EU Demands Crack-Down On Anonymous Accounts

Nick Parmee

3 February 2009

The European Commission has told Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg to tighten their banking regulations to stop wealthy foreigners holding anonymous bank accounts in these jurisdictions, according to Austrian newspaper Wiener Zeitung.

But Laszlo Kovacs, the taxation and customs union commissioner, is reported as saying that permanent residents of those EU member states could keep anonymous accounts for now.

Mr Kovacs also said: "One can call an end to secret accounts for foreigners the first step in ending bank secrecy, but it is limited.”

An Austrian finance ministry spokesman said the ministry "opposed a unilateral solution that would disadvantage Austria.” A solution had to ensure Austria would not be put at a competitive disadvantage to non-EU members such as Switzerland and Liechtenstein.