Congratulations!  You are in luck, you decided to open an offshore bank account in Georgia and it will only take you 30 minutes. Georgia presents itself as the easiest country to open an offshore account remotely and with a variety of options that facilitate the process for foreigners.

Georgia has become a center for non-resident banking, in the last 7 years, international consultants have turned their attention to this offshore jurisdiction and Russians have seen this entity as a novelty to protect their wealth.

After achieving its independence in 1991, after leaving the Soviet Union, Georgia implemented democracy, built modern infrastructure, took free market initiatives and lowered tariffs, and initiated a process of transparency with the elimination of corruption, all in order to attract foreign investment.

For the year 2019 the World Bank ranked this jurisdiction of Georgia in the Doing Business ranking as the 7th easiest country to do business with, above Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany and the United Arab Emirates.

In recent years the Georgian government has implemented favorable tax rates to encourage investment, and an easy visa program to attract foreigners.

Why open a bank account in Georgia?

For international companies and non-resident foreigners, keeping an account open becomes difficult, due to the standards imposed by the Common Reporting Standards (CRS), increasingly strict laws and regulations. Unlike Hong Kong and Singapore, there are fewer requirements and hurdles to overcome in Georgia.

Georgia is not a tax haven, nor is it an offshore financial center, nor has it been involved in banking cases that could obscure its operations, such as money laundering. This entity is starting its reputation as a solid intermediary bank, especially for remote accounts with easy opening for non-residents, and that does not present problems like the rest of the offshore banking center countries.

The CRS banking information exchange is not yet present in Georgia; hence all investors' eyes are directed to this country for the time being. This means that this jurisdiction does not share bank account holder information with the tax authorities of the home countries.

However, it will be from 2023 when Georgia will establish this regulation for local banking, as it has already agreed to join as a jurisdiction to this agreement and align with international standards.

The image and security of the country to open a bank account is paramount.

Consult a financial advisor for more information, info@fosterswiss.com