Ladies and Gentlemen, since FATCA was enacted in March 2010 by the U.S. government as part of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act, it has generated much heated debate and has been described in rather uncomplimentary terms. FATCA has been hailed as: “A ticking time-bomb”; “An attempt to convert foreigners into unpaid IRS agents”; “A kind of U.S. backward imperialism”.
FATCA requires foreign financial institutions to report directly to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) all clients who are U.S. citizens, green card holders living in the U.S. or abroad, or who are foreign entities in which U.S. taxpayers hold a substantial ownership interest.