CRS & FATCA.

Definition

The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) is an OECD framework under which over 100 participating jurisdictions automatically exchange financial account information about each other's tax residents. FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) is the equivalent US regime, requiring foreign financial institutions to report accounts held by US persons directly to the IRS. Together, they're why "opening an account somewhere else" no longer means privacy from your home tax authority the way it once did — both regimes exist specifically to close that gap.

Why this matters more than the passport itself, for some applicants

A second citizenship or residency doesn't automatically end CRS/FATCA reporting to a previous home country — that depends on actually changing tax residency, a separate and more involved process than obtaining a passport or residency permit. For many HNI/UHNI applicants, the real question behind a CBI or RBI decision isn't travel freedom at all, but whether a jurisdiction's own reporting posture (some participate fully in CRS, some have exemptions or non-participant status) changes what gets automatically reported where. This is exactly the kind of scoring criterion our Advisory vertical evaluates per jurisdiction, alongside visa-free access and tax treatment.

Where crypto adds a layer

Crypto exchanges and custodians are increasingly brought into CRS's scope directly, under the OECD's Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), which a growing number of jurisdictions are adopting alongside traditional CRS. A digital-asset holder evaluating a second residency should assume crypto-specific reporting is converging with — not staying separate from — traditional account reporting.