Banking secrecy is in the past now

Luxembourg is now in-line with international requirements on banking secrecy, its finance minister has said.

“Luxembourg’s legal framework on access to bank information is entirely consistent with national imperatives as well as international requirements,” Pierre Gramegna said, responding to a parliamentary question, adding: “No new developments will be imposed now”.

Luxembourg ended banking secrecy on January 1, 2015, as pressure mounted globally to wipe out tax avoidance practices.

Gramegna pointed out that the principle of banking secrecy was not specific to Luxembourg and laws of “virtually all countries allow such secrecy, with its scope varying from one country to another”.

He said Luxembourg has begun the relevant reforms, particularly to comply with the requirements of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, to allow the automatic exchange of banking information.