The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) is a global framework for the automatic exchange of financial information between jurisdictions that have agreed to its adoption (to date, over 100 countries have committed to CRS).

In 2014, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), issued the aims of the CRS: to combat tax evasion and to improve cross-border tax compliance.

On May 11th 2016, the OECD announced that Lebanon committed to automatically share financial account information with other countries. On October 27th 2016, the Lebanese Parliament promulgated Lebanese Law Number 55 related to the “Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes”.

On May 12th 2017, the OECD announced that representatives of the Lebanese government signed the CRS Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA), thereby re-confirming Lebanon’s commitment to implement the automatic exchange of financial account information and commence exchanges in 2018.

CRS requires banks to annually report on its customer’s financial information (name, address, tax residence, tax identification number, account number, account balance etc.) to their local tax authorities, on accounts held by foreign tax residents. This information will then be automatically exchanged with the competent authority of the account holder’s country of tax residence, provided the two countries have agreed to exchange data.

Bank of Beirut complies with the CRS provisions, in addition to compliance with relevant local laws and regulations related to CRS. This includes the implementation of CRS requirements across the Bank’s Group in coordination with all stakeholders; designing, developing, reporting, delivering training to increase overall awareness; and communicating any new CRS requirements to all concerned parties.

Please note that this communication is for informational purposes only and should not be considered in any case as a tax advice.  kindly consult your financial advisor, tax or legal counsel, or another expert you trust and follow their guidance and advice. Thus, the Bank cannot be held liable for any misunderstandings or actions as a result of this communication or any measures we may take in its implementation.

“For further information, please visit the following OECD link:  https://www.oecd.org/tax/automatic-exchange