According to the latest industry news, a renowned bank in New York, U.S. “Signature Bank” has stated that its fourth quarter profit shot up 60%. It also indicated deposit and loan growth and reduced investment losses. Its results topped Wall Street estimates and shares too jumped. These are positive signs that indicate an uplift in the economic progress.

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A question that comes up frequently is why offshore private bank account opening procedures require so much information from the client. Some clients believe that legendary numbered bank accounts still exist, or that offshore banks operate a ‘no questions asked’ policy when it comes to source of funds etc. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth, as banks in offshore banking centers operate very strict due diligence policies.

It is, however, quite possible still to open your own offshore bank account – even, if you wish, to open it by mail, if you have the right documentation.

As an offshore banking consultant, I get to see the account opening processes of many different banks in different jurisdictions, and how widely they vary.

I can see both sides of the equation – the bank’s perspective, and the client’s. Often, literally and figuratively, they speak different languages. My job is to act as intermediary and make sure both parties understand each other.

So, how do you open an offshore bank account? You will typically need your passport, one or more bank reference letters, and proof of source of funds. But let’s look at why all these questions are necessary…

I can fully understand that if clients are seeking privacy, they may not feel comfortable baring their financial souls to their bankers. But there are good reasons why banks need to collect so-called ‘Know Your Customer’ information. And there are steps you can take as a client to manage your banking and to protect the confidentiality of information you hand over.

The first and foremost reason is because the law dictates it. In all reputable jurisdictions, banks are required to collect certain information. Failure to comply would have absolutely dire consequences that may include closure of the bank and/or jail for its managers. You are looking for security – and dealing with banks that are prepared to bend, break or flout laws is not the way you are going to find security! There are only a few places in the world left where you can still open accounts without ID and – trust me – you don’t want to be banking in those places!

Secondly, banks also have to protect themselves and their reputations, in order to protect their honest clients. If they take on clients who bring problems or bad publicity to the bank, it is bad news for you the client. So you should really be happy to deal with a bank that is quite picky about the clients it takes on. For example, if it turns out later that clients were involved in white collar crime like running a ponzi scheme or any kind of unlicensed offshore investment activity, the bank will almost certainly be on the receiving end of a lawsuit from people who lose money. Sometimes scammers are very good at hiding their activities, and they look like honest, respectable business people. If the bank has never met you before, they really need to check you out.

Thirdly, many people compare offshore account opening procedures to opening an account in their home country. This should be obvious, but it’s not the same thing. One thing that might have escaped your attention, though, is the extent of Big Brother databases that exist in your home country. Banks will automatically run a credit report when you open an account, even if you are not applying for credit. They can check you out online. Offshore banks, however, cannot run online credit checks. To do so would leave an electronic footprint that would generally be a breach of confidentiality laws. That is why they have to ask new customers for a lot more paperwork. Of course, it’s more convenient for the customer that the bank can verify everything online and doesn’t have to ask the customer for so many documents. But such online checks completely nullify any expectation of privacy in the relationship.

Finally, it’s just good business for banks to know their customers. If they know a bit about who they are and where you are coming from, they can give you better quality advice and they can respond more intelligently to your requests. They can be proactive in offering services you might need, that you might not even know existed. Having a good relationship with your private offshore banker is absolutely beneficial. That banker will be more motivated to look after you. Try to be a ‘perfect client’ for the bank – that way, if for some reason you really need a special favor from the bank at some time in the future, you are much more likely to get it.

Banking secrecy, as I’ve often said, is far from dead, despite the propaganda that would have you believe otherwise. I even believe now that the tide has turned. Bank secrecy is a basic human right, and is more necessary than ever. What is rather pass

I just finished reading an article about a network news program that did a negative report on reverse mortgages, citing an incident in Los Angeles of a senior borrower who was talked into buying annuities that did not mature until the year 2033 without a substantial penalty. I saw the actual Nightly News piece with Tom Costello. I was very concerned with the piece because I saw that they interviewed a woman identified as Robin Talbert with the AARP.

I have to believe that only part of Ms. Talbert’s comments were represented in the piece on the program as her comments stated “We’re all living longer and you don’t want to outlive that equity in your home to which the piece cut away immediately to Mr. Costello who added Because the bank could then take the home. Ms. Talbert is absolutely correct, and the AARP champions all things for seniors, but they are extremely aware of how reverse mortgages operate and Mr. Costello’s remarks are done in a way to mischaracterize reverse mortgages.

