Pan-American Life Shares FATCA Best Practices With Local Insurance Association Members

WILLEMSTAD – Pan-American Life Insurance Company of Curaçao and Sint Maarten, a member of Pan-American Life Insurance Group (PALIG), facilitated a discussion yesterday with other members of the local insurance association about the practical implications of the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) which was introduced in July 2014.

“Although FATCA is a federal law of the United States, it impacts financial service providers, such as insurance companies, on an international scale,” explained Valery Sinot, Pan-American Life’s General Manager for the Dutch Caribbean. “Pan-American Life operates in 21 markets outside of the United States so there was a need for us to develop a comprehensive strategy for incorporating FATCA’s requirements into our daily business activities.”

In the case of the insurance industry, FATCA requires that insurance companies report, to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), general information about certain cash value polices or annuities held by U.S. taxpayers. Most policy owners in the Dutch Caribbean who are foreign nationals will not be overly impacted by this legistation although they will be required to provide documentation supporting their status as a non U.S. citizen or resident.

As a result, local insurers will be assessing the need for changes to their operations and underwriting processes in order to faciliate compliance with FATCA. “We wanted to share the experience that we had adapting our business to be compliant with this legislation,” explained Martine van Oorsouw-Hofhuis, Pan-American Life’s Curaçao based Regional Counsel and Compliance Officer. “It is part of our wider commitment to compliance, and to being an active and responsible corporate citizen in all the markets where we do business.”