1. Al Etihad Credit Bureau

Al Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB) is a Federal Government organization that collects credit data, information and financial commitments from banks and financial institutions in order to provide accurate Credit Reports to individuals, financial institutions and companies in the UAE as allowed by the laws and regulations of the UAE.

A. Apply for a Credit Report

i. What is the Credit Report?

Your Credit Report, from Al Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB), is a document that includes your personal identity information, details of your credit cards, finance and other credit facilities, along with your payment and bounced cheque history. The information in your Credit Report is provided by banks, finance companies and telecom companies. Additional information from other sources such as utilities, real estate, government and other entities will be added in the future.

ii. What is the Credit Score?

Your Credit Score, from AECB, is a three-digit number that predicts how likely you are to make your finance and credit card payments on time.

The number ranges from 300 to 900. A low score indicates a higher risk, whereas a higher score indicates a lower risk.

B. How to obtain your Credit Report and Score?

i. For Individuals

You can get your Credit Report and Credit Score online by visiting www.aecb.gov.ae or by downloading the AECB App, available in Google Play and App Store.

ii. For Companies

To get the Credit Report with score for Companies, visit AECB’s Customer Happiness Centres and provide the original valid Emirates ID card of the Establishment’s owner or the Company’s authorized signatory, the original valid Trade License of the Company / Establishment and the original Articles of Association of the Company.

For more information, visit www.aecb.gov.ae or download the AECB.

C. To Dispute Information on your Credit Report

i. What if my Credit Report contains incorrect information?

To resolve inaccurate information in your Credit Report, you will need to contact the respective Information Provider who can correct and update your records. To contact your Information Provider, please send your email to disputes@mawarid.ae, please remember to attach any documents that support your claim.

ii. How to register a Dispute in AECB?

If you are unable to reach a resolution with the information providers, you can email the required documents to disputes@aecb.gov.ae and register your dispute. Please note that to register a dispute you must be able to provide AECB with clear evidence that the record is incorrect.

iii. Documents required to file a Dispute in AECB:

• Supporting documents (e.g. bank statements, payment receipts, contract repayment schedule, or any relevant document)
• Credit Report data dispute Form

For more information, visit www.aecb.gov.ae or download the AECB.

D. Do I have to provide any information for my Report to be created?

No. Al Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB) will be collecting information on individuals’ credit applications, payment behavior and debt records from all UAE lending institutions and other organizations, such as utilities, telecommunications companies, government etc.

E. Can the Al Etihad Credit Bureau accept or deny my Credit application?

The Al Etihad Credit Bureau is not a decision maker. Banks and financial institutions (credit providers) are the decision makers and first point of contact for any loan/finance or credit applications.

F. How can I make sure my Credit information is protected and secure?

Information confidentiality and data protection is of utmost importance to the Al Etihad Credit Bureau. Information will be kept confidential as per the laws and regulations of the UAE.

G. What is a Consent?

A Consent is a signed approval by an individual or a company for lending institutions or any other entity authorized to obtain Credit Reports from the Al Etihad Credit Bureau on individuals or companies. This approval must be in writing.

H. Do I have to pay to access my Report?

There is a fee for individuals and companies to purchase their reports. Please visit the Al Etihad Credit Bureau website www.aecb.gov.ae for details.

2. FATCA/CRS

DISCLAIMER:

This document is intended as a summary, is for information purposes only and is general in nature. It should not be construed as tax or legal advice. Mawarid Finance PJSC may not be held liable for any loss that results from reliance upon this information. Customers should seek professional legal and tax advice relevant to their specific circumstances.

A. What is FATCA?

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is a United States federal law that requires United States persons, including US persons who live outside the United States, to report their financial accounts held outside of the United States, and requires foreign financial institutions to report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) about their U.S. clients.

On 17 June 2015, the UAE signed a Model 1B Intergovernmental Agreement with the US (“UAE-US IGA”) to improve international tax compliance and to implement FATCA. The UAE –US IGA was ratified pursuant to Federal Decree 9 of 2016. Accordingly, the UAE has agreed to adopt the rules to identify and report information about US accounts that meet the standards as set out in the UAE-US IGA.

B. What is CRS?

CRS is known as Common Reporting Standards. It is an information standard for the automatic exchange of information (AEoI), developed in the context of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The main aim of the CRS is to facilitate tax transparency by allowing CRS participating jurisdictions to automatically exchange information obtained from local FIs on an annual basis with exchange partners where reportable persons are resident for tax purposes. Financial Account information can then be used by the receiving tax authorities to help ensure compliance by their taxpayers.

The UAE signed the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (“MAC”), the Declaration of Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (“MCAA”) and the Unilateral Declaration in April 2017. Both the MAC and MCAA form the legal basis for the implementation of The Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (“AEOI”) in Tax Matters, Second Edition (“OECD Standard”) in the UAE. The MAC was ratified according to Federal Law No. 54 of 2018 and the MCAA according to Federal Law No. 48 of 2018. The UAE is one of over 100 countries that have signed up to the CRS.

