新加坡 — — 受北京日益扩大的对海外财富追查的影响，富裕的中国人正转向一个曾经颇为熟悉的避风港：美国。
SINGAPORE — Wealthy Chinese rattled by Beijing's widening hunt for overseas wealth are turning to a once-familiar refuge for their money: the U.S.
为中国客户办理私人银行和法律事务的专业人士表示，自北京于7月对离岸财富征收溯及既往税收后，关于在美开设银行账户的咨询量有所增加，此前这些资产曾存放在新加坡或香港，现在转移到更远离北京触及的美国。
Private bankers and lawyers who work with Chinese clients say inquiries about opening U.S. bank accounts have grown in the months after Beijing imposed retroactive taxes on offshore wealth in July, moving assets previously stored in Singapore or Hong Kong there to stay further away from Beijing's reach.
“已经相对普遍了”，新加坡一家名为Golden Acacia Capital的私募基金CEO兼首席执行官Keith Tan表示，他正在帮助中国客户管理其海外投资组合。其客户于7月开始规划转移至美国，部分客户的账户在两个月内即可完成设立。“中国客户开设美国账户并转移资产的难度并不高。”Tan指出，富裕客户倾向选择大型私人银行，而规模较小的账户则转向区域银行或线上经纪机构。
"It has become relatively prevalent," said Keith Tan, CEO of Singapore-based Golden Acacia Capital, who is helping Chinese clients manage their offshore portfolios. His clients began planning exits to the U.S. in July, and some have the accounts set up in less than two months. "The hurdle is not that high for Chinese clients to open American accounts and transfer assets there." Wealthy clients tend to choose large private banks while smaller accounts go to regional banks or online brokers, Tan said.
随着中国对离岸信托征收的新税收体制正式实施，这一趋势的紧迫性有所提升。当局于7月表示，中国税务居民名下的海外信托所产生的收入和收益将按20%征税，这一举措引发了对现金及替代性金融结构的争相搜寻。
The rush has gained urgency with China's new tax regime on offshore trusts. Authorities said in July that income and gains from overseas trusts owned by Chinese tax residents would be taxed at 20%, setting off a scramble for cash and alternative structures.
新加坡和香港的律师正在统计客户需缴纳的税款，协助信托的解散、上市公司股份出售或申请贷款以应对巨额税负。
Lawyers in Singapore and Hong Kong have been working to tally how much tax their clients owe, facilitating trusts' unwinding, sales of shares in listed companies or applying for loans to meet the outsized tax bill.
与此同时，美国不属于经合组织（OECD）制定的共同申报标准（CRS）框架，该框架下超过100个国家和地区实行自动交换财务账户信息。虽然新加坡和香港的银行需向北京报告中国相关账户，但美国银行则无此义务。
Meanwhile, the U.S. sits outside the Common Reporting Standard, or CRS, the OECD framework under which more than 100 jurisdictions automatically share financial account data. While banks in Singapore and Hong Kong are supposed to report China-linked accounts to Beijing, American banks have no such obligation.
非美国居民客户在美国开设外国银行账户，也能找到减少或免除向美国国税局（IRS）申报纳税义务的投资工具，私人客户税务顾问、蓝砖咨询集团首席执行官王詹姆斯（James Wang，音译）表示。但中国最新法规要求被认定为中国税收居民的人士向北京自行申报全球收入，王詹姆斯说。
Non-resident clients who open foreign bank accounts in the U.S. can also find investment vehicles with reduced or no tax-filing obligations to the Internal Revenue Service, said James Wang, CEO of Blue Brick Consulting Group, a private-client tax advisor. But China's latest regulations require people classified as Chinese tax residents to self-declare worldwide income to Beijing, Wang said.
纽约的银行正抓住机遇，推出一种可能帮中国客户规避本国税务机关的方案。据一位与中国家族办公室合作、总部设在纽约的财富规划顾问透露，美国银行正竭力应对需求激增。
Banks in New York are seizing the opportunity to offer a solution that could shield Chinese customers from their country's tax man. U.S. banks are straining to keep up with the rise in demand, according to a New York-based wealth-planning advisor who works with Chinese family offices.
“随着咨询激增，一些银行缩短了客户满足最低资本承诺要求的时限，”否则账户将面临关闭，这位顾问说。他因谈论银行内部流程而要求匿名。
"With inquiries surging, some banks have shortened the timeframe for clients to meet required minimum capital commitments" before the accounts are subject to closure, said the advisor, who requested anonymity to speak about bank processes.
拥有美国绿卡子女的中国家庭，也利用外国设立人信托——这种结构视同由其非美国籍设立人拥有——来规避部分美国税务风险，谭先生（Tan，音译）表示。他补充说，内华达州和佛罗里达州等低税州已成为热门选择。
Chinese families with offspring holding U.S. green cards have also used foreign grantor trusts – structures treated as owned by their non-American founder – to shield them from some tax exposure in the U.S., Tan said. Low-tax states such as Nevada and Florida have become popular choices, he added.
“他们在赌不会被披露，因为美国不作为共同汇报标准（CRS）体系的一部分共享信息；他们可以躲避税务机关，”香港中伦律师事务所合伙人吴克利夫（Clifford Ng，音译）说。吴克利夫还预计，一些持有香港或新加坡居留身份、其信托尚未被报送北京的人士，可能会解散这些架构并将资金转出。
"They are gambling on not being disclosed, because the U.S. does not share information as part of the CRS system; they can dodge tax authorities," said Clifford Ng, a partner at Zhong Lun law firm in Hong Kong. Ng also expects that some with Hong Kong or Singapore residency whose trusts have not yet been flagged to Beijing may unwind those structures and transfer the money out.
律师警告，尽管这条路径目前可用于规避披露，但可能只是暂时的。离岸持有的资金极有可能已通过CRS报送北京，“迟早会出现在中国”，吴克利夫说，因此从新加坡或香港银行转账到美国银行，资金流出的过程将清晰可见。
Lawyers caution that though the route works for now to avoid disclosure, it may be temporary. Money held offshore has probably already been reported to Beijing through the CRS and would "have shown up in China at some point," Ng said, so a transfer from a Singapore or Hong Kong bank to a U.S. one would be visible on its way out.
“他们可能仍然违反了规定，因为他们拥有一个未披露的离岸账户在赚钱，却没有在境内申报，”吴某说。“隐瞒不是税务筹划。”美国的《海外账户税收合规法案》要求外国银行报告美国客户信息，但目前美国银行尚无向北京自动提供匹配信息的机制。
"They may still be in breach of the rules because they have an undisclosed offshore account that's making money and they're not declaring it onshore," Ng said. "Hiding is not tax planning." Washington's Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act requires foreign banks to report American clients, but so far there's no matching automatic flow from U.S. banks to Beijing.
北京市万商天勤律师事务所合伙人曹克里斯表示，同意北京有能力对转移至美国的资金征税这一风险判断。“即使他们把所有资金从CRS申报账户转移到美国银行账户，这也不会自然地减少或消除税务机关的征税权，或纳税人的纳税义务，”他说。
Cris Cao, Beijing-based partner at W&H Law Firm, agreed on the risk of Beijing's ability to tax money moved to the U.S. "Even if they move all the money out of the CRS-reported accounts and into U.S. bank accounts, that doesn't naturally reduce or wipe out the tax authorities' right to tax, or their obligation to pay," he said.
“资金转出是有记录的，”曹某说，“仅这一点就足以让税务机关征税。”此外，机会窗口可能已经关闭。在离岸账户间转移资金相对容易，但从中国大陆把资金转出变得越来越困难。
"There was a record of it being transferred out," Cao said, and "that alone is enough for the tax authorities to levy tax." What's more, the window of opportunity may have closed. Moving money that is already offshore around is relatively easy, but getting capital out of mainland China has become increasingly difficult.
“现在几乎没有任何大额境内资金能够转出国外，”新加坡银行私人银行家林景宽说，他看到离岸银行业务将进一步局限于服务现有的中国境外资金池。
"Nearly no sizeable money onshore will be able to leave the country from now on," said Jingkuan Lin, a private banker at Bank of Singapore, who sees the offshore banking industry being further limited to serving the existing pool of capital outside China.