How to setup an Offshore Bank Account with Belize Bank

Video Transcript

Last night I had the honor of having dinner with an old friend, Carlo Mason. He’s general counsel of the corporate services division of Belize Bank. He’s also a good guy, knows a lot about Belize and he sat down at my kitchen table and we got our cell phones and we made a really poor quality video that’s still worth watching.

I want you to just take four minutes, me and Carlo, it will help you; it’s worth it. Here we go.

Carlo Mason: Well thank you very much forum… My name is Carlo Mason I am the in house counsel and actually business development manager for the corporate services division of the Belize Bank. It is the largest domestic bank in the country of Belize, but also is the largest international bank in the international financial services industry of Belize.

Robert Lambert: Carlo, I want to know. Who are you looking for? Do you have to be a millionaire? Do you have to have a million dollars of cash? What’s your minimum amount for a good deposit for you and what are you looking for from people.

Carlo Mason: We’re looking for people who want to bank with a stable bank. Who want services from a secure bank; that’s us. Our minimum is simply $1,000 USD.

Robert Lambert: My lord, that’s very, very small. How long does it take to open an account at Bank of Belize? I always call it Belize Bank.

Carlo Mason: It is the Belize Bank.

Robert Lambert: Some people call it the royal Caribbean; I’m not sure what the relationship is.

Carlo Mason: Ok. Let me quickly explain that. What you have is BCBs Holdings Limited which is a London Stock Exchange-listed company and it owns the Belize Bank Limited which services the domestic economy for the country of Belize. It also owns the corporate services division and also owns what’s also called British Caribbean Bank International Limited. That company, British Bank International Limited, is the bank that services your clients.

Robert Lambert: Carlo, I’m going to –in order to keep this short and we’ll be doing longer videos to go over the opening process. But just to keep this short I’m going to ask you a few simple questions. How long does it take to open an account assuming the person has all the paperwork: references, you need an original utility bill, you need a letter from an accountant or a lawyer or a bank.

It can be a simple ‘To Whom It May Concern: Joe Blow has been a decent customer for over 30 years…’

Carlo Mason: The banks’ standard wording for that.

Robert Lambert: And they don’t really say anything, just a letter from a bank. How long does it take to open an account? What type of process should somebody expect? And what type of support should they expect from the bank?

Carlo Mason: Based on the assumption that everything is together?

Robert Lambert: Yes.

Carlo Mason: Two days.

Robert Lambert: Is there a person they can call? And I know that’s not you. You’re the general counsel of the bank and that’s important…

Carlo Mason: I wouldn’t say Rob that they can’t call me, but if they want to go directly to the source they could call Emogene Lopez, who is a customer service manager for the bank, and she will either personally attend to the issue or she’ll assign it to one of her team; who has to answer to her.

Robert Lambert: Ok so there is a feedback loop.

Carlo Mason: Of course.

Robert Lambert: Well you know people get pretty frustrated dealing with banks.

Carlo Mason: That’s true, that’s true and I’ll acknowledge that.
Robert Lambert: And one last question is Belize the happiest place on earth?