The agreement is the result of long proceedings initiated and carried out in the name of the Monaco financial center, by the Monegasque Banking Assocaition, in conjunction with the Department of Finance and Economy, within the framework of new fiscal measures that will be applied to shareholders of American securities, starting January 1, 2001. The new measures will essentially regulate investment to the United States from abroad and require that investors from Monaco be identifiable.

Following the example of financial centers around the globe, the Monegasque Banking Association was required to prepare and submit to the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) a complete report, including a detailed explanation of the existing measures in Monaco, on both the legal and operational level, concerning the identification of clients by financial and banking institutions, as well as the procedures and obligations these establishments are required to take against money laundering.

The agreement of the American authorities is important for two reasons:

-it allows Monegasque institutions as of next January 1, to operate under the same conditions and with equal regard as those principal financial centers that have already reached such an agreement- which is not the case for all of them- and the files of their clients who are already investors or who will become investors of American securities can only serve to reinforce the brand image and the professionalism of banks in the Principality.

- it is the first time that an organization as highly qualified as the IRS, whose rigor and seriousness is well-known, has awarded in a certain way a label of quality to the current operation in the Principality concerning the sensitive issues of the identification of economic beneficiaries and the fight against money-laundering.

The decision of the IRS was reached after an extensive analysis of legislative texts, as well as professional recommendations from within the Principality. The decision of the IRS serves to disprove recent accusations directed at the Principality regarding the supposed insufficient and lax measures taken by the financial institutions against money laundering.