The Association of Banks held Common Reporting Standard Compliance (CRS) Workshop in its headquarters on Tuesday 18-1-2022 in partnership with Ernst & Young Jordan (EY). In presence of a number of the association’s member banks representatives from departments and sections designated for compliance and oversight.

Dr. Maher Al-Mahrouq, Director-General of the Association, opened the session expressing his deep thanks to Ernst & Young Jordan representatives for their cooperation with the Association in organizing the workshop activities and providing expertise and information to the member banks. Al-Mahrouq also pointed out the importance of banks’ dealing with compliance and reporting requirements in light of Jordan signing the agreement with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries to share information and financial disclosures for external accounts which will enter into force in 2023.

Al-Mahrouq indicated that banks around the world play a fundamental role in implementing the standard, by submitting accounts reports and disclosures besides owner’s information. Hence the workshop significance in providing basic information and application requirements for these laws and identifying points of difference and similarity between them to avoid Any obligations that banks may face in the event of non-reporting or disclosure in accordance with legal requirements.

Al-Mahrouq also expressed his thanks for the distinguished attendance of member banks, who represented various experiences in the field of tax, accounting and compliance pointing to the association’s role in enhancing banks work and providing them with technical support through courses and seminars in this context.

For his part, Mr. Ali Samara, representative of Ernst & Young, expressed his thanks to the Association for its cooperation in organizing the workshop stressing the importance of the (CRS) which increases financial transparency worldwide as more than 122 countries are working on its application and contributes to achieving tax returns.

On the other hand, Ernst & Young experts, Wadih Abu Nasr, Mr. Mohamed Araji, Ms. Tara Kroll, Mr. Ali Samara, and Mr. Yaqoub Rabie shared their experiences and information on the standard in addition to their answers to all the attendees’ questions and their presentation of realistic examples on how banks respond to the standard. The experts also provided a full explanation of the differences between the Common Compliance Standard and the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) in addition pinpointing some of the main challenges and lessons learned from other countries’ standard implementation.

In turn, the member banks participants expressed the workshop importance and its contribution to prepare the banks to abide by the standard appreciating the efforts of Jordan Banks Association, experts and lecturers from Ernst & Young.