LDF and Swiss-UK Tax Agreement
The certification procedure starts as soon as a relevant person is registered for the LDF. The notified
person has to send a registration certificate or a disclosure certificate, as issued by HMRC to the FI.
Additionally, a UK advisor is allowed to confirm the tax compliance of the relevant person or to con-
firm that the person is not liable to UK taxation.”
The third part of the programme is the review procedure." The Government of Liechtenstein appoints
a review panel of experts in the fields of banking, trust, tax and law." AII members have to maintain
confidentiality. The duties of the review panel are to decide on a review procedure, issue directions,
mandate an auditor for the audit procedure and to review and evaluate audit reports. The FI has the
option of applying for a review procedure if he has to cease his relevant services. The panel weighs the
interests of Liechtenstein, client confidentiality, contractual rights and the UK in order to advise the FI
on the additional steps he must take. Possible measures, which have to be taken by the FI, are include
termination of services, a fine on the relevant property, deduction or retention of taxes or "other
measures" ??
The final part is the audit procedure that governs the application of the procedures. The audit proce-
dure is separated into procedures A and B. Procedure A consists of a list of banks and trust companies
selected by the Liechtenstein government. An auditor is a duly qualified professional, whereas each FI
has the possibility of depositing two proposals for his auditor. The audits take place at most once a
year, and for the first time 30 months after the Act entered into force (February 2013). The auditor has
unlimited access to the FI's information and creates an audit report which is forwarded to the review
panel. The panel creates a summary of the reports and submits the summary to the Liechtenstein gov-
ernment and HMRC. Banks and trust companies which are not on the “A List” are audited within the
general due diligence audit. The Government has the option of punishing FIs with a fine of up to CHF
10,000 if he does not identify the relevant persons, makes no notification, fails to cease his services or
violates regulations.??
Annex B illustrates the identification and notification procedure of the TACP in a flowchart.
?85 Steueramtshilfegesetz-UK, 2010, art. 9.
?86 Steueramtshilfegesetz-UK, 2010, art. 10.
287 Steueramtshilfeverordnung-UK, 2010, art. 5.
288 Steueramtshilfeverordnung-UK, 2010, art. 7.
289 Steueramtshilfegesetz-UK, 2010, art. 10-13.
20 Steueramtshilfegesetz-UK, 2010, art. 15-20.
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