Addendum to White Paper on Expanded Worldwide Planning

Additional comments on EWP

Structuring in Puerto Rico—the best of “the new Switzerland” Expanded Worldwide Planning (EWP)

In case you didn’t, please read the “Expanded Worldwide Planning (EWP)” blog post.

Top international tax planners have been quick to realize the implications of our last white
paper, “Structuring in Puerto Rico—the best of “the new Switzerland.” Indeed, one advisor
coined the phrase “Expanded Worldwide Planning” to describe the new paradigm. We have
espoused this phrase as the title of our short Addendum to our white paper and will be
clarifying some of these new possibilities for your planning toolkit. With EWP, the trust or
entity can be domiciled anywhere the client wishes it to be and so can the assets be located
anywhere in the world. Over the last few years, many of the international families we serve
have been described as Global Citizens. In parallel to that, EWP can be viewed as Global
Planning.

If one accepts the tenets outlined in, “Structuring in Puerto Rico—the best of the new
Switzerland,” that is backed up with a very positively worded legal opinion letter by a major
international law firm, it becomes obvious that the Puerto Rican Private Placement Life
Insurance policy functions merely as a second trust to secure the advantages of Puerto Rico’s  jurisdictional position. These advantages have been strengthened by the recent elections in the US, as well as the voices that have been raised about legal and data breach issues inherent in CRS.1

Ironically, under the umbrella of an EWP structure, planning possibilities are expanded rather than diminished as a result of FATCA and CRS. EWP allows for a tax compliant system that still respects basic rights of privacy. It assuages the quite significant objections many major law firms and international planners rightfully raise against certain aspects of the CRS.2

They are not seeking to hide client assets from tax authorities but do intend to protect their
clients’ privacy, which EWP allows them to do.

With the massive amounts of data being exchanged under CRS about to commence, the risk is high for the right of attorney client privilege to be pierced by groups of journalists working in consort in the name of tax transparency.

This has already become apparent in past experiences such as the Panama Papers. It will take years for all the implications of CRS to be worked out, if indeed it lasts that long.
Why not embrace a structure that bypasses the confusion and discord that will ensue in this process? Advanced Financial Solutions seeks to secure its clients in a tax-advantaged and privacy-advantaged environment. We are not looking to hide client assets and work only with those who have undergone a most thorough KYC and AML process. We invite you to explore EWP with us, and welcome your questions and inquiries.

Download the full PDF with endnotes: EWP addendum final (pdf)

 

by Michael Malloy CLU TEP RFC, @ Advanced Financial Solutions, Inc

Michael Malloy Contact Info

 

 

 

PPLI in Puerto Rico

A unique jurisdiction for enhanced privacy

With the increased pressure on privacy issues in international tax planning, advisors now frequently ask me to assist them with clients who wish to protect their privacy, but also wish to be compliant with The Common Reporting Standard (CRS), and the Financial Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)
.
Our firm now has such a structure which involves structuring Private Placement Life Insurance (PPLI) issued in Puerto Rico.

At  Advanced Financial Solutions Inc., we are now resolved to use this structure for clients who have a legitimate need for privacy while in all other respects are compliant in relation to FATCA and CRS, clients that would pass Anti money laundering (AML), Know your customer (KYC) and other forms of due diligence that are necessary to corroborate this fact.

This white paper is an attempt to give the basic elements of this structure, and why our firm thinks it is a useful tool in preserving a legitimate right to privacy. In Article 12 of The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Ri ghts it states:

“No one shall besubjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor
to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of
the law against such interference or attacks.”

Why Puerto Rico?

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States. Under FATCA the Intergovernmental Agreements (IGA’s) definition of the United States excludes the territories. Therefore, US territories do not reciprocate the Automatic Exchange of  Information (AEI).

“Territory Financial Institutions” in the FACTA regulations also have a special status which exempts them from reporting.
The fact that Puerto Rico is statutorily excluded from existing and future IGAs is significant. This fact gives Puerto Rico a very marked advantage for structuring over no state tax jurisdictions in the US like Delaware, North Dakota, and Nevada.

Download full PDF document

 

by Michael Malloy CLU TEP RFC, @ Advanced Financial Solutions, Inc

Michael Malloy Contact Info