OECD's CRS: Impact On Bermuda Family Offices

The common reporting standard (CRS) is the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) model for the automatic exchange of information (AEOI) between jurisdictions world-wide.

The aim is to increase tax transparency and eliminate tax evasion globally.

This column reviews the status of the steps that the Bermuda Government is taking to implement CRS, and addresses issues that Bermuda trustees and family offices should raise with settlors, beneficiaries, protectors and other persons who have a connection with the trusts they oversee.

Until recently, the ability of a taxation authority in one jurisdiction to obtain information regarding its tax residents from financial institutions in other jurisdictions was largely dependent on the existence of a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) between those jurisdictions. However, accessing information under TIEAs is not straightforward or guaranteed.