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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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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