Offshore banking has often been associated with the underground economy and organized crime , tax evasion and money laundering ; however , legally , offshore banking does not prevent assets from being subject to personal income tax on interest . Except for certain people who meet fairly complex requirements ( such as perpetual travelers ) , the personal income tax laws of many countries ( e.g. , France , Malaysia , and the United States ) make no distinction between interest earned in local banks and that earned abroad . Persons subject to US income tax , for example , are required to declare , on penalty of perjury , any foreign bank accounts — which may or may not be numbered bank accounts — they may have . Although offshore banks may decide not to report income to other tax authorities and have no legal obligation to do so , as they are protected by bank secrecy , this does not make the non-declaration of the income by the taxpayer or the evasion of the tax on that income legal . Following the 9/11 attacks , there have been many calls to increase regulation on international finance , in particular concerning offshore banks , tax havens , and clearing houses such as Clearstream , based in Luxembourg , which are possible crossroads for major illegal money flows
9/11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Offshore bank