CRS FAQs

CRS stands for Common Reporting Standard. It is a new information‐gathering and reporting requirement for financial institutions in participating countries, to help fight against tax evasion and protect the integrity of tax systems.

You can find the full list of counties participating in the CRS here.

The CRS seeks to establish the tax residency of customers. Under the CRS, financial institutions are required to identify customers who appear to be a tax resident outside of the country where they hold their accounts and products, and report certain information to our local tax authority. They may then share that information with the tax authority where you are a tax resident.

Under the CRS, tax authorities require financial institutions such as FXCM to collect and report certain information relating to their customers' tax statuses.

If you open a new trading account, trade in new financial products or change your circumstances in some way, we may ask you to certify a number of details about yourself. This process is called "self-certification" and we are required to collect this information under the CRS.

In line with the CRS requirements, FXCM may be asking you for your: (non-exclusive list)

• Name
• Place of birth (for Individual and Controlling Persons)
• Date of birth (for Individual and Controlling Persons)
• Country(ies) of tax residence
• Taxpayer identification number(s)
• Place of registration/incorporation (for Entities)
• Entity Type (for Entities)

Taxpayer Identification Numbers Your Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) is a unique combination of letters and/or numbers assigned to you/your entity. Some countries do not issue a TIN, but may rely on other issued numbers such as social security/national insurance numbers or company registration numbers for entities. You may need to provide these if requested. The OECD has published a list of the acceptable Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) formats and their alternatives found here.

This will depend on where you live and your circumstances. Please contact a professional tax advisor or check the OECD website for more information on how to determine your tax residency, as FXCM cannot provide tax advice.

Even if you have already provided information under the United States government's Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), you may still need to provide additional information for the CRS as these are different regulations with different requirements.

FATCA is US Law and requires financial institutions to identify US Persons and report in line with local FATCA regulations, based on citizenship. The CRS requires financial institutions to identify the tax residency of all our customers and in most cases report information on customers who are tax resident outside of the country/jurisdiction where they hold their accounts.

Under the CRS, FXCM are legally required to establish the tax residency status of all our customers, even if you are tax resident in the same country/jurisdiction as where you hold your account.

Once FXCM have a valid self-certification on file, you will only be asked to complete another when you update certain information on your account or we believe your reportable status may have changed.

FXCM are required by law to verify the details you have provided as part of your self-certification. We might ask you for some evidence of your tax residency declared in your self-certification.

FXCM respects each individual's right to privacy. We value our relationship with you, and we take pride in maintaining loyalty and respect with each individual client; all personal information collected by FXCM is protected under stringent security measures. We will only disclose your information to the relevant tax authorities if we are legally required to do so.

• Stratos Trading Pty. Limited – Privacy Policy link: https://www.fxcm.com/au/legal/privacy-policy/
• Stratos Markets Limited – Privacy Policy link: https://www.fxcm.com/uk/legal/privacy-policy/
• Stratos Global LLC – Privacy Policy link: https://www.fxcm.com/markets/legal/privacy-policy/
• Friedberg Direct – Privacy Policy link: https://www.fxcm.com/ca/legal/privacy-policy/

For further information on your tax residency, please refer to the rules governing tax residence that have been published by each national tax authority. You can also find out more at the OECD Automatic Exchange of Information portal.