C. Why do we need to ask the FATCA/CRS declaration from the customer?

Businesses must assess whether they are considered Reporting UAE FIs and comply with their reporting obligations as stipulated under the UAE-US IGA. Reporting UAE FIs are required to identify financial accounts that are held by either Specified US Persons or Passive NFFEs with one or more Controlling Persons who are Specified US Persons, and report certain financial account information to their Regulatory Authority.

UAE RFIs are subject to the requirements of the CRS and are required to report Reportable Persons (as defined under the respective UAE CRS Regulations) on an annual basis, or file nil returns where they do not have reporting to do.

E. What if I don’t give this information?

If a customer has U.S. indicia and fails to confirm its U.S. status by providing a self certification, the account will be considered as a Reportable Account, and as such information related to such account may be reported to the UAE Central Bank, or to any other local tax authority as mandated by the UAE Central Bank. Additionally, Mawarid Finance PJSC may refuse to open new accounts and may restrict the products offered to customers who choose not to provide the required documents.

F. Who is a US person?

• A US person is:
• A citizen or resident of the U.S.;
• A US partnership;
• A US corporation;
• Any estate (other than a non US estate); and
• Any trust if—
  • A court within the U.S. is able to exercise primary supervision over the administration of the trust, and
  • One or more U.S. persons have the authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust.

F. CRS Approach?

Under the CRS, the UAE has opted for the “widest approach”:

• Reporting Financial Institutions are required to perform due diligence procedures on all accounts held by an account holder (or a controlling person in case of a passive NFE) who is resident for tax purposes in a jurisdiction other than the USA.
• Reporting Financial Institutions are required to report information on all accounts held by an account holder (or a controlling person in case of a passive NFE) who is resident for tax purposes in a jurisdiction other than the USA or UAE jurisdiction.
• The USA is excluded because jurisdictions will be reporting to the USA under FATCA.

G. What is TIN?

Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) is a nine-digit identification number used by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the administration of tax laws in US. It is issued either by the Social Security Administration (SSA) or by the IRS. A Social Security number (SSN) is issued by the SSA whereas all other TINs are issued by the IRS. In the context of countries other than US, TIN is any tax identification number or its functional equivalent.

H. When an Indicia is found and the person denies that he/she is a citizen or resident of a country other than UAE, can we rely on the documentary evidence and self-certification that he/she is not a person of a country other than UAE or do we need some other form of self-certification?

In such cases we can rely on the self-certification that allows the account holder to positively acknowledge by signature or other means that the certification is correct provided he/she provides appropriate documentary evidence to confirm their status and the financial institution has no reason to believe that he/she is a citizen or resident of a country other than UAE.

In case of entities are we supposed to do a due diligence on the controlling person or can we rely on the self-declaration from the entity about their controlling person?

We can rely on the self-declaration from the entity about their controlling person’s status.

I. Whether single self-certification form can be used for multiple account holders?

No, One form is for one holder. In case of multiple holder in the single account multiple annexures need to be taken. It is mandatory to select the account holder type in the FATCA/CRS annexure. i.e. primary, joint, mandate.

J. Is it mandatory to select the Account holder residential status in the FATCA/CRS form?

Yes, it is mandatory for each form obtained from the account holder (s).

K. Which fields are to be mandatorily filled in FATCA/CRS form?

All fields are mandatory. Explanation for each fields in FATCA/CRS form as follows. Form shall be rejected if any of these details are not filled or are incomplete.

L. Whether customer signature is mandatory in FATCA/CRS form?

Yes, it is mandatory for all customers.

M. If one of the partners or a director is a Non UAE are we supposed to collect the information about them and if yes are they supposed to give self-declaration?

We need to check if the said partner or director controls more than 15% ( in case of partnership) and 25% ( in case of a corporate), if yes we need to collect the self-certification which need to be signed by the Authorised Signatory (as per MOP/director/company secretary , MD/Chairperson). The natural person (controlling person/beneficial owner) need not give a self-declaration.

N. Who is called as controlling beneficial owner?

The natural person holding 15 % or more for partnership /trusts and 25% or more for entities. In cases where there exists doubt as to whether the person with the controlling ownership interest is the beneficial owner or where no natural person exerts control through ownership interests, the identity of the natural person exercising control over the juridical person through other means to be determined. Wherever the reporting is applicable, the details under FATCA/CRS to be collected for the controlling persons.

O. What is GIIN?

GIIN stands for Global Intermediary Identification Number and this is issued to financial institutions who register with internal revenue service (IRS) of US.

Given below is the country wise list of acceptable documents as TINs / Functional Equivalents