CARIBBEAN TODAY


 LESLIE A. SHARE AND
 MICHAEL ROSENBERG
So-called offshore "tax
 haven" jurisdictions such as
 the Cayman Islands, The
Bahamas, and the British Virgin
Islands have traditionally served
as the preferred choices for for-
eign individuals to form holding
companies and trusts.
 Similarly, many United
States persons use them as well
for such purposes, and keep
them fully compliant with the
related U.S. tax requirements. In
most cases, these structures are
created for completely legitimate
business or personal reasons.
 On the other hand, there
are of course some individuals
and entities which attempt to use
tax haven companies to hide
assets and income from their
home country tax authorities. In
recent years, these activities
have undergone intense scrutiny
by the Internal Revenue Service
(IRS) and the U.S. Congress,
and numerous "secret" offshore
schemes have been uncovered.
 In this regard, on Aug. 1,
2006, the U.S. Senate Permanent
Subcommittee on Investigation
issued an extensive 370 page
report entitled "Tax Haven
Abuses: The Enablers, The Tools
and Secrecy" (the report).

STRUGGLE
 Commissioner of Internal
Revenue Mark Everson testified
before this subcommittee that
the report reviews the struggles
of the U.S. government to com-
bat the alleged use of Caribbean
and other offshore financial cen-
ters to hide trillions of dollars of
assets, avoid taxes on billions of
dollars of income, and partici-
pate in money laundering.
 As one example, the
report mentions that Enron
Corporation, one of the most
notorious users of offshore struc-
tures, formed 441 offshore enti-
ties in the Cayman Islands in a
single year.
 The expressed purpose of
the report is to "open the black


* Help reception for small busi-
nesses
The Miami-Dade Department of
Business Development will be
holding a reception at 6 p.m. Oct.
11 at the Continental National
Bank of Miami, 1801 S.W. 1st St.,
to kick off its new program that
guarantees loans to Community
Small Business Enterprise (CSBE)
and Small Business Enterprise
(SBE) firms.
 The program relieves some of
the financial burdens these compa-
nies encounter as small business
contractors/vendors when awarded
county contracts guarantees loans
for CSBE and SBE firms performing
on county contracts, through a
partnership with Continental


Enron Corporation once formed 441 off shore entities in a single year in the Cayman
Islands.


box" of how financial profes-
sionals allegedly help their
clients conceal and secretly uti-
lize foreign offshore assets while
circumventing or violating U.S.
tax, securities, and anti-money
laundering laws. It then reviews
a number of fascinating case his-
tories where various "promot-
ers" recruited clients over the
Internet, prepared an ..!,i...ii.
how-to manual", and devised
various complex trust and securi-
ties transactions schemes for
shielding their activities from
law enforcement authorities.

'SPIDER WEB'
 The most detailed and inter-
esting case history discussion
involved the use of a virtual "spi-
der web" of 58 non-U.S. trusts
and corporations and a wide
range of offshore mechanisms to
exercise control over their assets
and $600 million in related
investment gains.
 In essence, the report pro-
vides a roadmap of the beliefs of
the U.S. tax authorities on "how
not to" establish and maintain
offshore structures.
 As a bottom-line, if any for-
eign or U.S. investor still
believes that the use of a
"secret" tax haven will forever
shelter their investments from
the prying eyes of the various
legal authorities, a casual review


BUSINESS BRIEFS


National Bank of Miami.

* 30th Miami trade confab
Dec. 4-6
The effect of recent initiatives
such as the Caribbean Single
Market will be among the issues
assessed at the 30th Miami
Conference on trade and invest-
ments scheduled for Dec. 4-6.
 Will the Caribbean be able to
effectively integrate and create a
truly single market space that
allows for increased regional and
foreign direct investment? Is
CAFTA-DR delivering on its prom-
ise or is there significant work left
to be done to make Central
American economies competitive?
Those subjects will be discussed


of the report should put an end
to such foolishness.
 Although the report gener-
ally targets U.S. taxpayers rather
than foreign persons with no
direct U.S. connections, it does
inevitably give rise to the practi-
cal problem of potentially "taint-
ing" the honest, legitimate uses
of low or no-tax Caribbean
and other jurisdictions like the
British Virgin Islands; the
Cayman Islands, and The
Bahamas. In our experience,
foreign investors using these
jurisdictions to hold their U.S.
assets have sometimes been
misidentified as U.S. persons
or as having engaged in illegal
activities, which has caused them
numerous related difficulties and
professional expenses to clarify
their situations.
 Professional advisors will
therefore need to carefully con-
sider these types of potential
issues with respect to each per-
son's individual circumstances.

