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Common Reporting Standard (CRS)

Common Reporting Standard (CRS)

Definitions for terms used in the Self Certification Form

    • Account Holder: The term ‘Account Holder’ means the person listed or identified as the holder of a Financial Account. A person, other than a Financial Institution, holding a Financial Account for the benefit of another person as an agent, a custodian, a nominee, a signatory, an investment advisor, an intermediary, or as a legal guardian, is not treated as the Account Holder. In these circumstances that other person is the Account Holder. For example in the case of a parent/child relationship where the parent is acting as a legal guardian, the child is regarded as the Account Holder. With respect to a jointly held account, each joint holder is treated as an Account Holder.
    • Financial Account: A Financial Account is an account maintained by a Financial Institution and includes: Depository Accounts; Custodial Accounts; Equity and debt interest in certain Investment Entities; Cash Value Insurance Contracts; and Annuity Contracts.
    • Participating Jurisdiction: A Participating Jurisdiction means a jurisdiction with which an intergovernmental agreement is in place pursuant to which it will provide the information required on the automatic exchange of financial account information set out in the CRS.
    • Reportable Account: A Reportable Account is a Financial Account that is maintained by a Reporting Financial Institution and that, pursuant to due diligence procedures consistent with CRS, FATCA and any applicable IGAs, has been identified as an account that is held by one or more persons that are US Persons or Reportable Persons with respect to another Jurisdiction or by a Passive NFE with one or more Controlling Persons that are US Persons or Reportable Persons with respect to another Jurisdiction.
    • Reportable Jurisdiction: A Reportable Jurisdiction is a Participating Jurisdiction with which an obligation to provide financial account information is in place.
    • Reportable Person: The CRS defines the Account Holder as a ‘Reportable Person’. A Reportable Person is further defined as an individual who is tax resident in a Reportable Jurisdiction under the laws of that jurisdiction.
    • Tax Identification Number (TIN): Taxpayer Identification Number or a functional equivalent in the absence of a TIN. A TIN is a unique combination of letters or numbers assigned by a jurisdiction to an individual or an Entity and used to identify the individual or Entity for the purposes of administering the tax laws of such jurisdiction. Further details of acceptable TINs can be found at: http://www.oecd.org/tax/automatic-exchange/crs-implementation-and-assistance/tax-identification-numbers/#d.en.347759 Some jurisdictions do not issue a TIN. However, these jurisdictions often utilise some other high integrity number with an equivalent level of identification (a ‘functional equivalent’). Examples of that type of number include, for individuals, a social security/insurance number, citizen/personal identification/service code/number, and resident registration number.
    • US Citizen: An individual who is a US citizen. ‘US’ as used in this definition refers geographically to any State of the United States including the District of Columbia. ‘US’ includes additionally a person born in the US Territories (American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico) who will be deemed a US Citizen.
    • US Person: A US person is defined in section 7701(a) (30) of the Internal Revenue Code and includes an individual who is a citizen or resident of the US.
    • US Resident: An Individual who is a person ordinarily living in the US; or any other person who satisfies the Substantial Presence Test defined by the IRS. For the avoidance of doubt, a Client will be treated as a US Resident unless proven otherwise if he declares to the Bank that he resides in the US, or is a US Person and provides a current US residential address to the Bank. ‘US’ as used in this definition refers geographically to any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, and the US Territories (American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico).
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Common Reporting Standard (CRS) FAQs

  • The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) introduced CRS in order to improve cross-border tax compliance and to combat tax evasion. CRS is a global standard for the automatic exchange of financial information (AEOI) between participating jurisdictions that have agreed to adopt it. Compliance is mandatory under local law in each participating jurisdiction, including Hong Kong (HK). As a responsible international citizen and a leading financial centre, HK has committed to implementing AEOI and commencing the first information exchanges by end of 2018.

