When faced with threats like taxation and inflation from all sides, one of the best offshore asset protection strategies is to hold valuables in an offshore safe deposit box. You can rent safe deposit boxes in secure tax havens like Panama or the Cayman Islands, which are convenient for North Americans, or in places like Austria and Switzerland if you need easy access from Europe.

One of the best things about storing your assets in an offshore safe deposit box is that, unlike an offshore bank account, there is no reporting requirement whatsoever. You can for example hold precious metals like gold or silver bullion, in the form of gold coins or gold bars. This is a much more secure way of holding gold than ETFs, digital gold or bank accounts.

A safe deposit box is a type of safe that is usually found in groups inside a bank vault. Sometimes there are private safe deposit boxes available that are not associated with banks. People use them to keep valuable items such as currency, jewelry, gemstones and important documents safe. Although there are safe deposit boxes that can be kept at home available on the market today, most people still prefer renting one in a secure facility which will have high tech security systems and 24-hour armed guards.

How a safe deposit box rental works

In a typical arrangement, you have to pay the offshore bank for the use of the box over a period of time. There is no way you can open the safe other than with the assigned key, the bank’s master or 'guard' key, a code AND the proper signature. With this number of stages of authorization, you are assured that whatever it is you keep in the box is protected and can only be accessed by the right people. No one else can open the safe unless they have a power of attorney and an agreement with the safety deposit box facility's operator. Some banks even use biometric fingerprint security to increase the level of security.

Terms and Conditions

In order to rent a safe deposit box, most banks will require you to set up an account. Individuals and companies alike can use his service. However, some offshore banks do not permit joint names. Most of the time, the minimum rental period is one year. Any subsequent period is usually agreed per annum as well. Before you decide whether to rent a safe or not, you should first of course ensure that the items you are planning to keep there are legal in the particular offshore jurisdiction you have chosen.

Rental Fees and Key Deposits

In most banks, key deposits and rental fees must be paid in full. The fee depends on a number of factors. Usually, the size of the safe rented is the primary basis of the cost. The larger the safe, the higher the fee. The fee is also nonrefundable even if you cancel the contract.

Most banks also require a key deposit to guard the key from being lost and the safe deposit box from being damaged. The good news is that key deposits are usually refundable if the safe and the key are in good condition at the end of the rental period or when the contract expires.

Where Can You Rent Offshore Safe Deposit Boxes?

Most offshore private banks of a reasonable size do offer safety deposit facilities. If you already have such an offshore account, whether in your personal name or a corporate account, you should talk to your account executive or private banker. If you don't yet have an offshore account, you can find links to banks in the country sections of Offshore World, or for see Q Wealth's guide opening offshore bank accounts. If you are here in Panama on business anyway, the bigger banks such as HSBC all offer safe deposit service.

If you are looking for a non-bank offshore safe deposit facility, these are fewer and further between. Sites that allow you to buy and sell physical gold bullion offshore may well know if you contact them. One expert site is Peter Macfarlane who has a special service for buying gold bullion and supplying an anonymous offshore safe deposit service to his clients.

But probably the best anonymous safe deposit facility in the world is Das Safe, located in Vienna, Austria in an old palace.