Monthly), and OFAC Verification to Customer Portfolio, wire Transfers (All Parties), employees and vendors.

Regarding the BSA/AML OFAC Tools, the bank offers access to:

● OFAC Listing

● FBI Most Wanted Listing

● SDN Listing

● PEP

● Social Media search

● Derogatory news filtering

Finally, about IT Cloud and Manage Service, this bank provides IT Communications Managed Service (Firewall, Switches, PBX, among others), PBX Manage Service, Cloud Hosting, Intranet Hosting, Web Page Hosting, IT Consultants, and Wire Transfers.


Do you have questions?

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Why buy a bank instead of acquiring a license?

Maybe you’re reading this and still think that you prefer to start your own bank from scratch. This is something we can do, and you can read about it here, but this isn’t the way you want to go.

Why?

● There are more than 50 applications for offshore banks pending in Puerto Rico. The list is long, and it will take a while.

● A new Permit to Organize an IFE takes at least 12 months to be approved and then six months to build a bank. Just after that, you will be able to apply for a Permit to Operate. 18 months just for the approval, and that’s without counting all the background work.

● Further, you need between 15 to 18 months to get the year of operations plus the audit to apply for Fedwire.

● Moreover, fees to incorporate and license an offshore bank in Puerto Rico are heavy, and, as you saw, the process is complicated. Just having a business plan and internal compliance documentation may cost a minimum of $24,000, and total licensing costs surpass $60,000. You can easily spend $150,000 just to try to get approved.


What can we do for you?

With all these aspects clear, buying your own bank can be easier than you think. This is a better option than opening one from scratch, especially in a jurisdiction as attractive as Puerto Rico.

We have a top expert team in Puerto Rico that handles top investment possibilities and can offer you excellent tax, corporate, and banking advice.

Enquire now and get your own bank in Puerto Rico!


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