Tax Management

We are committed to complying with applicable tax laws and regulations across the countries and territories in which we operate. This statement complies with the requirements under the United Kingdom’s Finance Act 2016, paragraph 19(2).

Tax risk management and governance

The Group Chief Financial Officer is responsible for oversight of tax responsibilities, with support from the Head of Group Tax. 

UOB takes a low tolerance approach towards tax risk. Tax risk is managed through the Tax Risk Management and Governance Framework which is based on the following principles:

Tax planning

To ensure that UOB remains compliant with tax laws and regulations, we consistently consider the potential tax implications before implementing business plans and also consult with third party advisers to supplement and confirm our understanding, as necessary. 

Relationship with tax authorities

UOB aims to build constructive relationships with tax authorities in the jurisdictions in which we operate. We achieve this by: 

• being open, transparent and cooperative in our dealings with the relevant tax authorities; 
• complying with legal obligations, including compliance, reporting and payment responsibilities; 
• abiding by guidelines or recommendations issued by tax authorities, which are intended to supplement legislation; 
• responding to tax queries in a timely manner and being forthcoming with information when requested; and 
• for material and contentious tax issues, we may approach tax authorities for a private ruling or, less formally, as part of the early engagement review process. 

Information reporting

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was enacted by the United States (US) to target non-compliance with US tax laws by US Persons using non-US accounts. FATCA requires Foreign Financial Institutions (FFIs) outside the US to report on the assets held by their US account holders or be subject to withholding tax on certain payments. Many countries including Singapore, have entered into an Intergovernmental Agreement with the US to facilitate the FATCA obligations of FFIs.



The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) is an internationally agreed standard for the automatic exchange of financial account information between jurisdictions for tax purposes, to better combat tax evasion and ensure tax compliance. CRS requires financial institutions in participating jurisdictions to identify, to collect and to report to the authorities annually the tax residency and account information of customers from jurisdictions with which agreements to exchange information are in place. 



UOB is committed to complying with the provisions of FATCA and CRS, and to ensuring that UOB Group complies with all applicable due diligence and reporting requirements in the jurisdictions in which we operate. Our FATCA and CRS governance frameworks are reviewed annually and approved by the Board Risk Management Committee. In addition to online learning, employees are kept informed of updates to the frameworks via email.