These include CRS (Common Reporting Standard), FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) and QI (Qualified Intermediaries) reporting.

To tackle the challenges of efficient, high-quality tax reporting across multiple countries, Standard Chartered selected BearingPoint in 2018 as provider of a single integrated reporting solution. The bank was looking for a software that is able to keep pace with the continually changing reporting requirements; as well as a partner with the consulting capabilities to support the one-time implementation project, and other ad hoc consulting needs.

“We are very satisfied with the software and support provided by the BearingPoint team. Given the short timelines set for the implementation project, and the complexity of the volume of data involved, we are confident we chose the right partner for this project,” says Tom Pryce, Head of Client Tax Information Reporting at Standard Chartered. “We look forward to continuing our relationship with BearingPoint going forward as we seek to stay on top of the evolving reporting landscape.”

The implementation project started in 2018 when CRS, FATCA and QI reporting logic, modules and templates for 63 countries were delivered to Standard Chartered Bank. A team of BearingPoint experts based in Singapore and Switzerland then supported Standard Chartered with all aspects of the implementation from architectural design decisions, through data mapping and set-up, to testing and ultimately go live.

Across the first 6 months of 2019, Standard Chartered used FiTAX (with the support of BearingPoint experts) to successfully prepare and submit QI, FATCA and CRS reports before the deadlines.

“As with all large-scale projects, the implementation phase requires our tax reporting experts to adapt to the bank’s specifications, such as type of activities, internal policies or data privacy rules,” comments Ronald Frey, member of the management board at BearingPoint RegTech. “We honed onto our expertise we gained in other similar large projects, enabling our experts to tackle these individual client demands efficiently. We are very pleased that the project ran smoothly and look forward to a long-term relationship with Standard Chartered.”

With FiTAX, financial institutions can cover their reporting needs under many tax regimes, such as CRS, FATCA, QI and DAC6. FiTAX is a sophisticated and holistic 360° tax reporting solution, and market leading in numerous countries throughout the world. From data acquisition to uploading directly an encrypted report file into the tax authorities’ portals, FiTAX covers more than 130 jurisdictions.