Does LLC Wyoming Bank report outside the USA?

[banafinfodafuggiano]

I am a non-US resident, I have a US LLC in Wyoming as a non-resident.

My only two options for bank accounts, as far as I have understood, are Mercury and Transferwise.

Will these two EMIs/Banks report to my current residence country the balance of the business LLC account ?

I can read that the US does not report under CRS, but would these two online banking institutions report since I am a non US resident?

 

[X0t0]

Hello, i'm asking about the same thing , and i see there's no reply to you , did you find any information ?

 

[galadrel]

TransferWise does not afaik, as for Mercury I'm not sure. Either way why would they? It's not a personal account.

 

[ivan1911]

They report to irs and for now irs doesn't report back automatically.. some think that must change in the near future some think that USA is simply too "strong" and won't give up on being the new tax haven..
However one thing is certain and that is if your country officially requests info from usa they will get it.

Bare in mind FACTA is reciprocal in theory.. usa just doesn't want to play ball yet , how long will they last.. idk perhaps some more knowledgeable people around can say..

 

[CounselRep]

Transferwise shouldn't report you under CRS.

Mercury is a bank right? If so, a FATCA might apply?

Some (but not all) FATCA agreements are reciprocal, but as mentioned above, word on the street is that it's mainly been a one-way thing with the US traditionally given up nothing.

I've read that might be slowly starting to change, e.g. with Singapore perhaps?

Anyway, it depends on where your mysterious home country / country of tax residency is as to what type of FATCA agreement applies. Check that out here:

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act

FATCA requires foreign financial institutions (FFIs) to report to the IRS information about financial accounts held by U.S. taxpayers, or by foreign entities in which U.S. taxpayers hold a substantial ownership interest. FFIs are encouraged to either directly register with the IRS to comply with...

home.treasury.gov

 

[Ness]

Transferwise shouldn't report you under CRS.

If you have an EUR account they can report you as they are bank licensed in BE.

 

[CounselRep]

Is

If you have an EUR account they can report you as they are bank licensed in BE.

it a banking licence or an EMI licence?

 

[Ness]

Is

it a banking licence or an EMI licence?

When I read this , TW is a bank in EU. In UK they are EMI licensed, different company name.

 

[CounselRep]

Looks like the licence it has from Belgium is a Payment Services licence (as opposed to a banking licence):

EUCLID - Register

euclid.eba.europa.eu

EMI licence is still with the UK (for the time being anyway):

EUCLID - Register

euclid.eba.europa.eu

When I read this , TW is a bank in EU. In UK they are EMI licensed, different company name.

Yes, they have an EMI licence from the UK and a payment services licence from Belgium.

I could not see a bank licence on the Central Bank of Belgium website though. But that maybe because it is not on a page that is in English (I don't speak French or Dutch which is the other languages of that website and the translations don't work with the search engine).

Do you have a link for page on the that shows their banking licence?

 

[JohnLocke]

Do you have a link for page on the that shows their banking licence?

They are not a bank, as you may see from their website

TransferWise Ltd is authorised as an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) by the UK Financial Conduct Authority with registration number 900507, with passporting rights across the EEA

You can look up that number together with a lot of other numbers for the different countries where they are licensed as this or that.

https://transferwise.com/help/articles/2932693/how-is-transferwise-regulated-in-each-country

One thing is sure, they have registered with all major countries authorities so reporting is guaranteed.

 

[CounselRep]

They are not a bank, as you may see from their website


You can look up that number together with a lot of other numbers for the different countries where they are licensed as this or that.

https://transferwise.com/help/articles/2932693/how-is-transferwise-regulated-in-each-country

One thing is sure, they have registered with all major countries authorities so reporting is guaranteed.

I hear what you are saying, but being registered does not equate to being legally obliged to report under CRS.

I personally don't think Transferwise does report because it is registered as an EMI (and in some cases as a payment services provider), but it is not registered as a bank (that I have seen).

See further discussion about this here:

EMI no CRS

I personally see no reason for an EMI to claim not reporting if they are in fact reporting. This can only backfire on them, once the first of their customers will get into troubles and advertise the thing. This, plus the fact that by european laws EMIs are, as of now, not yet obliged to report.

www.offshorecorptalk.com

Unless I see Transferwise and other EMIs have a banking licence and that the accounts customers have are bank accounts (not EMI accounts), then I don't think CRS requires them to report.

