FATCA looms: Auditors need to place it on their radar

KINGSTON, Jamaica - During an enlightening presentation to internal auditors at a recent meeting of the Institute of Internal Auditors (Jamaica chapter) by Mr George Roper, Scotiabank's, vice-president for compliance, the cold, hard facts of FATCA were expounded.
FATCA is the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, a new United States (US) law aimed at foreign financial institutions (FFIs) and other financial intermediaries to prevent tax evasion by US citizens and residents through use of offshore accounts.
Mr Roper, himself a past president of the chapter, proficiently outlined the chronology of this act's development which was passed into law on March 18, 2010, and proposed regulations issued on February 8, 2012 when the US Treasury issued a joint statement on FATCA with five other EU countries. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Treasury extended and aligned some timelines on October 24, 2012. The United Kingdom and Denmark signed an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) on September 12 and November 15, 2012, respectively. On November 8, 2012 the US Treasury announced that they are negotiating agreements with more than 50 countries to accommodate FATCA, and more recently the US Treasury released drafts of model 1 and 2 of IGAs; the Foreign Financial Institution (FFI) Agreement and reporting forms to be issued later this year.