Agenda - 9th November 2011
08:30 – 18.00
Conference
08:30 Registration and coffee
09:00 Chair’s opening address
Frédéric Batardy, Senior Tax Manager, KBL European Private Bankers also Chairman, Luxembourg BankingAssociation’s (ABBL) Working Group on QI and Chairman, European Banking Federation’s (EBF) Working Group on QI and other Tax Issues
09.10 Update on the current situation: US Treasury and IRS plans to phase in the requirements of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)
FATCA was enacted into U.S. law in March 2010 by President Barack Obama as part of the HIRE Act (Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment) and the new regulations will come into force as of January 1st, 2013. Although FATCA is an extension on the existing Qualified Intermediary regime, it is by no means flawless or straightforward. We will also discuss the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service notice announcing plans to phase in the requirements of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Under the notice’s phased implementation approach, foreign financial institutions (FFIs) and U.S. withholding agents are given adequate time to build the systems needed to fully comply with FATCA
Denise M. Hintzke, Global Tax Leader, Foreign Account Tax Compliance, Deloitte Tax LLP
09:40 FATCA and compliance mechanisms
• Satisfying deemed compliance status
• Understanding Operational and Compliance Risks in the light of FATCA
• Pass-thru payments
• Conflicts with local laws
• Trust
Aileen Barry, DLA Piper
10:10 A view on FATCA from within the business
• The phased implementation; how will the new timelines influence our operational businesses?
• How much relief do we actually get from phased implementation?
• When do we need to be ready for FATCA?
Manja de Goede-Kisman, Global QI Coordinator, ABN AMRO Clearing Bank
10:40 Morning coffee
11:00 FATCA: diligence to be undertaken by participating FFI’s to classify customer’s accounts
• Existing vs new accounts
• Accounts in the name of individuals vs legal entities
• US indicia
• FFI / exempt entities / US entities / non-excepted NFFE
Anne Frenay, Tax Department, Dexia Banque Internationale A Luxembourg
Alain De Clercq, Tax Department, Dexia Bank Belgium
11:30 The flaws in FATCA
• Is greater clarification needed?
• The US government has been accused of ‘bullying its nationals living overseas’. Is their treatment unfair?
• Do any loopholes still exist?
• Can you predict future problems that might arise from the implementation of FATCA?
Saskia Van Wesemael, Director, Legal Division, Euroclear
Sophie Biourge, Director, Product Management, Euroclear
12.00 Impact of FATCA on funds and administrators
The overall intention of “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)” is to combat tax evasion by U.S. persons more intensively. FATCA will bolster the U.S. government’s arsenal and will make it more difficult for U.S. persons to hide income and assets. For financial intermediaries and for investment funds FATCA represents a major challenge. The new rules translate into new withholding tax, documentation and reporting obligations which have the potential to dramatically change the way investment funds are managed, delegate their responsibilities and distribute their products
Johannes Höring, Executive Director, Global Tax Services, J.P. Morgan Bank Luxembourg S.A.
Pascal Noel, GFSI Partner, Deloitte Luxembourg
12.30 EU tax proposals in the light of FATCA
The speaker will compare the EU approach by presenting the EU proposals in order to highlight the convergences and divergences with FATCA. It would show that EU members tax authorities could “learn” a few lessons through FATCA to adopt into their own legislation
Hugues Besson, Director & Head of Tax, Clearstream
13.00 Networking lunch
14.00 Life insurance and pension funds under FATCA
This session will focus on the areas in which have agreed to increase requirements, but upon which there has been nominal guidance
Marnin Michaels, Partner, Baker & McKenzie
14.30 Withholding issues including the OECD’s “TRACE” (Treaty Relief and Compliance Enhancement) project
The OECD, through its Treaty Relief and Compliance Enhancement (TRACE) project, is now more than five years into the development of a standardized system through which countries could offer streamlined procedures for claiming reduced treaty rates of withholding tax on portfolio investment income and could obtain improved information reporting about the recipients of that income. What are the implications of the proposed system for investors, financial intermediaries and governments? How will it change the landscape for obtaining treaty relief internationally? How will it interact with other initiatives, such as the IRS’s FATCA?
John P Everett, Head of Tax Services, Global Custody Europe, HSBC Securities Services
15.00 Panel discussion: coping with FATCA: can FATCA be minimized or avoided?
• Is eliminating US accounts a viable way to address the costs and complexities of FATCA?
• The operational implementation of FATCA
• Why the Notice 2011-34 approach is of limited value and likely be modified European FFIs
• Is eliminating U.S. source investments a sure way to avoid FATCA?
• How potential relief provided to non-financial businesses may help “bad” FFIs
• Is a pan-European solution based on the Savings Directive a potential alternative?
• Efforts by the European Commission to find an alternative to the unfolding FATCA regime
• Other possible escape hatches from FATCA for FFIs
• Who Bears the Costs of FATCA?
• Instances of non-compliance and how to get back on track with the IRS
Marnin Michaels, Partner, Baker & McKenzie
Manja De Goede Kisman, Global QI Coordinator, ABN AMRO Clearing Bank
Karlheinz Moll, Business Consultant, Spiroco
Andrew Solomon, Managing Partner of the Tax Group, Sullivan & Cromwell
Koen Marsoul, Partner, Ernst & Young
15.30 Potential impacts of FATCA on capital markets and the business decisions of banks
• FATCA is intended to be applied outside the US by non-US financial institutions, i.e. by the entire non-US financial services sector affecting several hundred thousand FFIs
• FATCA will require non-US banks to implement burdensome measures regarding their business activities. At the moment this looks like a rather unbalanced solution. In order to identify and report a minority of US clients (let’s say 5%), non-US banks would have to build costly systems to identify and document the majority of non-US clients (i.e. 95%) under US laws, even if these clients have no connection with the US
• After 2013 the international financial services community might be divided into two camps. One FATCA-compliant camp will still be doing business with the US while the other camp renounces business with the US
• Foreign investors in the US capital markets might be trapped in undesirable situations and have to suffer financial consequences
• FATCA will have a negative impact on US capital markets due to the substantial compliance costs, which will have to be borne mostly by non-US banks. The worldwide compliance costs will exceed any additional tax revenues in the US
• Because FFIs will have to comply with both the laws of their own jurisdiction and also with FATCA, a conflict of laws is pre-programme
Urs Kapalle, Director of Taxation & Fiscal Policy, Swiss Bankers Association
16.00 Afternoon tea
16.20 FATCA’s consequences on financial services
• FATCA’s impact – who does it affect and how does it affect them?
• How FATCA affects financial services
• Can your institution choose not to implement FATCA?
• Compliance and non compliance
• Opt out?
• Issues to be considered when implementing FATCA
Kerstin Thinnes, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers
16.50 Impact of FATCA in the investment management industry
FATCA represents a major challenge for the investment management community. It impacts product and market strategy, distribution strategy and business models, as well as the fundamental configuration of funds and legal entities. Its scope is significantly broader than the current qualified intermediary regime and its requirements cannot be met with existing processes and systems. In order to comply with FATCA, fund operators will have to fundamentally change their operating models, from the identification and documentation of customers, through the product portfolio, to internal processes and IT systems. Many are finding this process incredibly complex and time consuming
Georges Bock, Global Chairman, Funds Tax Network, KPMG
17.20 Roundtable discussion: The chair directs discussions on the top three issues raised by the audience
17:50 Chair’s closing remarks
18.00 End of conference
