CYPRUS PROVIDED RUSSIA WITH INFORMATION ON ACCOUNTS ON THE ISLAND

Important notice: Law&Trust no longer work in Russia. Transfer of operational control over Law&Trust in Russia to local management and the formation of the LegalCraft brand was started in 2022 and came into effect in October 2024.

All figures for 2017, which should have been transferred as a part of the automatic exchange of information, were provided to Russia in September 2018, according to Naya Syrimi, representative of the Cyprus Ministry of Finance. Figures for fiscal year 2018 will be transmitted in September 2019.

Context. About 90 countries have joined the automatic exchange of tax information. Of these, 82 agreed to transfer information to the Russian Federal Tax Service; it was planned to provide the first piece of information as early as September. The name of the client, the account number, the name and details of the financial institution, data on the balance of the account and the movement of funds per the year, the investment income of clients from the sale of shares, interest on deposits, bonds must be disclosed.

Doubts that Cyprus provided Russia with information on bank accounts on the island appeared in October. Then Switzerland refused to provide Cyprus with information on financial accounts within the framework of the international exchange of tax information. According to the Swiss tax authorities, Cyprus does not meet international requirements for confidentiality and data security.

Cyprus is currently working on an action plan aimed at ensuring the security of data and confidentiality requirements established by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).