Leslie A. Share and Michael
Rosenberg are shareholders
with the Coral Gables law
firm of Packman, Neuwahl &
Rosenberg, and can be reached
at 305-665-3311.
0


by leaders from the region at the
three-day event.

* Belize banking on CABEI
Belize has signed an agreement
making it a non-founding benefici-
ary member of the Central
American Bank for Economic
Integration (CABEI).
 CABEI, established by the
governments of Guatemala, El
Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and
Nicaragua, aims to contribute to the
social and economic development
of the Central American region.

Compiled from CMC and other
sources.
0


 Miami-Dade offers free


public business seminars


| roughout October the
 Miami-Dade Enterprise
 Community Center
(ECC) will be conducting a
free public business plan lab
and seminars for aspiring
entrepreneurs in South Florida.
 Those participating in the
"Emerging and Expanding
Business Seminars Series" can
receive the ECC Certificate
Program upon completing the
seminar series.
 Seminars will be held at
3050 Biscayne Blvd., Suite 201
in Miami. They will be divid-
ed in two parts consisting of
the "Emerging BuIii,,' and
the "Expanding Business
Series".
 Among the topics to be
discussed are assets, manage-
ment, legal contracts for small
business owners, business
plans and government con-
tracting, business licenses and
taxes, loans, and how to start
a successful business.

HELP
 The ECC is a division of
the Miami-Dade Empowerment


Trust. The mission of the ECC is
to maximize the opportunities
for entrepreneurs and small
business owners to succeed in
Miami-Dade County and con-
tribute to its economic growth
by providing a wide array of
business services through a
"One Stop Entrepreneurial
Center".
 The center offers a small
business resource library and
daily one on one business
counseling.
 The ECC houses non-
profit organizations, public
and private lenders and gov-
ernment agencies like the
Minority Business Enterprise
Center, a component of the
United States Department of
Commerce Minority
Business Development
Agency (MBDA). The pur-
pose of this office is to foster
the establishment and growth
of minority-owned businesses
in America.
 For additional informa-
tion and to register, call 305-
579-2730.
0


GEORGETOWN, Guyana -
The Guyana government has
confirmed that the country's
largest trade and investment
exposition, GUYEXPO, will
proceed as planned this
month.
 Tourism, Industry and
Commerce Minister Manniram
Prashad said the event would
take place from Oct. 26-31.
 Prashad, said he had
met with the GUYEXPO
Committee to discuss prepara-
tory works and site designing
and that the event would be
held under the theme
"Exhibiting Excellence".
 Organizers said they
expect more than 80,000 peo-
ple to attend the exposition


that provides local companies
with an avenue to promote
their products. The state-
owned Guyana Chronicle
newspaper had reported there
were fears that the exposition
would have been postponed
this year, because of the Aug.t
28 regional and general elec-
tions that had been won by the
incumbent People's Progressive
Party Civic (PPPC).
 Prashad said GUYEXPO
has contributed significantly
to the economy, as many local
enterprises, small and large,
have been able to clinch lucra-
tive deals.
0


ALTHEA M.ITAYLO


Handling all your loan needs..
 R 5, de vr i oI Ioo
 R , d i.n r uI I c, r s, ian cr, a iis
 0 (m m e f fI a[I10 n0
 U B I ri e > .ILa F1


6073 NORTHWEST 167TH STREET
SUITE C-27
MIAMI. FLORIDA 33015


 CELL. 954.270.9026
ALTHEATAYLOR@HOTMAIL.COM


BU.S. Senate targets foreign tax haven abuses

U.S. Senate targets foreign tax haven abuses


Guyana 'Exhibiting Excellence'

 with trade expo Oct. 26-31


October 2006