This is the type of misinformation and misreporting that we have been running into for several years now. While I do not know all of the borrower’s circumstances in this particular situation and I always get extremely angry when I hear of any mortgage professionals who do not keep the borrower’s best interests at heart, it is not the Reverse Mortgage that is the rip off here, it was the end use of the funds.

The notion that the bank will take the borrower’s home when her equity is gone is just plain wrong and bad reporting. The whole idea behind the reverse mortgage and one of the reasons the borrowers pay mortgage insurance is that no matter what happens to the equity, the borrower will never make another house payment and the borrower or the borrower’s heirs will never owe more than the property is worth, regardless of what the equity position does. The loan is set up so that you own your property, not the bank.

If the Nightly News or Mr. Costello had researched reverse mortgages more thoroughly, they would have learned that if the borrower had chosen what is known as the tenure option or payments for life, she would have received those payments for the rest of her life so long as she continued to occupy the property and the bank would never then take the home when the senior outlived the equity as the report leads the listener to believe.

I think it is very important for seniors to not only go through the required counseling, but also to enlist the assistance of their loved ones or trusted financial advisors whenever available. In this piece, the borrower said she didn’t really even need the money, she was doing just fine without it. Her daughter was with her during the television interview and maybe if she had been with her during the reverse mortgage process, she could have helped her to keep from getting the loan in the beginning. Another piece of advice, don’t ever go into the process with someone who is only looking to sell you another product or service.

If you don’t need a reverse mortgage and someone is trying to sell you one so that you can buy something else, or you do need one for living expenses and then someone tries to tell you that you should put the money into something else instead, find a reverse mortgage specialist who is only looking to help you fulfill your reverse mortgage needs. Many people have used reverse mortgages as retirement tools but make sure that your use of your funds is from your careful plan and decisions, not from someone elses salesmanship.

Reverse Mortgages can be a very viable retirement tool and I’ve seen them help many senior borrowers. Like almost anything, they can be abused but if you take the time to research the products and the people with whom you are working, the reverse mortgage can be the difference to many seniors of staying in their homes or having to leave; between barely surviving and aging in grace and dignity.

I would hate to see a senior borrower avoid this viable option that may be badly needed due to bad or partial reporting.

Henry Liu is not a savant by the regular definition books of Forex trading, He has never traded for any bank, or directly even for a trader but he has smartly panned out his Forex trading ideas in a way that it is helping many retail Forex traders get the best out of their business. His news profiteer system bases itself on fundamental news releases. He tries and sees the entire Forex trading through different eyes. According to him there is always the technical angle present to a trader. It makes him evaluate various lines of market trends, and candlestick charts. Further there are the Fibonacci retracements to consider. The technical angles though, do not prepare a trader for few market uncertainties. There is also the mental angle, one which lets a trader gain a toehold on associated baits of money which results in excess greed and fear.

Henry Liu believes that the entire trading market with all its experience miss out on a very precious dictum. It is thought about a hundred thousand times but trade pundits deliberately give it a miss. It is fundamental news trading. Henry Liu, in his newsletter tries to give such fundamentally tradable news and his neutral views on their impact. According to him market impact of such news is unexpectedly high and yet the boardroom dividend declarations and important mergers get a miss in the trader’s book. So Liu in his news profiteer review gives all neutral review on tradable news, those which have a high impact on market and adds details of trade inclusive of time of news release, related figures and course of action after the new is out; whether it is time to sell or buy.

In his e-book he prescribes great ways to always remain on the better flank of the system and generate as many as 25-30 pips per trade. The news profiteer system aims to eliminate the inconsistency gradient associated with trading and effectively does so. People especially love it when Henry Liu focuses on a number lesser or greater than the amount of pips. It is then that his erudition in the field comes to the fore. He can trade London, he can trade Nikkei and within any possible timeframe. The good part is, through his news profiteer review he lets us trade as well and profit from it. 25-30 pips per trade are no mean business and it is all possible by paying heed to fundamental news releases.

Henry Liu suggests that there are two kinds of traders; those who learn all the technical jargon of the subjects and understand its execution. Such people grace forums and online trade rooms but there is never enough shekels in there live accounts. Others who only understand the theory of rally and correction, support and resistance but learn the effect of fundamental news on world Forex trade and end up being the eventual winners. News profiteer helps you get the best knowledge of market cycles, precise times for entry and exit from the markets and much more. Believe in the power of news release and you will draw shekels you never thought possible.

