Common Reporting Standard (CRS)

The CRS sets a global standard for the automatic exchange of information between participating authorities, from countries across the world. Its primary functions are to

• Aid transparency
• Tackle tax evasion.
• Protect the integrity of systems.

All financial institutions within each participating country must comply. Once each year, they’re required to collect relevant consumer information and report it to their local tax authorities.

Under the CRS, we’re required to identify consumers who hold financial accounts in one country but are tax residents of another

If you’re a UK tax resident, and only have financial accounts in the UK, you’re unlikely to be affected by CRS. However, you could still be asked to self-certify your tax residency and provide proof.

We might contact you if:

• You open a new account.
• You update the personal details on an account. 
• We need to clarify your tax residency, or you’re a US citizen.

Contact could also be triggered if you’re an individual with accounts in one country, but also:

• Tax residence in another participating country.
• An active residence or address in another participating country, including PO boxes and ‘in care of’ or hold mail’ instructions.
• A phone number in another participating country, but not in the UK.
• Effective Power of Attorney or Signatory Authority granted to a person with an address in another participating country.
• Non-depository accounts with standing instructions to transfer money to an account in another participating country.

Or an entity with accounts and: 

• An address in another participating country. Where the entity is a trust, this applies if one or more of the trustees has an address in another participating country.
• A place of incorporation or organisation in a participating country.

We might ask for you to confirm your

• Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN)
• National Insurance number
• Date of birth.

Financial institutions will continue to contact you until they have the necessary information.

Only relevant information about reportable persons or entities will be collected, then shared with tax authorities following the CRS.

Financial institutions within CRS participating countries must provide information to their local tax authorities each year. If reportable persons or entities have financial accounts in one country, but are tax residents or another, information will be passed to tax authorities in the relevant country.

You might like to refer to the following websites for more details:

• OECD
• HM Revenue & Customs

MBNA, together with other Financial Institutions across the world, must follow the Common Reporting Standard requirements, with respect to due diligence and reporting.

We must identify customers that are a tax resident in one country with Financial Accounts held in another, for inter-country reporting purposes. Providing local tax authorities with certain information on Reportable Persons / Reportable Entities and their Financial Accounts.

Where the customer is a tax resident in a Reportable Country, the information is shared with His Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC) who may in turn go to the tax authority of the Reportable Country.

All banks need to comply with CRS legislation. We are obliged to identify customers if we understand them to be tax resident in one Participating Country but with Financial Accounts held in another. Where the customer is tax resident in a Reportable Country, this information is reported to HMRC who may in turn provide it to the tax authority of the Reportable Country.

All banks and their branches in Participating Countries are legally obliged to comply with the Common Reporting Standard.

We contact customers in order to collect tax residency information. We may ask you to complete a form for example if:

• You have opened a new account;
• You amended the personal details we hold for you; or
• A review of your accounts has indicated that we currently don’t hold up to date information on your tax residency or whether you are a US citizen.

For individual customers with accounts in a Participating Country, this is usually based on:

• Tax residence in another Participating Country
• Current mailing or residence address, including PO Box number, “in care of” or “hold mail”, in another Participating Country
• One or more phone numbers in another Participating Country (and no phone number in the UK)
• Current effective Power of Attorney or Signatory Authority granted to a person with an address in another Participating Country
• For accounts that are not depository accounts – standing instructions to transfer money to an account in another Participating Country

For entities with accounts in a Participating Country, this is usually based on:

• A place of incorporation or organisation in a Participating Country
• An address in a Participating Country
• Where the entity is a trust, an address of one or more of the trustees in a Participating Country.

Some of the information we hold for you could be missing or incomplete, so we need to discuss and confirm your information.

This will help us understand if we need to send your details to the local tax authority, to meet CRS regulations.

We may contact the local tax authority, if we identify customers that are a tax resident in one country with Financial Accounts held in another.

This is a legal requirement for MBNA to do, to meet UK law.

For Individuals / Controlling Persons
 

• Name, address, date of birth of Financial Account holders
• Place of birth
• Current country of tax residence
• Tax Identification Number (or equivalent where applicable)
• Account details
• Reporting entity where the account with us is held, such as MBNA, Halifax, Lloyds Bank plc or Bank of Scotland plc
• The total account balance, or value of your accounts, at the end of the calendar year or other specific period
• The gross amount of interest, dividends and other income, such as proceeds from the sale or redemption of investments

For Entities
 

• Name and address
• Current country of tax residence
• Tax Identification Number (or equivalent where applicable)
• Account details
• Reporting entity where the account with us is held such as MBNA, Halifax, Lloyds Bank plc or Bank of Scotland plc
• The account balance or value as of the end of the calendar year or other specific period
• The gross amount of interest, dividends and other income, such as proceeds from the sale or redemption of investments
• For some entities, we would need the information on the controlling person (please refer to Individual section)

CRS applies to certain accounts with investment features such as Savings, Current Accounts, Cash Value Life Insurance and other investments.

