Transparent investments

KEY POINTS

• Life after the end of bespoke offshore disclosure facilities.
• What the automatic exchange of tax information landscape looks like.
• Examples of those who are likely to be affected.
• Overseas assets are fine as long as they are in compliant jurisdictions.

The world in which individuals were offered a relatively juicy carrot – beneficial settlement terms and conditions – in exchange for making a voluntary disclosure has long gone with the closure on 31 December 2015 to new registrations under the Liechtenstein disclosure facility (LDF) and the Crown dependency disclosure facilities.

The stick is no longer the abrupt closure of a client’s personal bank account punitive sanctions or a large one-off levy with future high withholding taxes. As a result the UK government need not strike strategic and...