What has the Bush Administration decided to do?

The Bush administration has decided that the US financial crisis is too big and to urgent to fight lightly and decided to work on a massive government bailout plan that would end up costing the taxpayer more than $1000000000000, yeah that is one trillion dollars. The rescue plan would cause the tax payer to purchase virtually worthless bank investments that have plagued Wall Street and the US economy for some time. The news of the plans came out and boosted Wall Street which caused the market to close almost 400 points higher than the previous day.

What has the middle class had to do?

IF (WE THE PEOPLE) referring to the constitution, the middle class tax payers, are going to pay the price to bailout the very same rich banking and investment firms who have made our lives nearly impossible; and (WE THE PEOPLE) who have suffered so much to keep a roof over their families heads, also ones who have lost their jobs and are struggling to put food on their table. There have been reports that some have committed suicide because of the pressure. If we are the people who are going to bail out the gritty rich firms who have had their heartless thumb over us all this time, then we the people must demand a payback that is attainable.

In conclusion the Feds should assume half of our mortgage so we can refinance and lower our bills to loosen the noose around our heads. If the Feds gave back to the people, who are out on the street without a job, homes and a job so they can stand back up then the US would be a better place to live. The Financial Companies should start from scratch and get rid of the top executives that are making millions and hire some people that need a job and have the necessary education to perform the required duties.

Whilst it was bad news that the waiver on claims was extended for a further six months, the update was tempered with the new guidance for dealing with those in financial difficulty (also known as hardship cases). The new guidance suggests that if you have received more than

High yield savings refers to financial accounts that accrue a higher interest rate than regular savings accounts. In order to obtain the highest annual percentage yield, consumers should look for banks that compound interest daily. The majority of financial institutions compound interest on a quarterly basis, so it is wise to shop around for the best deal.

One trusted source for comparing high yield savings accounts is Bank Rate. This website provides a list of nationwide banks, credit unions and online banks, along with savings calculators and overviews of each available high interest account. Visitors can easily view minimum deposit and balance requirements, monthly service fees and interest rate percentages at BankRate.com.

Another source for comparing high yield savings accounts is Consumer Search. Presented by About.com, a division of New York Times, ConsumerSearch.com provides comprehensive information about the various types of interest-bearing savings accounts and allows visitors to compare APY percentages.

Consumers can also obtain information by visiting physical locations of various banks. This is a good choice for individuals concerned about providing sensitive information online. Banks and credit unions usually offer brochures in the lobby and branch managers are happy to answer consumer questions and address concerns.

Regardless of whether you prefer to bank online or in person, it is important to work with FDIC-insured financial institutions. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was created by Congress to protect consumers in the event of bank failure. Depositor funds are protected up to $250,000 per insured account including checking, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit (CDs).

Funds deposited with credit unions are insured by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund. NSUSIF insures checking and savings deposits up to $100,000 and retirement savings up to $250,000 per insured credit union.

One unique high yield savings provider is SmartyPig; a partnership of West Bank. This online savings plan allows consumers to establish separate accounts for various purchases. For example, consumers might establish a savings account to pay off credit cards, vacation funds, and to purchase household appliances or an automobile.

SmartyPig has been making headline news and was recently featured in Forbes and American Banking News magazines. These publications highlighted the fact that SmartyPig allows family and friends the opportunity to deposit funds in their loved ones accounts to help them reach their financial goals. Details of this money plan savings account can be found at SmartyPig.com.

Regardless of the type of high yield savings you desire, always research bank ratings at BankRate.com before establishing an account. Seek out financial institutions with a minimum 3-star rating. Compare monthly fees, opening deposit and minimum balance requirements, and high yield savings interest rates.

Many banks offer higher interest rates when savings accounts are opened online. Others include hidden fees for receiving paper bank statements or withdrawing funds from ATM machines. By taking time to compare savings plans, consumers can obtain the highest APY and prevent costly fees.

Seven more banks were closed last Friday (10/23/09) as the avalanche of bank failures this year reached 106, the most in any year since 181 collapsed in all of 1992, during the savings and loan crisis.