Happy to see a banking licence for Transferwise if anyone has got a link to one?

 

[Ness]

They are not a bank, as you may see from their website


You can look up that number together with a lot of other numbers for the different countries where they are licensed as this or that.

https://transferwise.com/help/articles/2932693/how-is-transferwise-regulated-in-each-country

One thing is sure, they have registered with all major countries authorities so reporting is guaranteed.

Looks like the licence it has from Belgium is a Payment Services licence (as opposed to a banking licence):

EUCLID - Register

euclid.eba.europa.eu

EMI licence is still with the UK (for the time being anyway):

EUCLID - Register

euclid.eba.europa.eu

Yes, they have an EMI licence from the UK and a payment services licence from Belgium.

I could not see a bank licence on the Central Bank of Belgium website though. But that maybe because it is not on a page that is in English (I don't speak French or Dutch which is the other languages of that website and the translations don't work with the search engine).

@Admin , we are talking about Transferwise Europe SA which is different from Transferwise Ltd. TW said that the later does not report but never about TW Europe SA.

@CounselRep , you are right, they have a payment provider license which combined with their access to swift network and their own swift's details become a FI. A lawyer said me that it is just a matter of time to make things clear and all the EMI (or their banks) will start to report.
When they will ask you for your TIN it's already too late.

 

[CounselRep]

I definitely agree that lots of people feel it's only a matter of time before EMIs will fall under CRS reporting and that may well turn out to be true as more and more money goes through them (and especially if they get busted for facilitating money laundering, tax evasion, etc and those busts have to be inevitable right?).

Although I have also read the other view on this forum that compared to the multi-billion banking sector, most EMIs are small fry in comparison:

It is reliable. EMIs are currently not reporting under CRS (or FATCA unless they have signed up individually). In the EU framework there is an exemption for EMIs.

EU does, of course, know that this is "a hole in the fence". But, the amount of money that passes throug EMIs every year is still negectable in big picture.

Access to SWIFT does not appear to be a criteria for CRS reporting in the CRS rules that I have seen, but maybe I missed it somewhere (there are a lot of CRS rules!).

As the following thread discusses though, the key thing about reporting is that EMI accounts are not bank accounts (or in the terminology of the CRS rules, they are not "depository" accounts):

EMI no CRS

I personally see no reason for an EMI to claim not reporting if they are in fact reporting. This can only backfire on them, once the first of their customers will get into troubles and advertise the thing. This, plus the fact that by european laws EMIs are, as of now, not yet obliged to report.

www.offshorecorptalk.com

That's not to say a corporate group can't have a bank licence and an EMI licence - see Revolut for example, where their bank accounts will probably be CRS reportable - so make sure you are using their EMI accounts if CRS is a concern.

Also check out:

https://transferwise.com/help/articles/2736035

"Your TransferWise multi-currency account is an electronic money account. It's different from a bank account because:

• you won’t be able to get an overdraft or loan
• you won’t earn interest on your account
• although your bank details are unique, they don't represent real bank accounts, but simply "addresses" for your electronic money account. You can still use them to receive payments though, like a real bank account"

And:

IEIM400000 - International Exchange of Information Manual - HMRC internal manual - GOV.UK

"Electronic Money Institutions authorised under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 (EMR), which implements the European Union Electronic Money Directive (2009/110/EC) (EMD) in the UK, are not deposit takers for the purposes of the EU Capital Requirements Directive (2013/36/EU) (CRD). Issuing electronic money (e-money) in exchange for funds, i.e. providing an e-money account in which to hold funds, does not constitute deposit taking. Consequently, Electronic Money Institutions will not fall within the definition of Depository Institution, which requires deposits to be accepted in the ordinary course of a banking or similar business." [my emphasis]

And for more on the types of accounts that are reportable under CRS see Figure 8 and Chapters 2 & 3 of the following:

https://www.oecd.org/tax/exchange-of-tax-information/implementation-handbook-standard-for-automatic-exchange-of-financial-information-in-tax-matters.pdf

 

[Ness]

I definitely agree that lots of people feel it's only a matter of time before EMIs will fall under CRS reporting and that may well turn out to be true as more and more money goes through them (and especially if they get busted for facilitating money laundering, tax evasion, etc and those busts have to be inevitable right?).

