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CRS Obligations and Expat Financial Advice

Under the newly expanded and more stringent rules, even errors made in good faith could result in an investigation. This is partly because any information shared through official CRS channels is viewed as being verified by the recipient.

There are many pieces of information the client and adviser need to ensure are correct. For example, CRS requires correct and up to date addresses and financial details for all financial interests across all relevant jurisdictions. For those with complex financial affairs across multiple asset classes, regions and countries, this can be complex, so reliable expat financial management is likely to be essential.

Furthermore, information provided should be so detailed and specific that it provides no room for ambiguity. For example, some named addresses may trigger an investigation if it is not made clear and verifiable that they are only used for holidaying or temporary stays rather than acting as a main residence.

For example, a client may own a house in Malta but reside in the Netherlands. If correspondence from the client’s Maltese bank account is sent to the Maltese address this could trigger CRS reporting of the fact and result in notification to the authorities in the Netherlands.

Such instances can provoke a chain of actions and investigations and, even if clients are exonerated, can cause considerable inconvenience and distress. As such, clients and their advisers should revise their addresses with all their wealth and asset managers, banks, brokers, insurance companies and other interested parties.

If you need more information on CRS and other wealth management issues, contact Blacktower today for expat financial advice from people who understand your situation.

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Dealing with scams

Blacktower Financial Management

You may have seen emails alerting you to a new fraud specific to the financial services advice industry. We are not aware of any of our clients having been targeted in the way described below, but it is our responsibility at Blacktower to do everything we can to educate our clients about these scams to avoid any harm coming to them.

The fraudsters claim to be from the Financial Conduct Authority or local law enforcement and are targeting clients of investment management firms. They are advising clients that the investment manager, adviser or firm is under investigation. The fraudster specifically asks the client not to speak to their investment manager, adviser or firm, or even close connections, claiming this would be considered tipping off. The client is then advised to encash their portfolio and move the cash to the client’s bank account. Once this is done, the fraudster then ‘recommends’ an investment which is actually a scam.

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Yes, we DO sell you something – Peace of Mind!

Woman relaxingIn a world where our financial stability impacts almost every aspect of our daily lives, it is more important than ever to preserve what we have worked so hard to achieve. Unless you’re lucky enough to win the lottery, most of us have worked hard and for a very long time to achieve financial security and the lifestyle we want for ourselves and our families in retirement.

We all remember Robert Maxwell and the Mirror Group pension scandal in the early 90s when innocent working people woke up to the horror that their pension contributions had been used to subsidise his failing empire. The same happened when “Sir” Philip Green sold BHS for £1 in 2015, and this confirmed that even some of the biggest household names cannot be trusted with our retirement funds and financial future.

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