Bank ownership in relation to CRS

[Morrad]

Hi guys,

I have a question regarding bank ownership in relation to CRS.

So I have been looking for a bank for personal/private use that does not participate in CRS.
Therefore, I have been reading about banks in countries such as Moldova.

An example of a bank in Moldova is MobiasBanca. The bank was purchased by OTP Bank of Hungary back in 2019.
Does that mean that since the majority of MobiasBanca is owned by a hungarian bank, the Moldovian bank complies with CRS?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Sols]

It's hard to say for sure.

While the risk of reporting in such a circumstance is not zero (especially if they share core banking systems), reporting will likely not take place. Doing so would probably violate banking secrecy laws in Moldova, if they haven't yet been updated in preparation for future compliance with CRS/AEOI. Moldova has a FATCA agreement, so the laws may already allow for general exchange of information.

 

[Morrad]

It's hard to say for sure.

While the risk of reporting in such a circumstance is not zero (especially if they share core banking systems), reporting will likely not take place. Doing so would probably violate banking secrecy laws in Moldova, if they haven't yet been updated in preparation for future compliance with CRS/AEOI. Moldova has a FATCA agreement, so the laws may already allow for general exchange of information.

I am not a citizen of USA, so I think that Moldova might be a good jurisdiction to operate in.
As os February 2021, Moldova has not yet set a date for AEOI.

But I have been searching for an answer to this for some time now, and it doesn't really seem that anyone can tell for sure. Although, it might be a difficult question if one does not work with this.