Welcome to this December edition of the Insurance Market
Update, which considers one of the issues facing the life insurance
industry, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act
("FATCA").
Insurers are currently focusing on the all important date of 1
January 2013 when the new Solvency II regime comes into effect. On
this same date a new US tax regime, part of the US crack-down on
tax evasion, will come into force with a potentially significant
impact on UK life insurers.
In this month's edition, Anne Hamilton and Chris Tragheim
discuss the provisions enacted by FATCA, why it is relevant to UK
life insurers and how this might affect them. They then address the
main areas where the insurance industry is trying to lobby the US
tax authorities in the hope of reducing the burden of this new
legislation. Finally, they give an outline of the next steps for
FATCA and how insurers should prepare for its implementation.
