CRS for Company Owners (2026): What Your Bank Reports About Your Company, and to Whom

When your company opens a bank account almost anywhere outside the US, the bank asks you to fill in a tax self-certification. That form feeds the Common Reporting Standard, the OECD system under which banks report accounts to their tax authority, which passes the information to the account holder’s home country. For a founder with a company in one country and a home in another, it decides what your own tax office learns. This guide explains it from the OECD’s and tax authorities’ own texts, checked in November 2026.

Who exchanges

According to the OECD, 112 jurisdictions had started CRS exchanges by January 2025, with more committed by 2027. Hong Kong and Singapore have exchanged since September 2018, the BVI since September 2017 as an early adopter, and the UK requires its financial institutions to report under its own regulations. The United States isn’t on the OECD’s list of CRS jurisdictions; it exchanges information under its own system, FATCA, through agreements with other countries.

Sources: OECD: Taking stock of progress (2025) · OECD: AEOI commitments · IRD: AEOI FAQ · IRAS: CRS · BVI ITA: CRS · HMRC IEIM400080

What the bank reports

For each reportable account, the CRS lists:

• the account holder’s name, address, jurisdiction of residence and tax number, and for individuals the date (and sometimes place) of birth;
• the account number and type;
• the balance or value at the end of the year, or the fact that the account was closed;
• for deposit accounts, the gross interest paid; for custody accounts, gross interest, dividends, other income and sale proceeds;
• the currency of each amount.

Sources: OECD: consolidated CRS text (Section I)

When you, the owner, are reported

The CRS sorts company account holders into active and passive. A company is passive unless less than 50% of its income and less than 50% of its assets are passive (dividends, interest, investments and the like). For a passive company, the bank also reports its controlling persons, the individuals who ultimately own or control it, with their own residence and tax numbers, to the countries where they live.

• A trading or service company with real customers is usually active: the company is reported to where it is resident.
• A holding or investment company is typically passive: its owners are reported to where they live. See opening a bank account for a BVI company and where to put a holding company.

Sources: OECD: consolidated CRS text (Sections V and VIII)

The form you sign

The self-certification gives the company’s (and, where needed, each controlling person’s) name, address, tax residence and tax number. Three things to know:

• It must be true. In Hong Kong, knowingly or recklessly giving a self-certification that is misleading, false or incorrect in a material particular is an offence, with a fine of HK$10,000.
• It must stay true. If circumstances change, the bank can’t rely on the old form and needs a new one. Hong Kong’s tax department asks account holders to tell their bank and give an updated form within 30 days.
• It must match everything else. The residence you give the bank should agree with the company register and your own tax position; see company in one country, you in another. US-related accounts often also need IRS Form W-8BEN-E.

Sources: OECD: self-certification example form · IRD: self-certification · IRD: penalty policy · OECD: consolidated CRS text (Section VI) · IRS: Form W-8BEN-E

What is changing

• Amended CRS. The 2023 update brings e-money products and central bank digital currencies into scope. The UK applied it from 1 January 2026, and OECD members aim to start exchanging under it by 2027.
• Crypto. Under the separate Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, 76 jurisdictions have committed to exchange information on crypto-asset users, with first exchanges due in 2027.

Sources: HMRC IEIM400080 · OECD: tax report to G20, April 2026

An example

Invented for illustration. Mateo lives in Madrid and owns two companies with bank accounts in Hong Kong. One is a trading company that sells to customers across Asia; it is classed as active, and the bank reports it as a Hong Kong-resident account holder. The other holds his shares in a Singapore software company and receives only dividends; it is classed as passive, so the bank also reports Mateo as its controlling person, with his Spanish tax number. Spain’s tax office receives that information through the exchange, and Mateo’s adviser makes sure his Spanish return already covers it.

Frequently asked questions

General information for internationally mobile founders, not tax, legal or immigration advice for your situation. Rules and fees change; confirm your position with a qualified adviser in each country involved before acting.