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  • As part of the Bank’s legal obligations under the Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 3) Ordinance 2016 (“the Amendment Ordinance”) in HK which came into effect on 30 June 2016, we are required to collect certain tax information to establish the country/ies of tax residence of our account holders. The Bank may be further obliged to report, on an annual basis, information regarding financial accounts held by our account holders who are tax residents in other reportable jurisdictions, to the local tax authorities where these financial accounts are maintained.

    Completing the CRS Self Certification form will ensure that we hold accurate and up to date information about your country of tax residence.

    If your circumstances change and any of the information provided in this form becomes incorrect, please let us know immediately and provide an updated Self Certification form.

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  • Clients that hold financial accounts with the Bank will be subject to CRS required due diligence procedures. Clients affected include individuals (whether banking directly or indirectly through an entity), sole proprietors and entities such as corporations, partnerships and trusts. Generally, clients that are identified as reportable persons, i.e., tax residents of reportable jurisdictions, will be subject to reporting. Therefore, clients whose jurisdiction of tax residence is Hong Kong only are not subject to reporting for CRS purposes.

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  • Tax residence is referred to in the Amendment Ordinance as “jurisdiction of residence”, which means a territory of which an individual or entity is a resident for tax purposes. In general, whether or not an individual or entity is a tax resident of a jurisdiction is determined by having regard to the person’s physical presence or stay in a place (say, for example, whether a person has stayed over 183 days in the same place within a tax year) or, in the case of a company, the place of incorporation or where the central management and control of the entity lies. That a person has paid taxes charged by a jurisdiction (say, value-added tax, withholding tax or capital gains tax) does not automatically render that person a tax resident of that jurisdiction. For assistance in determining your country (or countries) of tax residence, please seek professional tax or legal advice. Neither the Bank nor any of its employees are able to assist in this matter.

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  • Clients are responsible for providing their countries tax residence when opening Financial Accounts with the Bank. They must provide personal data and a certification of their countries of tax residence to the Bank when opening accounts, and for certain entities, the information on their controlling persons. It is the responsibility of the clients to provide true, correct and complete information in the self-certification to the best of their knowledge and belief. Clients should also provide the Bank with a new updated CRS Self Certification form within 30 days of any changes in circumstance that would render the information in the form inaccurate or incorrect.

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  • Under the Amendment Ordinance, the Bank has a legal obligation to perform due diligence and to, if required, report clients who hold reportable accounts. The Bank is not in a position to provide clients with tax advice, assist clients in the determination of their countries of the tax residence or assist clients in completing the CRS self certification form. It is the responsibility of the clients to provide true, correct and complete information in the self-certification to the best of their knowledge and belief.

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  • A Taxpayer Identification Number, or a functional equivalent in the absence of a TIN. A TIN is a unique combination of numbers assigned by a country’s tax authority to a person (individual or entity) and used to identify that person for the purposes of administering the country’s tax laws.

    Some jurisdictions do not issue a TIN. However, these jurisdictions often utilise some other high integrity number with an equivalent level of identification (a ‘functional equivalent’).

    Examples of that type of number include, for individuals, a social security/insurance number, citizen/personal identification/service code/number, and resident registration number while Business number is assigned for entities. For example, in Hong Kong, the TIN is the Hong Kong Identity Card (HKID) Number for individuals and the Business Registration number for entities.

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  • If you (or for certain types of entities, your Controlling Persons) are tax residents of reportable jurisdictions, then the Bank is required to report your (or your Controlling Persons’) account information including the name, address, date of birth, jurisdiction of residence, tax identification number (TIN), account number, account balances and certain income, etc, to the Inland Revenue Department (IRD). The IRD will then exchange the information with the tax authorities of the relevant reportable jurisdictions that have signed AEOI agreements with HK.

    If Hong Kong is the sole tax residence of the account holder, his/her financial account information will not be reported to the IRD for CRS reporting purposes.