Last fall, it was the nation’s biggest banks that faltered, like Citibank and Bank of America, who had made bad bets on complicated, high-risk investments. Now, smaller banks are being undone by something more conventional – real estate, construction and industrial loans – that have gone upside down as developers abandon failing projects, and landlords can’t meet their loan payments. Small and mid-sized banks hold many of these loans and have been hurt more than big banks by the sinking commercial real estate market.

So why is this good for everyday investors? We’ll get to that in a moment.

Hundreds of these banks remain open even though they are as troubled as those that have been closed. The FDIC is closing banks slowly – partly to avoid panic and partly because finding buyers for bad banks is tough. Bank failures have cost the FDIC about $25 billion this year and are expected to cost $100 billion before it’s all over.

It’s Different Than Last Time

Compared to the last financial melt down during the savings and loan crisis, this cycle of bank failures has played out very differently. First, the raw numbers of failed banks is lower in this cycle but the asset sizes are much larger and the losses in bad debt are a significantly larger percentage of assets (about 25% in this cycle compared to 11% in the previous cycle).

So far, the bulk of the failed banks have been dealt with by the FDIC selling the entire bank to another bank (a merger, so to speak). In a merger by sale, the FDIC never takes ownership of the assets but merely pays the acquiring bank to take the bad assets since that is the less expensive way to deal with the problem.

So, again you’re thinking, why is this good for everyday investors? Answer: The Legacy Loan Program, also known as PPIP.

The Legacy Securities Public-Private Investment Program. (PPIP)

In July of this year, the US Treasury confirmed the launch of the Legacy Securities Public-Private Investment Program (PPIP). Under this program, the Treasury Dept will invest up to $30 billion of equity and debt to match funds established through private sector fund managers and private investors for the purpose of purchasing “legacy” real estate backed securities; in other words, the mortgage debt inherited from failed banks.

In Sept and Oct, the FDIC put together 2 large deals totaling $5.8 Billion in value based on residential mortgage and construction loans, which we believe to be the first of many such deals. We predict as many as 850 more of the smaller to mid-sized banks will fail and thus, there will be many more assets that the FDIC will have to deal with.

The Good News in the Bad News for Everyday Investors

The good news is that individual investors are being presented with a very unique opportunity – one which may not last long. That opportunity is to partner with eligible fund managers who are getting matching funds from the US Treasury to leverage their investment dollars. Through the PPIP, they can now buy the securities backed by commercial and residential real estate – that were originally rated as Triple A – for pennies on the dollar. In other words, these are solid investments with potentially huge ROI. Through investor partnership programs, such as one offered by self-made Billionaire entrepreneur, Bill Bartmann, even smaller investors can capitalize on this unique situation.

An Even Greater Investment Opportunity?

Perhaps the greatest investment opportunity lies in the current extraordinary volume of charged-off credit cards. Only about two dozen banks actually issue credit cards and they are the large banks we all know – Chase, Citi, BofA, Wells Fargo, and so on. The smaller banks that “issue” credit cards actually do it through the large banks and the small bank never owns the debt.

But these large banks are generating humongous volumes. Based on information from the Federal Reserve, in 2006, the banking industry pushed about $31 billion of charged-off credit cards into the market. That number had been relatively stable for more than 10 years and should pretty much represent the industry capacity. In 2008, the volume went to $59 billion, a 90% increase in two years. At this point the industry is stretched to the limit and the banks are beginning to saturate the network third party agencies. In 2009, the volume of credit card charge-offs is projected to be $105 billion, a 230% increase in 3 years!

It’s this extraordinary volume that makes the opportunity so large as the existing industry can in no way accommodate this volume. Thus, new investors have the opportunity to acquire loans at very attractive prices. In early 2008, prices for fresh charged-off credit cards would have been 10 to 12 cents on the dollar. Today the price is around 5 cents on the dollar.

So here’s the good news/bad news: The economy is not great. Unemployment is high. Bankruptcies are growing. Recovery will likely be slow. All those factors impact the ability to collect and recover on charged-off assets. Thus, the market price for these assets will continue to decline in response to the recovery challenge. All things being equal, I believe the profit opportunity is as great or greater today than ever.

America is on sale and word is getting out. Don’t be the last one to the party.

Recently the news has been dominated by developments with the 700 billion dollar bailout package, and rightfully so. 700 billion is an astronomical sum of money. The first problem is that the 700 billion dollar bailout adds a huge amount of money to the national debt. Not only that, some have hinted that the bailout is so large it could actually lower the US Credit Rating. The second problem is just as serious. There is no guarantee that the bailout will work.