Please note - CRS regulations allow for exceptions such as Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs), lending products and loans.

CRS reporting is complete on a yearly basis, after the end of a given calendar year.

If we identify Reportable Persons / Reportable Entities, and they close the account during the calendar year, it would still appear in the report for that year.

After this, your account won’t appear in subsequent years.

For example, local tax authorities would need reportable accounts that were open for all or part of one year, into the next.

Under CRS, we must identify and report customers that are a tax resident in one country with Financial Accounts held in another, for inter-country reporting purposes.

Local tax authorities would still need certain information on suspected Reportable Persons / Reportable Entities and their Financial Accounts.

MBNA, together with other Financial Institutions across the world, must follow the Common Reporting Standard requirements. This is a legal requirement to meet UK law.

Please contact us if you believe we shouldn’t be sharing your information with the local tax authority.

We will re-issue a Tax Residency Self-Certification form, which you should complete and return along with document proof of tax residency, such as a passport/driving licence. 

You may receive multiple letters if you fail to respond to the initial request to complete a Tax Residency Self-Certification Form. You may also receive further Tax Residency Self-Certification Forms, for example if your circumstances change or you open additional products.

You may also receive requests from other financial institutions if you have accounts with them. Please complete each request you receive.

No. By law we must share this data with relevant tax authorities.

Under the terms of the Data Protection Notice (DPN), included in your product terms and conditions, consent is not needed in such circumstances.

You can find full details of our privacy policy in your terms and conditions.

We would need to contact you if the information we hold changes in a way that could affect your tax residency.

If your circumstances change, you’ll need to let us know what these changes are within 30 days from the date of the change.

This could include, for example, a change of tax residence or change of address that could affect your tax residence.

We contact customers if we have insufficient tax residency information. Or if we have information that indicates they’re a tax resident in one country with Financial Accounts held in another.

If you are unhappy that we have asked you to complete the form, please refer to our complaint process.

You can find some useful guidance on where you might be tax resident on the OECD website.

If you are still unsure, please seek independent tax advice.

A Taxpayer Identification Number is a unique identifier assigned to individuals and entities for tax purposes. It could consist of a combination of letters, numbers or both.

If you are a Tax Resident in the UK, the TIN will be your National Insurance (NI) Number or Unique Tax Reference (UTR) Number.

You can find further information on TIN formats for your country of tax residence through the OECD website. 

We need a response from you within 90 days of the date on the letter.

If this date has passed, we still request that you try to return the Tax Residency Self-Certification form as soon as possible.

If you have received a request to complete a Tax Residency Self-Certification form, simply complete, date and return the form using the prepaid envelope provided.

Note - You can photocopy the form, but please return documents dated with an original signature.

Usually the completed Tax Residency Self-Certification form is all that you need to send back. If we have requested certified copies of further documents, please include these with the form. This could include: a valid passport, National Identity Card, Armed Forces Identity Card, current driving licence or Certificate of Tax Residence.

This is the person who has ultimate control over an entity.

With a trust, controlling parties might include the:

• Settler.
• Trustee.
• Protector.
• Beneficiaries.

Or, any other person exercising ultimate control, including through a chain or control/ownership.

Under the CRS, an entity can include:

• A legal person.
• An arrangement, such as a corporation, organisation, partnership, trust, or foundation.

Entities are the account holders, or product and service users.

Good to know - under the CRS, sole traders are classed as individuals rather than entities.

Any account issued or supported by a financial institution is a ‘financial account’, subject to the CRS.

That could include a:

• Deposit account
• Custodial account
• Equity or debt interest in investment entities
• Cash value insurance contract
• Annuity contract

A country, county, city, or state can have its own tax regulations, often referenced as a jurisdiction.

Very simply, this is a country that had committed to the CRS, of which there are over 100 listed on the OECD website.

This is a country that has an agreement in place to exchange information in line with the CRS.

If a customer holds a financial account and may be a tax resident in a reportable country, they are reportable for CRS purposes.

Good to know - each country has its own rules for defining tax residence.

Under CRS regulations, a person or entity would be reportable if they hold financial accounts in one country but are tax residents of another. For example, if you’ve got an MBNA savings account in the UK but you’re a tax resident of Germany that would be reportable.

Reportable persons or entities could include:

• Personal account holders.
• Controlling persons.
• Entities.

Financial institutions within CRS participating countries must provide information to their local tax authorities each year. Whether you’re an existing or past account holder, you could be contacted by an institution, requesting you to complete a form and self-certify your country of tax residency.