How and with who TransferWise shares personal information?

[Conversion]

I have a TW Personal account with not much in it (an amount under 10K‌ usd). I'm in the EU, verified this account years ago with an EU passport.
Now that they're making this re-branding I'm wondering if any of you know if and how‍ TW shares our data with our govs in the EU.

Now I live in a⁠ different country compared to the one I opened the account from.
I passed the KYC⁤ with the country of my passport, however I have updated my address with the data⁣ of the country I live in now.

Does anybody know if they share automatically financial⁢ information about amounts etc. to the country they have the docs from (the ones used︀ during KYC)? Or just to be sure they share information with both the address specified︁ in the personal account AND the country of origin?

Thanks 🙂

 

[Sols]

At the moment, Wise claims that they do not report anything (link). They‌ will of course honor requests for exchange of information (since they would be legally compelled‍ to) but there does not seem to be any automatic reporting right now.

 

[Gediminas]

In the provided link it mentions that there is no reporting requirement⁠ for their UK entity, but you have to keep in mind all non-British will be⁤ onboarded to their EU entity (most likely to Belgium) and we all know how fast⁣ the information will be exchanged between EU countries.

As regards the British clients themselves, even⁢ if no CRS event is triggered, the HMRC can get this information easily anyway.

Am I wrong?

 

[Konstanz]

I can confirm what Gediminas say. I have transferwise account and the IBAN is issued︄ in Belgium., through their Belgium EMI TransferWise Europe SA. Belgium is a part of CRS.︅ So, information is shared. I think this link @Sols mention only related to UK EMI︆ and not exactly correct

 

[Sols]

I certainly hope you're right. I wouldn't rely on Wise not⁢ reporting, even in the UK and prior to the Brexit split. That text has been︀ unchanged for years, other than the entity name being updated following the re-branding.

 

[Cristero]

I've sent an email to their team, so we can get an answer once and‌ for all.
I'll post it here once they'll reply to me.

 

[Gediminas]

Most of the time, the support team who is answering those emails is not⁠ 100% sure of those situations. So expect to receive inaccurate response.

Just do your own⁤ research about CRS and obligations. If the obligation is for all, there are no exceptions⁣ to anyone.

 

[Romanov]

Yeah, i was at some transferwise launch event in Hungary many years ago, and was‌ talking to the staff, they work real tight with each government they deal with, in‍ order to get licensing etc.. So i would not bank on them hiding anything from⁠ anyone.. They have a liaison for each country as i gathered.

Also as many threads⁤ and articles have pointed out, trying to hide money is a losing game in this⁣ day and age.. Might as well just find some low tax jurisdication and pay the⁢ taxes..

 

[Cristero]

Ok, I got an answer and they basically told me in a nice way they're‌ complying with CRS. I hope this will put an end to the speculation:

Thanks for‍ reaching out to us.
I hope this meets you well!

The fundamental idea behind the⁠ article is that Wise does not hold back any taxes on your transfers, neither do⁤ we offer tax advice.
So as far as tax liabilities and responsibilities are concerned with⁣ respect to the customer's account and transactions, it is completely up to the customer.

As an institution however, we do have our own tax responsibilities and relevant regulations with which⁢ we comply.
This is an internal information that we are not obliged to share with︀ customers.
You can however be rest assured that Wise complies with all regulations and rules︁ governing our conduct and activities as a financial institution.

I hope this helps provide some︂ clarification.

If you have any questions or requests, please do not hesitate to get back︃ to us.

Best regards,

xxxx
Wise.

 

[Piano]

Yeah, pretty clear

 

[seabreeze]

Mind you, in the︅ world we live in, according to European-wide banking and CRS regulations, the shear fact of︆ inquiring on the technicalities of information exchange and AML procedure threshholds is a trigger-event for︇ an in-depth client review and possibly Fin Security monitoring organism reporting for suspicious behaviour (true︈ story!).
Congrats, you just did yourself a solid 😉.

 

[Cristero]

I'm 100% legal, so your post is not really relevant.

 

[seabreeze]

I would argue that it is relevant.
Your personal situation notwithstanding, I am merely pointing‍ out that making an inquiry with a financial institution regarding the workings of its tax⁠ reporting procedures is sufficient grounds to initiate a customer risk assessment and/or make a Suspicious⁤ Activity Report, particularly if you have an overzealous bank employee. This was certainly part of⁣ the operating manual for a Private Bank in a high end jurisdiction I was a⁢ customer manager in.