The financial affairs of wealthy client families are frequently subject to intense scrutiny from tax authorities. The information which must now be reported by financial institutions of all types, including fiduciary services providers, and exchanged between jurisdictional tax authorities may trigger a request for further information, or even a full tax enquiry.

The rules that drive who is reported, and the financial information concerning deemed financial accounts attributed to them, are complex and frequently encompass individuals who have no right or entitlement to the assets to which those deemed accounts relate. Duplicative reporting in respect of the same individual and accounts, submitted by different financial institutions, is a frequent occurrence.

Our AEoI Consultancy Service provides a clear and easy to understand analysis of the reporting impacts of the FATCA and CRS regimes on a fiduciary structure.

This analysis details who will be reported, what will be reported about them, by whom, to which tax authority and when and encompasses all the entities which comprise a fiduciary structure, regardless of whether Stonehage Fleming administers those entities, or not. In addition we can, if required, extend such a review to include assets held in a personal capacity.

The major benefit of this analysis is that it provides certainty about, and advance notice of, the reporting flows and the content of that reporting. In turn this means, for example, that the necessary paperwork to respond to an enquiry from a tax authority, should one be forthcoming, can be gathered and collated well ahead of this being received.

We can assist private banks, asset managers, fiduciary service firms and independent trustees with the complexities of maintaining fully compliant arrangements with regard to their ongoing obligations in respect of the AEoI.

We will review the adequacy and effectiveness of the implementation of FATCA and CRS requirements. In particular we focus on the arrangements and approach to:

• Entity classification
• Identification of account holders and pre-existing due diligence
• New account onboarding
• Change of circumstance
• Reporting

The outcome of the review is documented in a clear and concise report, which contains recommendations for correcting any deficiencies identified. If required we can assist with the implementation of any recommendations made, draft policies and procedures, as well as providing training to staff to the extent necessary.

Stonehage Fleming can prepare and submit FATCA and CRS reports to the respective tax authorities through our in-house reporting software solution hosted in Switzerland. This includes:

• Provision of a standardised data input template
• Generating the reports in the required XML format
• If required, submission of the reports via the relevant jurisdictional tax authority portal
• Confirmation of successful filing of the reports with tax authorities and provision of a full audit trail

For more information please contact our AEoI Consultancy team.