Tax planning and structuring mandates carry both AML and DAC6 reporting exposure.

Why it matters

Cross-border arrangements raise structuring questions and reportable-arrangement flags at the same time.

Where the scope gets real

Tax-advisory work combines two kinds of exposure: AML risk tied to client identity, ownership and funds, and structuring risk tied to cross-border arrangements, intermediaries and possible DAC6 hallmarks.

Where teams lose time

The office therefore needs more than a basic CDD checklist. It needs a way to record who the client is, what structure is being proposed, which countries are involved, what the rationale is, and whether that combination changes the risk or reporting posture.

Typical files and mandate types

• Cross-border holding or financing structures involving multiple EU jurisdictions
• Family-office and private-client structuring files where beneficial ownership and funds rationale matter together
• Advisory engagements where AML review and DAC6 analysis evolve as the arrangement is refined

What Sceau does

• Risk profiling tuned for tax-advisory mandates
• DAC6 intermediary flags surfaced alongside the AML file
• Defensible, versioned records for every advisory engagement

What usually goes wrong

• Structures changing in practice while the compliance file still reflects the first draft
• Country combinations and intermediary roles that raise DAC6 questions after work has already started
• Advisory notes that explain the tax logic but not the client-risk logic

How Sceau works in practice

• Profile the engagement around countries, entities, beneficial owners and mandate purpose from the first intake
• Surface DAC6-relevant signals next to the AML file instead of in a separate shadow process
• Keep a dated, versioned record of changes when a structure evolves during the engagement

What changes operationally

• Cross-border tax work is documented as a living file rather than a one-off memo
• Reviewers can see whether the risk comes from the client, the structure or both
• The office has a defensible record if the arrangement is later questioned by a supervisor or authority

What stays under your control

Sceau gives tax advisors a versioned advisory file: the factual client record, the ownership map, the origin-of-funds evidence and the structuring indicators stay aligned so the office can later explain what it saw at the moment advice was given.