If you decide to do your offshore banking in Panama, you are going to need to ensure your privacy and safety firsthand. This can easily be done with a confidentiality agreement. Most of you probably know that this agreement is a legal document which will protect your rights to keep your privacy. If the person who signs it breaks the agreement, he or she can be put into jail or fined heavily. A confidentiality agreement is always useful as it keeps you protected in court cases.

So how are these agreements useful to you? Lets look at a hypothetical situation where you have put all your assets into a corporation in Panama. Lets further assume you did the smart thing and had that corporation owned by a foundation that is not, on record, owned by anybody. Now you have a foundation that has full control of your assets and as the protector or beneficiary, remember you can choose to be the protector if you would like more control, you are in charge of what happens to them. Still with us? OK, then lets jump right into the scenario:

• Now lets say that for some reason, we don’t know why, you are in a court in another country, lets assume the United States, and are asked under oath whether or not you own any offshore accounts. Lets even go further and say they ask you if you own a corporation that owns offshore assets. You naturally say no and the foundation protects this answer.
• Now lets assume the nosy prosecution isn’t satisfied and wants to know who they can talk to about the ownership of the foundation. You point out there are no owners and invite the prosecution to check this online or in public records.
• The first sign of trouble may show if they ask if you signed off on the corporation, which of course you did in secret. If you tell the truth, you are placing yourself in scrutiny. Telling the truth is still the best path to take, however, as lying in court is never a good idea. So you tell them yes and they ask you why you would do such a thing if the corporation, and it’s assets, were not yours. Let your lawyer walk you through on how to handle such a question. There are plenty of professions that sign off on legal documents such as this without owning the actual business.
• If you are now asked more in-depth questions on what the corporation and foundation does, you have a confidentiality agreement to back yourself up in court now. You do not, by the law, have to disclose this information!
• Don’t allow yourself to be scared! The lawyer will try, if he is good, to trick you into revealing information. He may even throw false threats at you, which your lawyer should help you avoid. Just keep with your story that you cannot reveal information because of the contract you signed. You will be 100% fine.

The above scenario is one anyone with and offshore account could one day find themselves in. A confidentiality agreement protects you from legal attacks and could be useful to you someday, so sign one for your own sake.