“The services we are requested to provide are very diverse and correspond to the challenges banks are currently facing in regards to the end of banking secrecy. This mainly concerns advisory work in relation to tax declarations of the banks’ customers, but also operational support, such as the implementation of an appropriate tax reporting system, the provision of an IT infrastructure, risk reporting, etc.” explains Vincent Gouverneur, Deloitte Investment Management leader across the Europe, Middle East and Africa region as well as partner and leader of tax reporting services at Deloitte Luxembourg. Vincent Gouverneur recently took over the responsibility of this strategic service offer, drawing on Deloitte Luxembourg’s long-time experience with outsourcing, fund reporting and fund registration.

The Luxembourg government’s agreement on the automatic exchange of information as from 1 January 2015 provoked some pessimistic views on the future of the financial centre.
As a consequence and following their ‘white money’ strategy, Luxembourg banks are keen to assist their clients to comply with their tax obligations, including tax reporting for previous years. Having a large international customer base, banks are faced with the provision of different reportings, depending on the respective jurisdiction, which represents a challenge, given the  pressure on costs.

Consisting of a team of 15 people, Deloitte Luxembourg’s tax reporting services are currently serving clients with tax reporting in 9 countries, also through Deloitte Tax Reporting Services AG, located in Switzerland. This new Swiss entity offers a comprehensive business process outsourcing service in order for banks to meet the requirements of the final withholding tax regulation which came into force on 1 January 2013, resulting from the so-called Rubik agreements.

“Although the end of banking secrecy will certainly reshape the banking industry, the impact does not have to be negative, if banks start to prepare for it today.” says Vincent Gouverneur. “Besides operational issues and the advisory needs of their clients, it is essential for banks to position their services for the future. Luxembourg banks are increasingly competing with banks from their clients’ country of residence. In order to remain attractive and to outclass competition from local jurisdictions, banks will have to develop and offer new services to their clients.”