Frequently asked questions

Regulations based on the OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) provisions require Financial Institutions like us to collect and report information about where our customers are tax resident. This includes OakNorth Bank Plc customers that are legal persons (e.g. private limited companies, corporations, organisations, partnerships or foundations), legal arrangements (e.g. discretionary trusts) and physical/natural persons.

Under these regulations, we must ask you to provide the information requested in the self-certification forms.

Under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) provisions, we are required to collect documentation from our clients in order to establish your FATCA tax status.

FATCA may impact your banking experience with us based on the following factors:

1. The type of account you hold with the Bank
2. The countries where you or your business has a relationship with the Bank
3. Whether you are a US Person

Where FATCA reporting obligations arise, we may be required to report, on an annual basis, details of your financial activities and/or certain income received to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and/or other relevant tax authority.

Please note that FATCA does not replace any existing US tax regimes.

OakNorth Bank Plc is not licenced or otherwise authorised to provide any further guidance regarding your tax residency as this may constitute tax advice which should only be obtained from appropriately regulated and authorised tax advisers.

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

Once we 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 that there may be a change to your circumstances (e.g. change of ownership for a customer that is a legal person). OakNorth Bank Plc must be notified no later than within 30 days of such change. 

We hate jargon as much as you do, so we’ve tried to use the full terminology where possible before switching to shorter abbreviated terms. We understand some words will be completely new to you though, so we’ve put together a full glossary for you to reference when filling out the form.

We are committed to being fully FATCA and CRS compliant wherever we operate. Therefore, if you fail to provide us with the necessary documentation to enable the determination of your FATCA and CRS status:

• We may not be able to open an account for you or offer you additional products or services
• We may need to report your personal and account details based on the information available to the respective tax authorities. This will include reporting to the IRS even though you may not be a US Person
• We may be required to withhold tax on transactions that take place on your account
• We may be required to terminate our relationship with you

OakNorth Bank Plc is required to report your tax details under the legal obligations introduced by countries/jurisdictions participating in the CRS and/or FATCA.

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