$11 Trillion Offshore Assets Uncovered After 100 Countries Share Information on 84 Million Bank Accounts

Governments in nearly 100 countries have been sharing offshore bank account information in an effort to crack down on tax evasion. Their “Automatic exchange of information” has led to uncovering 10 trillion euros ($11 trillion) in offshore assets in 84 million bank accounts.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said on Tuesday that the international community continues making progress against offshore tax evasion. The group revealed:

Nearly 100 countries carried out automatic exchange of information in 2019, enabling their tax authorities to obtain data on 84 million financial accounts held offshore by their residents, covering total assets of EUR 10 trillion.

Governments began sharing offshore bank information in 2018, the OECD noted, adding that information on 47 million bank accounts was exchanged at that time, representing 5 trillion euros. The significant growth from 5 trillion to 10 trillion euros this year “stems from an increase in the number of jurisdictions receiving information as well as a wider scope of information exchanged,” the Paris-based international organization explained.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría believes that “Automatic exchange of information is a game-changer,” adding that “The discovery of previously hidden accounts thanks to automatic exchange of information has and will lead to billions in additional tax revenues.”

The Tax Justice Network has estimated that governments lose $189 billion a year from $21–32 trillion in offshore accounts of private wealth while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates tax evasion to be approximately $12 trillion a year globally.

The June edition of the Crypto Research Report lists “offshore deposits” among the main use cases of cryptocurrencies, echoing the finding outlined a report prepared by the Satis Group. The Satis report estimates:

Cryptocurrencies will penetrate approximately 91% of the offshore deposits market during the next decade.

The group further estimated that the offshore deposit market will grow “because of capital controls, national debt, unpopular fiscal policy, and debasement of national fiat currencies.”

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