The meaning of CRS in banking is the Common Reporting Standard (or CRS) introduced by the OECD to assist with the monitoring and reporting of financial accounts.
In this article, we’ll give you a brief introduction to CRS, what it stands for, and even the CRS countries that actively share financial information.
Feel free to use the table of contents to jump ahead to the sections most relevant to you.
Table of Contents
- Meaning of CRS
- What Needs to Be Reported to the CRS?
- Which Countries Participate in CRS?
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Ready to Explore Your Options?
Meaning of CRS
Meaning of CRS is the Common Reporting Standard introduced by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to increase financial transparency globally and combat international tax evasion. CRS accomplishes this by requiring financial institutions in participating countries to report non-resident account details to relevant member countries.Â
The information that financial institutions collect will be sent to participating countries each year. This information includes personal details, such as a residential address, citizenship, residency, taxpayer identification numbers, date of birth, and place of birth.
In most cases, financial institutions will only send this information to an individual’s country of residence. However, many banks claim they also share information with a person’s country of citizenship (regardless of residency) to make sure all accounts are correctly reported.
In doing so, the bank is effectively protecting itself from claims that it did not report financial records correctly. But, it also means that non-resident accounts may be reported to a person’s country of citizenship for no particular reason.
Of course, if a person has their residency in order and has correctly followed their country’s requirements for becoming a non-resident, they will have no problem with this. Besides concerns with how their home country uses this information and possible privacy concerns.
Do You Want Our Free Non-Resident Banking Guide?
Sign up here to receive our Free Non-Resident Banking Starter Guide and weekly updates on the best account opening options available:
What Needs to Be Reported to the CRS?
The information reported to CRS during the automatic exchange of information includes the personal details mentioned above. But, here is a further breakdown so you know exactly what information is being sent.
- Full legal name
- Residential address
- Country of birth
- Date of birth
- Country of fiscal (tax) residency
- Taxpayer identification number
If an individual has informed the bank about additional residencies (where applicable), they should expect that this information is also included along with any additional taxpayer identification numbers.
Which Countries Participate in CRS?
The article linked above shares the complete and updated list of all countries that participate in CRS. At present, this list contains more than 100 different countries around the world.
The countries that participate in CRS include developing countries, offshore banking hubs, and many of the most exclusive banking jurisdictions in the world. In fact, many of the countries that are commonly referred to as offshore tax havens have been actively participating in CRS since its inception.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are three of the most common questions we receive from people looking into the meaning of CRS. If you have further questions you would like answered, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us directly.
What Does CRS Exactly Mean?
CRS means the Common Reporting Standards introduced by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Member countries first started to introduce CRS in 2016, despite being first released in 2014.
What is the Purpose of CRS?
The purpose of CRS is to reduce tax evasion by increasing the transparency of financial accounts held internationally. It does this by providing information about financial accounts held by individuals and companies to the country (or countries) of fiscal residence where these individuals and companies pay tax. This ensures that countries have all the necessary information to enforce accurate financial reporting on their residents.
Ready to Explore Your Options?
If you would like assistance navigating your banking options at home or abroad, we can help.
You can access GlobalBanks IQ, our international banking intelligence platform, in just a few clicks. Unlock our bank database, individual bank profiles, account opening strategies and reports, banker scripts, and more.
But, if you want a 100% personal account opening service, consider GlobalBanks Insider. Insider taps into our team’s expertise and provides direct banker introductions, along with unique account opening suggestions.
Of course, if you have any questions, please contact us directly.
