The Common Reporting Standard (CRS): What Banks Report About Your Accounts

How the CRS works

The OECD describes the standard as an annual automatic exchange of information on financial accounts held outside the account holder's country of tax residence, with the tax authority of that country. Financial accounts cover most bank deposits, assets held in custody, life insurance contracts and financial investments, and in some cases accounts held by entities that the taxpayer controls (OECD, as of November 2026).

The chain has three links. The financial institution establishes where each client is tax resident and records it. Once a year it reports the accounts of clients resident in other participating countries to its own tax authority. That authority sends the data to the tax authority of each client's country (Belastingdienst, as of November 2026).

What is reported

The Belastingdienst lists the data a financial institution passes on for a client who is tax resident abroad (Belastingdienst, as of November 2026):

• name, address, and date and place of birth
• the country of tax residence and the tax identification number issued there
• the account number, or the policy number for insurance
• the balance or value of the account
• interest and dividend income
• the value of capital and annuity insurance policies
• proceeds from the sale of financial products such as securities

Who takes part

Tax authorities from 116 jurisdictions had begun exchanging under the standard by the OECD's 2025 review, and in 2024 alone they exchanged information on more than 171 million financial accounts with a total value of nearly EUR 13 trillion (OECD, as of November 2026). All EU member states take part (Belastingdienst, as of November 2026).

Switzerland's legal basis for the exchange entered into force on 1 January 2017, and its agreement with the EU applies to all 27 member states (State Secretariat for International Finance, as of November 2026). The United States runs its own regime, FATCA, which requires foreign financial institutions to report the assets of their US account holders (IRS, as of November 2026).

Is bank secrecy over?

For tax purposes, yes, in every country that exchanges under the standard. An account in Switzerland, or in any other participating country, is reported each year to the country where its holder is tax resident, if that country is a CRS partner of the country where the account is held. The useful question is no longer whether an account is visible, but whether what is reported matches what you declare at home.

Receiving the data does not mean tax is automatically due. The Belastingdienst says it checks the data it receives first, and that it can take a different view of a client's country of residence than the financial institution did (Belastingdienst, as of November 2026).

What it means when you open an account

In the Netherlands, for example, financial institutions have had to ask every new client for a self-certification of their tax residence since 1 January 2016, and they ask existing clients again when something suggests the information is wrong, such as a move abroad or a foreign phone number (Belastingdienst, as of November 2026). Answer it accurately, with the tax identification number of every country where you are resident; our guide to tax residency explains how residence is decided.

For a company, the bank also asks who controls it. Where the standard looks through an entity, the controlling persons are reported to their own countries, which is why ownership charts and beneficial owner details are part of every company account opening. A structure that only works if nobody finds out does not work.

If you hold or plan accounts in several countries, our Private Banking team and our Wealth Planning desk set them up on the basis of your actual residence, and our Switzerland page covers Swiss banking for non-residents.

Frequently asked questions

Is Swiss banking secrecy still a thing?

Not towards the tax authority of your country of residence, if that country is one of Switzerland's exchange partners. Swiss financial institutions have collected account data since the legal basis came into force on 1 January 2017, and Switzerland passes it on automatically in the following year to all 27 EU member states and to its other partner states that meet the conditions for receiving it.

Which accounts does the CRS cover?

Most bank deposits, assets held in custody, life insurance contracts and financial investments, and in some cases accounts held by entities that the account holder controls.

Does the CRS mean I owe tax?

Not automatically. Your tax authority receives the data and checks it against your tax return. Tax is due only if your country's law says so.

Does the CRS apply to company accounts?

Yes. Companies self-certify their tax residence too, and for some entities the bank also reports the people who control them.

Does the United States take part?

The United States uses its own regime, FATCA, which requires foreign financial institutions to report the assets held by their US account holders.

Sources

• OECD: Peer review of the automatic exchange of financial account information, 2025 update, executive summary (as of 3 November 2026)
• Belastingdienst (Netherlands): Common Reporting Standard, what data is exchanged and how the country of residence is determined (as of 3 November 2026)
• State Secretariat for International Finance (Switzerland): Automatic exchange of information on financial accounts (as of 3 November 2026)
• IRS (United States): Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (as of 3 November 2026)

This article is general information, not tax or legal advice. Reporting rules and partner lists change; check the current position with your financial institution and a qualified tax adviser.