Implementing International Financial Standards in the Offshore Financial Centres Available to Purchase

Offshore finance, the provision of financial services to non‐residents, includes the traditional bank activities of the borrowing and lending of money together with other services such as fund management, insurance, trust business, tax planning and international business corporations (IBCs). Defining offshore financial centres is more problematic, since practically all financial centres provide some offshore financial facilities. A recent IMF background paper gives a good working definition of an OFC: