The President of Cape Verde has enacted a law that will allow banks to lift bank secrecy, at the request of the tax administration, of clients with tax or social security debts or under international agreements, the Presidency announced Sunday.
The Presidency of the Republic of Cabo Verde (Cape Verde) said in a statement that José Maria Neves has promulgated a number of laws of parliament, including the General Tax Code, whose overall final vote on the amendment was approved last May, after debate on the specialty.
The bill was approved in the plenary session on May 12, with 34 votes for the ruling Movement for Democracy (MpD), 31 votes against, 27 from the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV) and four from the Independent and Democratic Cape Verdean Union (UCID), both in opposition.
According to the proposed amendment to the General Tax Code, the second since its approval in 2013, access by the tax administration to bank information or documents without the consent of the holder will now be possible “when the existence of proven debts to the tax administration or social security is verified”.
Also “in the case of information requested under international agreements or conventions on tax matters to which the Cape Verdean state is bound”, the law states.
“The communication of suspicious operations, forwarded to the National Directorate of State Revenue by the Attorney General’s Office and the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF), within the scope of legislation on the prevention and repression of money laundering and terrorist financing, is also grounds for derogation of Bank secrecy, within the scope of administrative tax inspection procedures,” the same amendment also establishes.