FACTBOX: Status of bank secrecy protection in Europe

(Reuters) - The United States is seeking to close tax loopholes that allow companies and individuals to hide income, as well as to crack down on overseas tax havens.

The EU said on April 28 it would seek to negotiate anti-fraud agreements with five countries -- Switzerland, Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino -- to include tax sharing information.

A number of European countries maintain strict laws protecting banking privacy, although many of these have been modified in recent times:

* ANDORRA -- Said on March 12 it would pass by November a law lifting banking secrecy when required to do so by agreements on the interchange of tax data, in accordance with a 2005 policy aimed at Andorra's removal from the OECD's list of tax havens.

* AUSTRIA -- Is on an OECD "grey list" of countries that have not signed international agreements to combat tax evasion.

-- Announced on March 13 that it would abide by OECD rules by cooperating on sharing information on a case-by-case basis.

-- Allows strict banking secrecy, although information is provided on request to governments producing evidence that the account holder is involved in a criminal investigation.

-- Allows account holders to maintain bank secrecy by paying withholding tax.

* BELGIUM -- The OECD puts Belgium on a "grey list" of countries that have agreed to improve transparency standards but have not yet signed the necessary double taxation accords.

-- Belgium has opted to keep bank secrecy and to charge foreign account holders withholding tax under the 2005 EU Savings Directive.

-- Bank secrets may be revealed as evidence when an account holder is under investigation.

-- Belgium is only one of three countries (also Austria and Luxembourg) that have opt-outs from EU rules on taxing savings held by citizens outside their home state.

* GUERNSEY -- Guernsey signed an agreement with Germany on March 26 to share information for tax purposes.

* JERSEY -- On March 23 signed an agreement with France to combat tax fraud by exchanging information. It had already signed similar agreements with the United States, Germany and Britain.

-- Jersey is the UK's largest offshore center. Bank deposits on the island were 206 billion pounds ($306.1 billion) at the end of 2008.

* LIECHTENSTEIN -- Said on March 26 it would start tax talks with Britain on more cooperation to fight tax cheats and encourage voluntary disclosure of bank clients' untaxed money.

-- It also agreed to relax its strict bank secrecy laws and commit to OECD standards on tax transparency and data exchange. No plans to move to automatic exchange of information, but will be more co-operative with other tax authorities on request.

-- It agreed in December to cooperate on tax evasion with the United States.

-- New regulations require named account holders rather than permitting banks to issue numbered accounts. * LUXEMBOURG -- The country, which holds about $1 trillion of global offshore assets, said on April 3 that it should be taken off the OECD "grey list" of non-cooperative countries.

-- Agreed on March 13 to abide by OECD rules by cooperating on sharing information about foreign savers on a case-by-case basis.

-- Banking secrecy law says that those who work in financial institutions cannot reveal information to the outside world except in money-laundering cases.

* MONACO -- Announced on March 26 that it is prepared to enter into agreements for the exchange of information in all tax matters in accordance with OECD standards.

* SAN MARINO -- On March 30, San Marino announced its willingness to enter into bilateral agreements to combat non-compliance with other countries' tax laws, and said it is prepared to amend legislation on bank secrecy before the end of September 2009.

-- San Marino has agreed to allow account holders to keep bank secrecy by paying withholding tax.

* SWITZERLAND -- Switzerland urged a U.S. court on April 30 to reject demands by U.S. tax authorities for information about U.S. clients of UBS AG.

-- The Swiss government said on April 8 that new bilateral tax treaties could be subject to a referendum.

-- On March 13, Switzerland agreed to relax its strict bank secrecy rules and cooperate more on tax evasion. It would embrace OCED standards for tax cooperation and exchange of information.

-- Switzerland will only pass on information following detailed requests on individual cases.

-- Banks supply information requested by foreign governments pursuing criminal investigations of individuals.

-- Switzerland allows EU account holders to keep bank secrecy by paying withholding tax.

-- Has signed bilateral agreements with dozens of states under which it will give access to bank accounts in specific instances where it has found clear evidence of tax fraud.

-- Is the world's biggest offshore center with about $2 trillion or about 27 percent of estimated global offshore assets, according to the Boston Consulting Group.

-- On March 7, Switzerland rejected U.S. demands that UBS should hand over the data of 52,000 U.S. clients.

* THE EU SAVINGS TAX DIRECTIVE:

-- The European Union's savings directive, introduced in 2005, dealt a first blow to tax havens by forcing European wealth management centers to apply a withholding tax on interest from savings from undeclared EU income.

-- The EU is drafting a new directive.

Sources: Reuters; OECD (www.oecd.org)

($1=.6730 Pound) (Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit; Additional writing by Carl Bagh; editing by Simon Jessop)