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With OECD Tax Plan Comes New Outlays for Banks
By Irene Madongo
printThe price tag financial institutions will face implementing a newly-endorsed intergovernmental plan to fight tax evasion will be high despite their recent investments to comply with similar American demands. Last week, 51 nations agreed to a plan by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to automatically exchange financial data in an effort to stop their citizens from hiding taxable assets abroad. The agreement additionally requires the nations to make corporate beneficial ownership data available to tax agencies in other countries, either upon demand or periodically. To comply, financial institutions will have to amend their due diligence procedures and...
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Financial institutions should expect no leniency from their national regulators if they fail to comply with an intergovernmental agreement to stamp out tax evasion, according to an official heading the initiative.
With new international data-exchange agreements in place, the United Kingdom will soon have greater access than ever to information on tax dodgers with offshore accounts, according to the nation's Financial Secretary to the Treasury David Gauke.
Representatives from 51 jurisdictions Wednesday formalized their commitment to automatically exchange data starting in 2017 and 2018 as part of a global effort to limit tax evasion.
Thirty-four nations disclosed a finalized model plan Monday to regularly share financial data for tax enforcement purposes as part of a broader crackdown on tax dodgers and offshore jurisdictions.
U.S. financial institutions Tuesday began withholding up to 30 percent from payments sent to foreign banks that have not agreed to turn over information on their wealthy American accountholders.
The regulatory burden of financial institutions complying with a U.S. tax law and related intergovernmental initiatives could largely depend on seemingly small details in know-your-customer profiles, compliance specialists said Thursday.
The U.S. Treasury Department Thursday finalized rules for a controversial law intended to pressure foreign banks to name their American clients, and disclosed a related bilateral agreement with Norway.
An intergovernmental group Tuesday criticized Austria, Spain and the Netherlands for failing to sufficiently investigate and convict individuals and corporations that bribe foreign officials.
As settlement negotiations with Swiss banks continue, the IRS is turning its attention to jurisdictions outside of Europe, including two set to eclipse Switzerland as the world's top secrecy havens.
Two of the world's most influential intergovernmental groups will more heavily weigh each other's anti-money laundering and anti-tax crime standards in future evaluations, a former official said.
Information on tax evasion and asset recovery cases will likely top data-sharing requests filed by foreign governments with the United States over the next three to five years, say analysts.
Plans to make tax evasion a predicate crime of money laundering will likely be successful despite speculation that broader financial regulatory reform is foundering, say Capitol Hill staffers.
OECD official Jeffrey Owens spoke with reporter Brian Monroe about why tax evasion has grown in importance, and how the recent fine against Swiss bank UBS has been a wakeup call for some banks.