Common Reporting Standard is the OECD multilateral framework for the automatic exchange of financial account information between tax authorities.
The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) is the OECD-developed multilateral analogue to FATCA. Approved by the OECD Council in July 2014 and operationalised through the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information, CRS now covers more than 120 jurisdictions that exchange account-level data with each other annually.
Under CRS, every Reporting Financial Institution (banks, custodians, certain investment entities, and certain insurance companies) must identify the tax residence of each account holder, look through passive entities to identify Controlling Persons (the CRS analogue of UBOs), and report the relevant accounts to the local tax authority.
The local authority then exchanges the data with each jurisdiction in which an account holder is tax resident.
CRS due diligence relies on a combination of pre-existing account records, self-certifications, and indicia tests. New accounts always require a self-certification of tax residence at onboarding, and changes in circumstances trigger re-certification. Non-compliance by financial institutions is sanctioned at the national level.
You will encounter CRS as a self-certification form at almost every non-US financial institution worldwide, asking for your tax residences and Tax Identification Numbers in each. Corporate accounts also require classification as Active or Passive Non-Financial Entity, and Passive NFEs must disclose their Controlling Persons, mirroring the UBO concept.
See what a company actually costs in year one, and how the jurisdictions compare on tax, capital and timeline.
