Offshore: what does it mean?

An offshore bank or financial institution is one whose clients are mainly based not in the jurisdiction where it operates, but elsewhere in the world. They have elected to use that bank because of the special advantages it can offer by virtue of its location.

Such advantages vary from one centre to another, but for sophisticated clients the key attraction is often the ability to establish an offshore legal structure which either eliminates or reduces a tax liability, or facilitates a transaction – or series of transactions – which would be precluded by constraints in the client’s home country.

Offshore centres are typically small jurisdictions that have actively set out to promote the development of financial services, or where such services have evolved as a by-product of their domestic policies – for example, the maintenance of low tax rates. However, many major financial centres including the City of London conduct much of their business offshore. It is in the nature of things that most governments seek to attract international business and inward investment by offering tax breaks and other inducements, and in this respect financial services businesses and their clients are no exception.

For users, the choice of offshore jurisdictions – and banks – can seem daunting. Increasingly, small independent states, some more reputable than others, are promoting themselves as “offshore finance centres”. And within each such centre there is often a bewildering array of competing service providers – banks, trust companies, professional firms and financial services boutiques – offering all things to all men.

In these circumstances it is hard to get dispassionate answers to the two most commonly asked questions: which location offers the right blend of fiscal and regulatory advantages for the business I want to conduct? And which institution has the expertise and awareness to deliver the solution I am seeking?

The Deutsche Bank advantage

Many offshore banks develop a strong commitment to a specific finance centre. They then try to manipulate the legal, regulatory and fiscal characteristics of that centre to enable them to offer a credible service to clients whose requirements may be highly diverse. In the case of other single-location firms, their ignorance of the comparative strengths and weaknesses of alternative jurisdictions effectively precludes any objective assessment of where a particular piece of business should best be placed.

At Deutsche Bank, we believe that we can meet our clients’ expectations only by offering an array of complementary financial services from a number of different locations around the world.

What this means is that each office of Deutsche Bank's Offshore Group operates as a clearing house for enquiries which in certain cases may be better dealt with elsewhere. Because of the way we are organised, we can work with our clients’ professional advisors to determine the optimum configuration for each piece of business and to ensure that the most appropriate jurisdiction is used in each case to maximise the benefits derived from the structure.

Unlike many of our offshore competitors with multiple offices, we remove jurisdictional turf battles. Unlike our competitors that have only one office, we do not push clients towards an offshore jurisdiction that is not appropriate to their structure.

Another important question for professional users and their clients is whether their chosen offshore bank is really geared to provide the service they need. We are clear that our business is to supply high quality fiduciary, banking and investment services to corporate, institutional and wealthy private clients worldwide. Our speciality is to work with our clients, and our clients’ advisors, to create viable, cost-effective structures which add real value to their business or personal financial plans.

The expertise necessary to conduct business at this level was not acquired overnight. The Offshore Group has its origins in two offices established in the Channel Islands in 1972. During subsequent years, we evolved an unrivalled portfolio of services, and following patient research in each case, we have opened additional offices in locations which meet our strict criteria and which have enabled us steadily to broaden the scope of our activities. We have also invested heavily in our staff and in technology, with the intention of relentlessly improving the standard of our service to clients

Further information on the services we offer can be found within this website. However, an intrinsic aspect of our approach to offshore business is our willingness and ability to work across divisional, as well as geographical, boundaries, so that where our clients wish us to do so we can offer truly seamless solutions.

The love-affair of banks with the terminology of manufacturing industry can create a distorting prism when it comes to the provision of complex financial services. Take that much-abused word, “product”. This surely conjures up a material object, the result no doubt of much research and development, and more or less careful design, which once signed off for production assumes a definite form – from which point changes and modifications are likely to be costly and slow. This analogy may apply to some offshore “financial products”, but seldom to those of Deutsche Bank.

Our own approach is quite different. Within the framework of our organisation and specialist expertise, our preference is to build a close relationship with our clients – to appreciate fully their requirements, their objectives, their wishes and their concerns – and then to develop workable and cost-effective business solutions designed in every case to match their exact specifications. And on those occasions when an off-the-shelf service is appropriate, we are always ready to customise it so as to meet or exceed our clients’ expectations.

About Us

• Deutsche Bank International Limited was established when offices of Morgan Grenfell were opened in Jersey and Guernsey in 1972. More information is available on the organisational structure page.
• Headquartered in Jersey, we also maintain offices in Cayman, Guernsey, Ireland, Mauritius, Benelux, Switzerland and Delaware supplemented by liaison support units in Hong Kong, Singapore, New York and Miami.
• We operate a geographic franchise on behalf of our ultimate parent, Deutsche Bank Group, encompassing pure offshore finance centres and locations through which “offshore” business is facilitated. For further information of the jurisdictions in which we operate, please select a location from the top navigation.
• Deutsche Bank's Offshore Group employs nearly 400 people. For further information, please see the careers page.
• The five principal lines of business within the Offshore Group can be found under Products in the top navigation.

Deutsche Bank in the Community:

• Deutsche Bank recognises responsibility for the well being and future of the people and communities of the locations in which we operate and that is why our name is associated with a wide range of cultural, environmental, educational and charitable activities.
• Further information about Deutsche Bank's community and sponsorship activities can be found here.
  

Deutsche Bank Group:

• Established in 1870, Deutsche Bank is one of the leading international financial service providers with approximately 65,000 employees in 74 countries worldwide.
• Deutsche Bank is dedicated to being the best financial services provider in the world. We endeavour to use our breadth of experience, capabilities and financial strength to create value for our shareholders, customers, employees and society as a whole.
• Further Information about the Deutsche Bank Group can be found at Deutsche Bank Press Service website.