Making a not-so-comprehensive analysis of the banking and information exchange rules of the United States, it is clear that we are still a long way from the end of bank secrecy. While the rest of the countries are moving rapidly towards transparency, promoted by the OECD, their main partner promotes anonymity in both financial accounts and legal entities. The OECD maintains an alarming silence on this issue, they are not ashamed to demand from others what they are not willing to give.
It is surprising to see OECD publications such as the one of March 2018 titled “Game Over for CRS Avoidance!”, aiming at ending with CRS avoidance strategies, without making any comment on the easiest way to avoid the CRS: to work with U.S. financial institutions. As long as this double OECD discourse continues, the world will hardly advance towards total transparency.
Transparency in the US is moving slowly, mainly due to the strong lobbying of the financial sector, since in general, these laws go against the proselytizing interests of political parties. Some recently approved regulations point to, for example, the obligation to identify beneficiaries of U.S. companies acquiring real estate with a value greater than USD 1 million in Florida or New York. Another example is the recent FINCEN regulation on the obligation for banks to identify final beneficiaries of entities with bank accounts. The latter took 8 years of discussions in Parliament before being approved. The reason behind this new rule is basically the fight against terrorism and not an international tax-avoidance incentive.
How much time is left for the U.S. to deliver foreigners information hiding their estate in the country is again a task for enchanters or gurus who can predict the future…