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oecd

February 26, 2016

The OECD’s Common Reporting Standard has been described as a ‘paradigm shift for tax’ as it seeks to automate the way governments share tax information with each other. How are family offices being affected? Alison Ebbage reports

Its official name is the global standard for automatic exchange of financial account information – these nine words are a simple distillation of an ambitious project to tackle global tax evasion. Known more regularly as the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), it will see government-to-government sharing of account holder information and builds upon existing legislation, notably the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the EU Savings Directive.

Baer: "Investors who think and act rationally are a naïve glorification"

April 9, 2010

Raymond J Baer, founding family member and chairman of Julius Baer Group Ltd, launched an impassioned defence of Switzerland as a financial centre at the company’s AGM yesterday, but predicted that lessons learned by investors from the financial crisis would not be remembered in the future.

Raymond J Baer (pictured), founding family member and chairman of Julius Baer Group Ltd, launched an impassioned defence of Switzerland as a financial centre at the company's AGM yesterday, but predicted that lessons learned by investors from the financial crisis would not be remembered in the future.

Death of tax havens is greatly exaggerated

March 26, 2009

If you believe the OECD’s rhetoric, tax havens are about to collapse like a house of cards before the onslaught of a G20 determined to retrieve untold trillions of lost revenue. However, the death of tax-efficient jurisdictions and their historic rules on confidentiality is greatly exaggerated.

If you believe the OECD's rhetoric, tax havens are about to collapse like a house of cards before the onslaught of a G20 determined to retrieve untold trillions of lost revenue. After a string of European states including Austria, Luxembourg, Andorra, Liechtenstein and Switzerland agreed to exchange information more freely, OECD director-general Angel Gurria, described this as "an important moment in the history of international tax cooperation."

OECD investigates tax issues for the wealthy

November 10, 2008

As part of its probe into member state tax policies, the OECD is asking wealthy individuals what they think of taxation.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is trying to ascertain what the wealthy and other interested parties think about tax issues in a bid to put together a series of "best practice" tax policies for high net worth individuals.

Happy families: secrecy remains watertight in Swiss banks

July 1, 2004

As the European savings directive alters wealth management strategy in family offices, canny Swiss banks are introducing new products to keep a firm grip on their money, says Bob Reynolds

Bob Reynolds is consultant editor of Offshore Red.

As the European savings directive alters wealth management strategy in family offices, canny Swiss banks are introducing new products to keep a firm grip on their money, says Bob Reynolds

For Switzerland's wealth management industry, the loopholes could generate a healthy windfall. With wealthy customers shifting their savings into specialised financial products, banks should be in a position to harvest a new range of management fees.