What your new bank reports about you, and to whom

Automatic exchange of financial account information is the background against which every relocation now happens. It is worth understanding plainly, because knowing what is reported removes most of the anxiety about it and all of the bad surprises.

The mechanism, briefly

Financial institutions in participating jurisdictions identify the tax residence of their account holders and report the accounts of non-residents to their own tax authority, which passes them to the account holder's country of tax residence. It runs annually and it runs whether or not anyone asks.

What is reported

• Identifying details: name, address, date of birth, jurisdiction of tax residence, and the taxpayer identification number where one exists.
• The account number and the institution.
• The balance or value at the end of the period.
• Income credited during the period — interest, dividends, and the gross proceeds of sales of financial assets, depending on the account type.

What is not reported

Not your transactions, not what you spent money on, and not the property you own. Real estate is not a financial account and does not fall under this mechanism — though it may well be visible through a country's own land registry, and rental income is reportable by you regardless.

The part that matters for a mover

Everything turns on the tax residence recorded by the bank. That is taken from a self-certification you sign when the account is opened, and updated when your circumstances change.

• Self-certifying a residence you do not have is a false declaration, not a grey area, and it is signed by you rather than by an adviser.
• Telling the bank you moved is your obligation, and it is normally a form rather than an ordeal.
• A transition year is often reported to two countries. That is normal and is not evidence of anything wrong; it reflects a change of residence part-way through a period.
• Old accounts keep reporting. An account left open in a country you have left continues to be reported under whatever residence it holds on file.

How to be boring about it

The objective is that every document tells the same story: the residence on your bank forms matches where you actually live, matches where you file, matches the days you spent. Discrepancies are what generate enquiries — not wealth, not moving, not holding an account abroad, all of which are ordinary.

The practical checklist is short. Update your self-certifications when you move. Close or re-declare dormant accounts in the country you left. Keep the evidence of your days. And file where you are supposed to file, including in the year you moved, when two returns are often required and only one is usually remembered.