On July 18, 2008 I finally lost my faith in the United States government when I read the headline in the South China Morning Post, "How 2 banks in Europe help rich evade US taxes". My goodness I thought, which banks would be involved in this heinous crime and what proof (for it must surely be irrefutable given the certainty in the headline) has been uncovered? As I read on, mesmerised, it turns out that the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has been trying to justify its futile existence by producing a 115 page report (it is interesting how pointless subcommittees place such importance on the number of pages in their reports but usually very little on their content) identifying 8 people (yes, eight people) who apparently have bank accounts in Liechtenstein (LGT) and Switzerland (UBS). The article then droned on about one or two of the unfortunates identified in the 115 page report, using the same old press trick of making us hate them because they are rich and therefore must be guilty. There is no proof whatsoever except that the bank accounts existed.

The upshot is that UBS (the largest private bank in the world) will "no longer provide offshore banking services to US residents". This is flabbergasting. If I was a US resident I would be thoroughly upset that one of the world's leading banks cannot deal with me because of a 115 page report by some half baked committee. However, all is not lost my US friends. We have plenty of alternative offshore banking solutions and any one of our Fiduciary Service General Managers would be happy to talk with you about them.

Also in the newsletter this month are updates from HK, BVI, The Cayman Islands, S America, UK, Japan and China. Watch out too for the Olympics – it's inescapable this month and HK plays host to some of the equestrian events.