Protection of confidentiality
Banking confidentiality
The Luxembourgian bank-confidentiality rule is set forth in Article 41 of the Finance Sector Regulatory Code.
The bank account holder / capital investor can place his/her unconditional trust in the effective securing of his/her right to privacy – along with the obligation to confidentiality in general - in the context of financial transactions, as set forth by law and protected by criminal law.
The Luxembourgian bank-confidentiality rule is internationally recognised, and will remain effective in the future, as long as the neighbouring states of the EU and its dependent territories of certain member countries (Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Jersey, Guernsey etc.) maintain this system of regulation.
Anonymous accounts are prohibitied.
Compliance regulations
Businesspeople who work in the financial sector (banks, financial advisors, trustees, administrative domicil providers etc.) must positively identify their clients and authentificate the business transacted. In this context, the obligation to protect the client’s individual-related data is especially stringent.
EU account transparency
| EU member countries without automatic information on interest revenues generated by a foreign EU citizen to his/her home country, instead, with a withholding tax of 15%, which will increase to 35% as of 2010: |
| EU member country | Interest revenues1 | Accounts/depots owned by suspects |
| Belgium | no2 | yes |
| Luxembourg | no2 | no |
| Austria | no2 | yes |
| Countries with automatic information on interest revenues generated by a foreign EU citizen to his/her home country: |
| EU member country | Interest revenues1 | Accounts/depots owned by suspects |
| Denmark | yes | yes |
| Estonia | yes | no |
| Finland | yes | yes |
| France | yes | yes |
| Greece | yes | no |
| Great Britain | yes | no |
| Ireland | yes | no |
| Italy | yes | no |
| Latvia | yes | yes |
| Lithuania | yes | yes |
| Malta | yes | no |
| Netherlands | yes | yes |
| Poland | yes | yes |
| Portugal | yes | no |
| Sweden | yes | yes |
| Slovakia | yes | no |
| Slovenia | yes | yes |
| Spain | yes | yes |
| Czeck Republic | yes | neo |
| Hungary | yes | yes |
| Cyprus | yes | yes |
1 automatic information on interest revenues generated by a foreign EU citizen to his/her home country
2 instead, with a withholding tax of 15%, which will increase to 35% as of 2010
Source: Wirtschaftswoche, 02.02.2006, p. 94
