Beginning in 2020, all Cayman Reporting Financial Institutions (‘RFIs’) and Trustee Documented Trusts (‘TDTs’) must complete a new annual CRS Compliance Form via the Cayman Islands Department for International Tax Cooperation (‘DITC’) Portal by 15 September. However, this year the deadline for the 2019 reporting period has been extended further to 31 March 2021.
The form requires extensive information from RFIs and TDTs such as their regulatory status, their AML/KYC processes, classifications of account holders, their service providers and CRS policies and procedures. As such, sufficient time to compile this data is necessary. Automatic penalties will apply where this deadline is not met.
The DITC is particularly focused on ensuring that entities with nil filings are in compliance with all requirements, as part of a wider effort requiring entities demonstrate effective data collection, legal entity analysis and implementation of the CRS. As such, the DITC will look to confirm that RFIs and TDTs have established, implemented and maintained robust CRS policies and procedures that cover all aspects of their CRS requirements. Since many of these entities rely on third parties in Ireland and abroad to ensure these compliance measures are being met, it is critical for service providers to immediately begin preparing for the deadline and assess whether all compliance measures are adequately in place.
This development represents an effort by the Cayman Islands to identify non-compliance as governments come under pressure by the OECD and peer countries to prove adherence to competent authority agreements in place; and as such, we are likely to see other jurisdictions follow suit.
Other new reporting deadlines to note are as follows:
With our extensive knowledge and practice in this field, we would be pleased to partner with you on assessment and compliance in relation to this new requirement – please do reach out if you would like to discuss this.
Fadi Boukaram Fadi.Bourkaram@ie.ey.com +353 1 479 2236
Shambhavi Guruprasad Shambhavi.Guruprasad1@ie.ey.com +353 1 221 1410
EY will be hosting a webcast in the next few weeks on FATCA and CRS developments, including this one. Please reach out to one of us if you would like to pre-register for this.
