I have often seen the claim here on Offshore Corp Talk that EMIs do not report under CRS.
And I've seen copies of emails from EMIs pasted into threads here telling their customers that they don't report and CRS.
Transferwise even says on its website that it is "evaluating it's obligations under︀ CRS and FATCA" but for the time being it doesn't report (and I suspect other︁ EMIs are probably just following Transferwise's lead on this).
So while it seems EMIs don't report, I haven't seen an EMI say they are not obliged to report - two︂ very different things.
So I spent some time yesterday trying to find this "EMI exemption"︃ in the CRS standard and supporting documents, in the EU CRS directive and in the︄ UK CRS legislation and while I'm definitely no CRS expert by a long shot, I︅ couldn't find a mention of "Electronic Money Institution" or even "electronic money", let alone a︆ specific exemption for them.
So does anyone know where this exemption is found?
Is a︇ CRS reporting exemption for EMIs explicit in any of the CRS laws? Or is it︈ because EMIs (and the normal banks they use to keep their customers' money like Barclays,︉ JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo) do not fall within the relevant CRS definitions?
It would be great if anyone could point us to the specific exemption in the CRS︊ law, or properly explain how CRS laws do not apply to EMIs, e.g. are EMIs︋ and the banks they are not "Reportable Financial Institutions" because they do not provide "Depository︌ Accounts" or "Custodial Account"s?
Or maybe they are Reportable Financial Institutions but EMI accounts are not "Reportable Accounts" because they are not "Depository Accounts" or "Custodial Accounts"? (or they are,︍ but those accounts then fall within the definition of "Excluded Accounts"?).
And does anyone have︎ specific example of someone having their EMI account reported under CRS and AEOI?
I'm pretty️ confident that in practice the EMIs are not reporting people under CRS, otherwise they would have seen a big effect on customer behaviour and/or numbers, but it would be nice to have a definitive explanation for why EMIs are not obliged to report to do so.