Currency

Official name: Belize dollar

Currency code: BZD

Abbreviation: BZ$

Pegged with: US dollar = BZ$2

Legal tender in: Belize

Subdivided into: 100 cents

Coins: 1, 5, 10, 15, 25, 50 cents, Bds$1

Notes: B$1/2, B$1, B$3, B$5, B$10, B$20, B$50, B$100

Central bank: Central Bank of Belize

Website: www.centralbank.org.bz

Current exchange rates:

• http://finance.yahoo.com/currency ,

• http://www.xe.com , and

• http://www.oanda.com

The dollar became the legal tender of Belize in 1885.

Privacy

At this time Belize has not signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement; it has, however, signed a Mutual Assistance Treaty with the United States. Moreover, Belize is not a participant in the European Union Savings Directive. As such, Belize offers a high level of privacy for both American and EU citizens. Furthermore, despite having signed a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with the United States, Belize has not done anything to suggest that is not serious about protecting the privacy of its offshore investors. Nevertheless, American investors ought to be aware that their asset security is questionable thanks to the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty.