Five reporting financial institutions fined by the ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority for breaching Common Reporting Standard Regulations

The Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) has imposed penalties and administrative fees ranging from AED 30,000 to AED 119,000 on five Reporting Financial Institutions for contraventions of the Common Reporting Standard Regulations 2017 (Regulations).

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) developed the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), which was established in the United Arab Emirates with effect from 1 January 2017.

The CRS concerns financial and tax-related information exchange on a global level between tax authorities and other international financial regulators through secure channels. It sets out the scope of information to be reported, the financial institutions required to report, the account holders subject to reporting, as well as the procedures to be followed by financial institutions.

The actions imposed by the FSRA address failures (to the extent applicable in each case) to:

• apply adequate due diligence procedures;
• keep records of the performance of due diligence;
• report required information in a complete and accurate manner;
• obtain valid self-certification of tax information from clients.

Emmanuel Givanakis, Chief Executive Officer of the FSRA, said: “The ADGM is committed to ensuring its Regulations are complied with, including those related to tax reporting, which are based on international obligations and standards. A key objective of the FSRA is to promote and enhance the integrity of the ADGM financial system. Accordingly, the FSRA supports initiatives to make tax systems more transparent, and to prevent practices intended to circumvent tax reporting”.

A copy of the FSRA’s CRS Penalty Notices can be found on the ADGM website here: FSRA - Regulatory Actions.