Given that the departments usually handling FATCA, CRS and GDPR are swamped with a variety of other year-end tasks, this post may not be welcome . . . but you’ll thank me later! FATCA: Deregister Now & Avoid 2021 Reporting If you sell, liquidate or otherwise terminate a Reporting Foreign Financial Institution (FFI) by December 31, 2019 make sure you deregister it from the IRS FATCA portal. Certain jurisdictions require that a Reporting FFI submit a FATCA report even when t

The South Dakota Trust Association hosted its third annual Fall Forum on October 17 & October 18, 2019. We were fortunate to have Scott Kelly, Deputy Director of Trusts, South Dakota Division of Banking and Jonathan Sanborn, Esq., Financial Institution Examiner, South Dakota Division of Banking provide helpful information during the “Guidance on Foreign Trusts” panel. South Dakota The South Dakota trust industry has over $500 billion assets under management (AUM). This numb

The South Dakota Trust Association is hosting its third annual Fall Forum on October 17 & October 18, 2019 at Sioux Falls Convention Center. The Fall Forum will include a variety of speakers on both the local and national level addressing a wide range of topics relating to South Dakota and the broader trust industry. I will be the moderator of the “Guidance on Foreign Trusts” panel. We have a great line up on the panel: Scott Kelly, Deputy Director of Trust, South Dakota

As promised in July, Singapore provided details regarding changes to FATCA reporting requirements. The changes take effect as of April 1, 2020. End of IDES Despite being a Model 1 IGA jurisdiction, Singapore has required Reporting Singapore Financial Institutions (SGFIs) to submit electronic FATCA reporting through the U.S. Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) International Data Exchange System (“IDES”). Effective April 1, 2020, all Reporting SGFIs must submit all electronic FA

Your exhibition booth has arrived safely to the trust and estate conference in Europe. You have a stack of business cards packed in your bag. You have a private cocktail party planned for potential clients. Missing anything? Yes, your GDPR strategy. GDPR The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a European Union (EU) legal regime that provides a consumer rights regarding her personal data. The onus is on businesses to protect EU citizens’ privacy and personal da

The British Virgin Islands (BVI) tax authority issued a notice on Friday, June 21, 2019 alerting filers that the deadline for both FATCA and CRS is July 31, 2019 . The extended deadline is applicable to all reporting Virgin Islands Financial Institutions, and is also relevant for Nil filings and Trustee Documented Trusts (TDTs) with reportable accounts. The BVI posted the updated CRS Reportable Jurisdictions list on 9th May, 2019. The list can be found here: https://bvi.go

The Cayman Islands AEOI Portal is currently online and open for notifications and reporting for all years. The deadline for both CRS and FATCA is July 31, 2019. The new Industry Advisory provides a number of updates regarding the portal user guide, error and status notifications, and frequently asked questions (FAQs). The industry advisory also covers the below topics. Sponsoring Entities & CRS Reporting The industry advisory emphasizes that CRS does not recognize the Sp

The Bahamas Competent Authority announced that its automatic exchange of information (AEOI) portal will open for FACTA and CRS-AEOI registration and submission on Monday July 15, 2019 at 9AM EDT. (This is the same time zone as New York and 2PM in London). The Bahamas AEOI portal will close on Friday August 30, 2019 at 5PM EDT. Registration If a Financial Institution was created after the 2018 registration period ended, it must complete its initial registration by August 3

Your Foreign Financial Institution (FFI) has been sold or dissolved. You remember to cancel the FFI’s IRS FATCA portal registration. All done! After all, your FFI is a Reporting Model 1 FFI with no post -cancellation certification requirements. So, why is the IRS still indicating you are past due on certification? Portal Deregistration Deregistration from the IRS FATCA portal requires that the Responsible Officer (RO) or authorized person access the FFI account and click

Feeling good about your FATCA compliance? How about GDPR compliance? The European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect on May 25, 2018. For those that have not yet created a compliance program, you are almost a year late. And yes, the GDPR may apply to United States financial institutions (USFIs). What Is It? The GDPR is an EU legal regime that provides a consumer rights regarding her personal data. The GDPR was created to replace an outd

Mauritius issued new regulations on April 23, 2019 that amend the Income Tax (Common Reporting Standard) Regulations 2018. The new regulations increase monetary penalties, address anti-avoidance schemes, and provide greater details on dormant accounts. Monetary Penalties Monetary penalties have been increased under the new regulations. Specific penalties are assigned to particular forms of Common Reporting Standard (CRS) non-compliance including: Non-compliance Continu

Once again, the Cayman Islands has extended the deadline for FATCA and Common Reporting Standard (CRS) reporting from May 31 to July 31. Cayman Islands Portal Open The Cayman Islands Department for International Tax Cooperation (TIA) also announced that its Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) portal is open for FATCA and CRS reporting submissions. Now is the time to submit any 2014 - 2017 reporting that you failed to submit previously while the portal is not bombarded

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced that an individual must have her own tax identification number (TIN) in order to be the “responsible party” on the application to obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN). This change is effective as of May 13, 2019. What’s the difference between a TIN, SSN, ITIN & EIN? TIN: An identification number used by the IRS in the administration of tax laws. A Social Security Number (SSN), Individual Tax Identification Numb

Check your FATCA account in box and you will discover that the second Responsible Officer (RO) FATCA certification season is already upon us and the deadline is July 1, 2019. IRS E-mails The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has sent out e-mails alerting ROs to check messages in their FATCA accounts. Once you log into your account in the IRS FATCA portal you may discover the following message: Periodic certification is due Type: Action Required Your periodic certification for t