WITH political and economic uncertainty still looming in Hongkong as 1997 approaches, offshore banks are doing a thriving business putting the territory's dollars into safe havens.
Most of the world's major international banks have representative offices in Hongkong and their locally-based staff are happy to assist with enquiries about their offshore operations.
The principal offshore banking havens include Jersey and Guernsey, in the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and other places in the West Indies.
All of these centres benefit from sound legal systems based on English common law. They have varying degrees of political independence from Britain, and all enjoy relatively liberal tax regimes.
However, it is not just the absence of capital gains tax or interest tax that attracts the attention of individuals and companies based in Hongkong to these offshore centres. Nor is it the banking services they offer, as Hongkong arguably enjoys one ofthe most efficient banking systems in the world.
The real attraction of these offshore centres to Hongkong residents is that they offer a relatively stable political environment in which to park their assets.