Although I have also read the other view on this forum that compared to the multi-billion banking sector, most EMIs are small fry in comparison:



Access to SWIFT does not appear to be a criteria for CRS reporting in the CRS rules that I have seen, but maybe I missed it somewhere (there are a lot of CRS rules!).

As the following thread discusses though, the key thing about reporting is that EMI accounts are not bank accounts (or in the terminology of the CRS rules, they are not "depository" accounts):

EMI no CRS

I personally see no reason for an EMI to claim not reporting if they are in fact reporting. This can only backfire on them, once the first of their customers will get into troubles and advertise the thing. This, plus the fact that by european laws EMIs are, as of now, not yet obliged to report.

www.offshorecorptalk.com

That's not to say a corporate group can't have a bank licence and an EMI licence - see Revolut for example, where their bank accounts will probably be CRS reportable - so make sure you are using their EMI accounts if CRS is a concern.

Also check out:

https://transferwise.com/help/articles/2736035

"Your TransferWise multi-currency account is an electronic money account. It's different from a bank account because:

• you won’t be able to get an overdraft or loan
• you won’t earn interest on your account
• although your bank details are unique, they don't represent real bank accounts, but simply "addresses" for your electronic money account. You can still use them to receive payments though, like a real bank account"

And:

IEIM400000 - International Exchange of Information Manual - HMRC internal manual - GOV.UK

"Electronic Money Institutions authorised under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 (EMR), which implements the European Union Electronic Money Directive (2009/110/EC) (EMD) in the UK, are not deposit takers for the purposes of the EU Capital Requirements Directive (2013/36/EU) (CRD). Issuing electronic money (e-money) in exchange for funds, i.e. providing an e-money account in which to hold funds, does not constitute deposit taking. Consequently, Electronic Money Institutions will not fall within the definition of Depository Institution, which requires deposits to be accepted in the ordinary course of a banking or similar business." [my emphasis]

And for more on the types of accounts that are reportable under CRS see Figure 8 and Chapters 2 & 3 of the following:

https://www.oecd.org/tax/exchange-of-tax-information/implementation-handbook-standard-for-automatic-exchange-of-financial-information-in-tax-matters.pdf

I was pointing out the fact that TW EU SA has direct access and is part of Swift network which is "only" possible for Banks and Financial Institutions (to be confirmed).
So, if TW Europe SA is a FI, then TW should fall into CRS rules.
You mentioned the HRMC definition of EMI in the UK but the problem here is about TW belgium entity which holds EUR accounts of his customers.
Also saying EMI are small fishes could be valid some years ago but when you see TW is processing more than $5B Monthly of payment, the small fish is becoming a dolphin and could finish like a baby whale.
It is still a grey area which will not last longer.

 

[weap76]

I am a non-US resident, I have a US LLC in Wyoming as a non-resident.

My only two options for bank accounts, as far as I have understood, are Mercury and Transferwise.

Will these two EMIs/Banks report to my current residence country the balance of the business LLC account ?

I can read that the US does not report under CRS, but would these two online banking institutions report since I am a non US resident?

Hi can you explain to me what are the steps to create an LLC. State the name the agent the virtual address and when? please thank you

 

[CounselRep]

I was pointing out the fact that TW EU SA has direct access and is part of Swift network which is "only" possible for Banks and Financial Institutions (to be confirmed).

That could be right, but I'm not sure.

So, if TW Europe SA is a FI, then TW should fall into CRS rules.

I haven't seen an analysis of whether TW meets the criteria of an FI under CRS, but even if it does, that does not automatically make all its accounts reportable. That is a different step.

Not even all bank accounts are reportable under CRS - there are many exemptions.

The example of the UK tax regulator's position on EMI accounts is just that - an example. You will see from the other linked post above that Malta takes the same position as the UK. So it is likely the principle is the same across Europe because they all operate under the same EU EMI directive.

Interestingly, Transferwise uses SWIFT for some GBP payments too:

https://transferwise.com/help/articles/2553074

"We pay out via SWIFT when you send USD to countries outside the US, GBP to countries outside the UK, or EUR to banks that are not part of SEPA and countries outside of SEPA."

Anyway, I guess there has been enough evidence listed across these posts for people to make an assessment of whether EMI accounts are "depository accounts" for the purposes of CRS reporting. Not much else can be said.