Offshore Banking is a qualitative rather than a geographicallyexplicit locational term. It can apply either to: (1) banks that have locatedpurposely in specific foreign jurisdictions, not necessarily island-based,whose legislative and tax frameworks and regulatory authorities are lessrestrictive in comparison with their home-based operational environments; or,to (2) specifically designed facilities or financial “free” zones with theirown separate customized legislative and tax regimes, available to domesticand/or foreign banks, which are exempted from all or specific regulatory controlsand taxes on international banking activities that otherwise apply in the restof the local economy.