The idea behind the bailout is that by taking on billions of dollars of toxic loans the government hopes to “influence” banks to start lending again. The past attempts of the government to “influence” banks have all failed. The fed lowered the fed rate to influence banks to lower mortgage rates. While the banks were appreciative of lower rates they did not lower mortgage interest rates. In fact after the fed cut rates the banks increased mortgage rates because they saw negative prospects in the housing market. In a similar way, after the US government takes over the toxic loans away from them the banks could continue to see negative prospects in the housing market and therefore would continue to have strict lending practices. The idea of spending 700 billion with no guarantees seems like a poor use of capitol.

When people hear the word “National Bank” the first thoughts are of a socialized banking system. A national bank would not replace the current banking industry. It also does not “introduce” government involvement into the banking industry. With the Fed influencing interest rates and the government rushing in to bailout every bank that runs into problems the government already has a large hand in the banking industry. I don’t want to argue whether the government should have a role in the banking industry. Currently the government already has a significant role in the banking/mortgage industry. My argument is that if the government does have a role it should be effective and cost efficient.

A national bank would be a cheaper and more cost effective way to steady the financial markets. To understand how a national bank would work lets first talk a little more about what is currently causing the housing crisis. The mortgage market operates a little like a basketball game. Lenders go from one extreme to another. For awhile lenders will lend to anyone that walks in the door with a pulse. During these periods lenders accept less and less qualified applicants in an attempt to gain market share. Then the lenders get freaked out (often because someone realizes they have been giving out billions in loans to unqualified applicants that are unlikely to pay their mortgages) and lenders run to the other extreme and practice extremely restrictive lending practices (the insurance industry sees the same cycles but that is another topic). If you haven’t already guessed currently we are in the second scenario with lenders practicing extremely restrictive lending practices. The problem with the second situation is that such extreme changes shocks the housing market and basically causes a financial crisis. The banks are in a catch 22. If collectively the banks don’t lend the housing market will continue to deteriorate. But no one wants to lend because they are worried the housing market will continue to deteriorate because collectively they are not lending. It’s kind of like at a party where you don’t want to be the first person to jump into the pool because if no one else does you look foolish. Substitute looking foolish with going bankrupt and you kind of see where banks are coming from.

The great depression and the S&L crisis were both basically examples of this same problem. Initially during the great depression the conventional logic was the government should not intervene. As the stock market continued to drop (it dropped over 80% in less than a year) and people realized how bad an economy can get (pretty bad) the idea of government intervention seemed more palatable compared to the alternative.

So now during periods where lenders are freaked the government attempts to “influence” lenders. The problem is its extremely expensive. Currently the government is taking on years and years of bad loans in an attempt to “influence” lenders to loosen their current restrictive lending practices for the next 6 months to pull us out of the housing crisis. This is kind of like trying to influence your local school to spend money on new textbooks by building them a new school. Not only is it ridiculously expensive after you build the new school you have no guarantee they will buy the textbooks. It’s not simply a poor use of government funds it’s utterly outlandish.

So how would a national bank operate? During periods where banks are giving out loans to everyone that walked in the door the national bank would practice have average lending restrictions with interest rates slightly higher than what is available at most banks and give out very few loans. When the banks became ultra restrictive the bank would again have average lending restrictions. During these periods it would give out more loans.

So the government would not practice the outlandish lending practices we saw during the boom they would not be as restrictive as the banks are now. In fact this would probably do more to influence banks lending practices than the 700 billion giveaway. Remember how we talked about banks not wanting to lend money because no one else was lending money therefore making them nervous about the prospects of the housing market. Knowing that money would always flow provides some stability to the market. Also it would be much less expensive. Having the government provide some loans over the next 6 months with average restrictions during a low point in the market would be much better than taking on years of crappy loans given out during the peak of the market to very unqualified home buyers.

Would some banks go under? Yes. But you know what they should. Bailing out foolish banks that threw caution to the wind and had wildly risky lending practices almost guarantees that we will be faced with another housing crisis in the future. Instead we should allow some of these banks to die. First it prevents these banks without a sense of risk from causing these problems again. Secondly, it influences other banks to exercise more caution during boom times. The bailout sends a message to banks that during the boom they should ignore caution because the government will come in and take all their bad loans away like some kind of bizarre magical bad loan tooth fairy.

