Wealth management practitioners working for Chinese clients continue to seek guidance on the implications and requirements associated with the introduction of the Common Reporting Standard (CRS).
A recent CRS briefing in Hong Kong, hosted by Guernsey Finance, attracted more than 60 delegates from the region’s banking, trust and securities industries.
Guernsey Finance Deputy Chief Executive Kate Clouston explained that Guernsey, an early adopter of CRS in 2014 and among the first 50 countries and jurisdictions to begin reporting this year, was well placed to share its expertise with its Asia counterparts.
“Adherence to international reporting standards is a relatively new issue in China and there is understandably a lot of concern about how, what and when to report,” she said.
“Guernsey advisers are well-placed to offer advice and commentary on these procedures and we are pleased to be able to share this information with audiences in Hong Kong and China.”
China CRS commitment
China has committed to being among the second batch of jurisdictions to implement CRS and to complete its first round of automatic exchange of financial account information by September 2018.
However, the issuing in May of administrative measures on due diligence procedures for non-residents’ financial account information in tax matters by the State Administration of Taxation, the Ministry of Finance and China’s regulatory commissions, means China is already implementing elements of CRS.
The measures require financial institutions established in China to carry out due diligence on pre-existing and new financial accounts from 1 July 2017 to identify financial accounts held by non-residents, as well as to collect and submit relevant account information to the Chinese authorities.