Account services

HSBC Broking Services (Asia) Limited 

HSBC Broking Securities (Asia) Limited 

HSBC Broking Futures (Asia) Limited 

HSBC Broking Forex (Asia) Limited 

(“HSBC Broking” refers to any or all of the above)

Financial institutions play a vital role in protecting the integrity of the financial system upon which we all depend and HSBC Broking is committed to meeting the highest standards in its controls against financial crime.

Governments around the world have introduced a new information-gathering and reporting requirement for financial institutions, known as the Common Reporting Standard (CRS). It requires us to determine and, where appropriate, report your tax residency (this will usually be where you are liable to pay income or corporate taxes) under local legislation. To do this, we may need to obtain a self-certification and/or further information from you.

Over 100 jurisdictions around the world have introduced local legislation on CRS, including Hong Kong. The Inland Revenue Ordinance (as amended from time to time) has put in place a legislative framework for Hong Kong that implements the new international standard for the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (AEOI).

Under the Hong Kong legislation, if you are a tax resident of a jurisdiction(s) outside Hong Kong that is in the list of “reportable jurisdictions” in the legislation, we are required to provide your account information to the Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department (IRD). The IRD will then exchange this information with tax authorities in jurisdictions with which it has an AEOI agreement on an annual basis.

The first information exchange occurred in 2018. You can refer to the IRD’s website for further details.

We’d like to help you understand what CRS means for you.

To comply with the Hong Kong legislation, we need your assistance in providing and confirming to us your tax residency status and details. This process is called self-certification. 

If you are a tax resident of a jurisdiction(s) outside Hong Kong that is in the list of “reportable jurisdictions” in the legislation, you may receive our request or a reminder of this request for your tax residency details.

There are three types of self-certification forms:

• Entity Tax Residency Self-Certification Form [PDF]: Please use this form if you are a corporate customer (which includes all businesses, trusts and partnerships except sole traders). For examples of entity type, please refer to our table of examples of entity type[PDF]. Please note that this table is for reference only and is not exhaustive.
• Controlling Person Tax Residency Self-Certification Form [PDF]: Please use this form if you are a Controlling Person of one or more Passive Entities, including certain trusts, foundations and managed Investment Entities located in countries/regions/jurisdictions that do not participate in the CRS. Controlling Persons are those individuals that control the Entity, either by ownership or control by other means. A Controlling Person in certain circumstances will be referred to as the Senior Managing Official.
• Individual Tax Residency Self-Certification Form[PDF]: Please use this form if you are an individual customer (including a sole trader).

After completing and signing a form, please return it: 

1. in person or by post to Level 25, HSBC Main Building, 1 Queen’s Road Central, Hong Kong; or
2. by fax to (852) 2810 0145 (only if you have previously signed the “Letter of Instruction and Indemnity for Fax Services” with us).

Having up-to-date and accurate information about you is critical to CRS reporting and we are grateful for your prompt response to our request. 

In the event that we don’t receive your response, we will rely on the account information we have in our records to determine your tax residency for CRS reporting purposes.

To comply with the regulations, HSBC may need to engage you from time to time. If you have multiple relationships with us, you may be approached by different parts of the HSBC Group. Your response to all of our requests help us serve you better and capture your information accurately. Again, we are grateful for your assistance and ongoing support.

For information regarding Hong Kong CRS inducing the self-certification requirement, please visit the IRD webpage on AEOI. If you would like to know more about tax residency, please refer to the tax residence rules published by various CRS participating jurisdictions. However, if you have tax residency questions concerning your personal circumstances, please speak to your professional tax adviser, as we are unable to provide tax advice. For general AEOI/CRS guidance, you may find the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) CRS portal useful. For TIN format information, please visit OECD Tax identification numbers (TINs) webpage for further details. 

If you are unsure about any of these terms, please refer to the Glossary[PDF].

If you have any further questions, please refer to Frequently Asked Questions on CRS or contact your relationship managers.