I realize this article might bother people that want the government to have no role in the banking/mortgage market. But if we accept that the government already has a role in the banking industry (the possibility of the government taking itself out is pretty much nill for the next decade) to stabilize markets at the least it should do so in a way that is effective and cost efficient.

The documentation requested by offshore banks (bank reference letters, proof of source of funds etc) when opening accounts for the first time can sometimes appear overwhelming. For example, Panamanian banks, which I have particular experience with, can appear extremely bureaucratic. But don’t be perturbed. Once you understand the logic behind it, it’s really quite straightforward.

You can basically break down the requirements into just three things that the bank wants to document before opening your new account:

1. Who you are.
This is almost exclusively demonstrated with your passport. A passport is definitely the preferred identification document internationally. Most people who want to open accounts or invest offshore will be in possession of a valid passport. In certain cases, banks may accept other documents like government-issued ID cards or driver’s licences, but as a general rule you will need your passport.

This step is easiest if you are meeting your offshore bank in person, since you just need to show your passport and allow the banker to take a copy. It’s a little more complicated if you are opening the bank account by mail, as the copy will normally need to be certified as a true copy. Requirements vary by bank and country, but notaries are almost universally accepted for the purpose of certifying copies. Lawyers, consulates and embassies, and officers of international banks may also be accepted as certifiers. If you are meeting a consultant or corporate service provider, they can usually arrange to certify your passport copy too.

2. That you’re a good guy (or girl).
For this, the best document is a letter of reference from your existing bankers. A bank to bank reference letter just says something like “Mr and Mrs Smith have been clients of our bank for five years and have always maintained their accounts in good standing.” That’s it – no big deal! Some banks also refer to reference letters as “certificates.”

My clients are sometimes worried that their banks won’t issue references – but it is very unusual to find a bank that won’t issue a reference. Even if you don’t know any one individual who works in your bank, it’s a standard document that the back office should be able to produce based on their records.

British banks are some of the most difficult to deal with, but even they will, according to the guidelines of the British Bankers’ Association, issue exactly the reference you require if you ask in the right way. In the UK the reference must be requested by a hard copy letter in the post. Banks in other countries like USA, Canada, Australia, Europe etc will usually write bank reference letters on request by telephone, or even a message sent through internet banking.

You need to check with both banks (the new one and the old one) about any specific requirements. For example, whether the reference can be addressed “to whom it may concern” or if it has to be addressed to a specific bank.

Some banks will accept references from professionals like accountants, lawyers, corporate service providers and the like. This can be useful if a “to whom it may concern” reference is not an option, and you don’t want the old bank to know where you are opening the new account. Overall, you should not worry about references. They are not a problem. If you have any doubts, talk to a professional for specific case-by-case advice.

3. The source of funds
The source of funds means where the money is coming from. The rationale behind this, of course, is for bankers to be sure that they are not accepting money that is being laundered or was acquired irregularly. They are not usually interested in tax matters. Typically documents people present to show source of funds are contracts for sale of real estate, documents showing you inherited money or received it from a family trust, documents demonstrating that you own a business from where the funds are being withdrawn, or a contract of employment showing your regular income.

Of course, the documents presented must match the amounts you are depositing. A document showing you earn $5000 a month net would be fine if your average balance will be under $20,000. But then if a million suddenly arrives in the account, the bank will freak out! If you want to receive a million all you need to do is provide documents in advance, for example showing that you sold a million dollar house or that you sold out your business for cash… then the bank will roll out the red carpet for you.

So that’s it… those three things are all banks are really looking for. Some also want proof of your residential address. And obviously if you are opening a corporate account the bank will want to see documents linking you to the corporation – but it’s best to let your offshore corporate service provider take care of that for you.

Remember: banks are in business to open accounts and accept deposits. So if you are in doubt about what documents are needed, or if there’s something they ask for that you can’t supply, just talk to them openly and explain the problem. Most likely, they will be able to suggest a common sense, mutually-acceptable solution. If not, then take your business elsewhere.

So all in all, the documentation is not as difficult to handle as it sounds. If you use an intermediary it’s even easier – they can normally dedicate more time to you as an individual than banks can afford to on all but the largest accounts, but of course they do charge for this service. Often, with a short telephone call an intermediary can help you complete all required documentation and just provide you with the finished versions to sign.