The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) is a new information‐gathering and reporting requirement for financial institutions in participating countries, to help fight against tax evasion and protect the integrity of tax systems.

CRS includes a broad range of financial institutions, Depositary Institutions; Custodial Institutions; Investment Entities; and Insurance Companies offering investment products with a cash value. These financial institutions are required to report to their own authorities financial account information with regards to persons or entities who are non-resident and for which the institution holds an account. That information is then exchanged with the jurisdiction of tax residence of the account holder

This will depend on where you live and your circumstances. Please contact a professional tax advisor or check the OECD website for more information on how to determine your tax residency, as mashreq cannot give tax advice.

Unlike FATCA which requires Financial Institutions to identify US Persons and report in line with local FATCA regulations, based on citizenship; CRS requires financial institutions to identify the tax residency of all our customers and in most cases report information on customers who are tax resident outside of the country where they hold their accounts.

Yes, Under the CRS, we are legally bound to establish the tax residency status of all our customers, even if you are tax resident in the same country as where you hold your account.

Once we have a valid self‐certification on file, you will only be asked to complete another when you update certain information on your account or in case your reportable status changes.

We are required by law to verify the details you have provided as part of your self‐certification. We might ask you for a copy of your passport to verify your identify or for some other evidence of your tax residency declared in your self‐certification.

The information reported to tax authorities will have been provided in the self‐certification form, and details about the accounts and products you have with us, including: The balance or value of the total amounts of interest or payments credited.

For a list of countries participating in the CRS, alongside the dates that they will start exchanging information, please see the OECD CRS portal.

For further information on your tax residency, please refer to the rules governing tax residence that have been published by each national tax authority. You can also find out more at the OECD Automatic Exchange of Information portal.

Mashreq Bank will respect your data privacy. We will only disclose your information to the relevant tax authorities if we are legally required to do so. Customer information is protected by a strict code of secrecy and security which all members of Mashreq, their staff and third parties are subject to.