ARTICLE · 05 JANUARY 2015

FATCA in Australia: Q&A

Holley Nethercote

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The article discusses common issues, problems and challenges arising from the implementation of FATCA in Australia.

AustraliaTax

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David Court, a partner at Holley Nethercote Commercial and Financial Services Lawyers was recently interviewed by an international publication regarding the implementation of FATCA in Australia.

Below are some of David's thoughts – How have you approached FATCA? What's your biggest challenge? What has the impact been? Tell us in the comments below.

What issues has FATCA given rise to in Australia?

Timing
The implementation of FATCA in Australia is pursuant to a 'Model 1 Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA)' signed by Australia and the US. This was not formalised until the end of April 2014. The domestic legislation that implements the IGA also came late in the piece on 30 June 2014 for a 1 July 2014 start. This resulted in many Australian financial institutions being unprepared for implementation of the FATCA regime.

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