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  • If you have any questions about the Self Certification form or this overview, you can contact our hotline at 852 2282 2313 or your Relationship Manager or visit a branch.

    For more information about CRS, please visit:
    The Bank’s CRS webpage https://www.sc.com/en/banking-services/CRS.html
    OECD’s CRS webpage https://www.oecd.org/tax/automatic-exchange/common-reporting-standard/
    IRD’s AEOI webpage http://www.ird.gov.hk/eng/tax/dta_aeoi.htm

    If you are unsure of your country of tax residence and acceptable Tax Identification Number (TIN), you may wish to seek advice from your legal or tax advisor or visit the OECD’s AEOI website below for more information on defining your country of tax residence and the acceptable TIN:

    For more information about tax residence and TINs, please visit:
    OECD’s webpage on tax residence http://www.oecd.org/tax/automatic-exchange/crs-implementation-and-assistance/tax-residency/#d.en.347760
    OECD’s webpage on TINs http://www.oecd.org/tax/automatic-exchange/crs-implementation-and-assistance/tax-identification-numbers/#d.en.347759

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  • The Bank may be obligated to decline any requests for new accounts, decline to enter into any further transaction for existing clients that do not provide a completed CRS self certification form and applicable documentation. Generally, all new clients are expected to provide the relevant CRS form to open any new financial account with the Bank. If you do not respond to the Bank’s request for a self certification and depending on the details on your record, the Bank may need to treat your account as a reportable account.

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Instructions to complete the Self Certification Form

  • Is the account holder
    a US Resident? Enter ‘Yes’ if the Account Holder is a US Resident. Otherwise enter ‘No’.
    a US Citizen? Enter ‘Yes’ if the Account Holder is a US Citizen. Otherwise enter ‘No’.
    holding a US Permanent Resident Card (Green Card)? Enter ‘Yes’ if the Account Holder has a right of lawful permanent residence / holds a US Permanent Resident Card (“Green Card”) issued by the US Government. Otherwise enter ‘No’.

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  • Tax Residence / Citizenship Information

    Please complete the table indicating (i) where the Account Holder is resident for tax purposes and (ii) the Account Holder’s Taxpayer Identification Number or functional equivalent (hereafter referred to as ‘TIN’) for each country indicated.

    The requirement to pay tax in a particular country does not necessarily signify tax residence in that country; it is possible to have to pay tax in a country in which one is not tax resident, and not to have to pay tax in a country in which one is tax resident. Whether a person is tax resident in a particular country depends on whether that person meets the definition of a tax resident under the tax laws of that country. For more information on tax residence, please consult your tax advisor or refer to the information at OECD automatic exchange of information portal at:

    https://www.oecd.org/tax/automatic-exchange/crs-implementation-and-assistance/tax-residency/#d.en.347760

    If the Account Holder is a dual citizen, enter the country where the Account Holder is both a citizen and a resident at the time this Form is completed. If the Account Holder is not a resident in any country in which the Account Holder has citizenship, enter the country where the Account Holder was most recently a resident. If the Account Holder is a US citizen, a Form W-9 must be provided.

    Where the Account Holder’s country/region of tax residence is Hong Kong, the Account Holder’s TIN is the Account Holder’s Hong Kong Identity Card (HKID) number.

    If a TIN is unavailable, please provide the appropriate reason A, B or C.

    • Reason A should be selected by an Account Holder where the country concerned does not, under any circumstances, issue TINs to individual tax residents. Where the country concerned does issue TINs to individual tax residents, but the Account Holder has not been issued with a TIN because of particular circumstances, Reason B should be selected instead.
    • If you have selected Reason B, please explain why the Account Holder is unable to obtain a TIN, even though the country concerned does issue TINs to individual tax residents.
    • Reason C should be selected if the country that issued the TINs does not require TINs of individual tax residents to be collected or reported.

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Remarks

If there is any inconsistency or conflict between the English and the Chinese versions of these instructions and definitions, the English version shall prevail.

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