Bahamas FATCA Agreement Reached
The Ministry of Financial Services is pleased to advise that the Cabinet of The Bahamas approved, in principle, the Model 1 Agreement between the Government of The Bahamas and the Government of the United States to implement Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) following a productive round of negotiations with the United States Treasury Department on 8th April, 2014. The Ministry has conveyed this approval in principle to the United States Treasury Department, who will now deem The Bahamas as having an agreement “in effect”, thereby allowing Bahamian financial institutions to register on the IRS FATCA Portal as Model 1 Participating Financial Institutions.
The Ministry will be issuing further guidance on the FATCA due diligence requirements.
The Ministry invites all affected Bahamian financial institutions to register with the IRS Portal to receive a Global Intermediary Identification Number (GIIN) by 5th May, 2014. Bahamian financial institutions may also wish to review the IRS Announcement 2014-17, “Update on Jurisdictions Treated as Having an IGA in Effect and on FATCA Financial Institution Registration” found at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/a-14-17.pdf.
The Ministry thanks the other Government agencies and The Bahamas financial services industry that have worked closely with the Ministry in achieving this positive outcome.
