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    Home  ›  About Us  ›  FATCA

    WHAT IS THE FATCA LAW?

    SISICNFATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) is a law approved by the U.S. Congress in 2010 to promote fiscal transparency and reinforce compliance with the tax obligations of U.S. citizens or residents.

    FATCA applies to U.S. financial institutions (U.S. withholding agents) outside the U.S., Foreign Financial Institutions (FFIs), and some foreign non-financial entities (NFFEs). These businesses must keep a record of financial accounts held by U.S. persons and payments made to non-US persons that originate from U.S. sources.

    This law requires that financial institutions around the world identify customers with U.S. nationality or tax residence in the U.S. with – among others – financial accounts abroad. They are also required to annually report their locations and movements to the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) or the local tax department, depending on the Intergovernmental agreement that each country signs with the IRS of each country.

    As of July 1, 2014, policies and procedures have been applied in order to evaluate and classify new clients according to FATCA.

    This classification can be a U.S. Person or a Non-U.S. person for individual clients. In addition, companies can be classified as U.S. persons, NFFE (Non-Foreign Financial Entity) with substantial owners who are U.S. Citizens, or NFEE without substantial owners who are U.S. Persons. For financial entities, according to FATCA, the classification is Participating FFI or Non-participating FFI.

    What is a US Person?

    A U.S. Person is a client who meets at least some of the following:

    • Persons who hold dual nationality (U.S. or other).
    • U.S. citizens, even if they do not reside in the U.S.
    • Naturalized persons with a U.S. passport.
    • Persons born in the U.S., unless they can prove that they renounced their U.S. nationality.
    • U.S. Permanent Residents (Green Card Holders) or persons who meet the Substantial Presence Test. A foreign national who is present in the U.S. for at least 183 days taking into account every day (at least 31) in the current year, 1/3 the number of days during the first preceding year, and 1/6 the number of days during the second preceding year.
    • Companies or legal entities incorporated in the US.

    Common Reporting Standards
    What is CRS?

    The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) is the global reporting standard developed by the OECD* for the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) regarding Financial Accounts. The CRS, published in July 2014, contains a series of regulations for financial institutions to identify persons subject to reporting to authorities within their jurisdictions. Subsequently, the appropriate information will be automatically exchanged between participating jurisdictions on an annual basis.

    The standard establishes:

    • The information to be exchanged regarding financial accounts.
    • The financial institutions that are required to report this information.
    • The different types of accounts and taxpayers affected.
    • Common Due Diligence Procedures

    Who does CRS apply to?

    The CRS covers individuals and entities (including trusts) that hold reporting accounts at financial institutions located in participating jurisdictions.

    Certain types of legal entities that are located in non-participating jurisdictions with reporting controlling persons may be required to report certain information to financial institutions located in participating jurisdictions when doing business with these institutions.

     

    We invite you to download the Definitions Guide for Clients in order to learn some necessary definitions, terms and concepts that will make it easier for you to fill out some forms.

    Questions or comments? Please call us at 08001 CURBNK (287265) or email us at atencionalcliente@bcbbank.com.
    For more information about FATCA please visit the IRS website (www.irs.gov/FATCA)