I have long been interested in the issue of banking secrecy, and here is what I would like to discuss. In the past, there was a lot of talk about "secret accounts," that you could open a deposit in a country with strong banking secrecy and be sure that no one would find out about your assets. Now, however, there is widespread discussion about the global exchange of tax information and the fact that true anonymity no longer exists. My question to those who have encountered this issue is: are there any countries or banks in the modern world where it is possible to maintain a high level of confidentiality? I'm not talking about illegal schemes, but specifically about legal tools that help protect personal information and capital. For example, I've heard that some jurisdictions in the Middle East and Asia still offer clients a high level of protection. How true is this? And what actually works in practice, and what remains a myth from the past?

I looked into this issue a couple of years ago – there really is almost no complete anonymity left. Even Switzerland has been exchanging information for a long time. But as far as I know, Dubai and Singapore still maintain a high level of privacy, although there too you will have to disclose the origin of the funds. So it is not a question of “secrecy”, but rather of reasonable confidentiality within the law.

Once, I worked as a consultant at a bank in Jersey, and I can say that the idea of a secret account is nothing more than a myth in the modern sense. Completely anonymous accounts have long since disappeared, and KYC and source of funds verification requirements are only getting stricter. However, Jersey remains a very convenient jurisdiction, especially when it comes to asset security. I recently read an interesting article on the topic of secret bank account. It explains in detail that the conditions for residents and non-residents are different, and the minimum deposits for non-residents can indeed be very high. If your goal is to diversify your assets, Jersey is a suitable option, but please note that it may not be the most cost-effective choice.