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Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York:

In 2010, US Congress passed the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). This original legislation was passed in a form common to financial regulations that come out of Congress – it was largely a shell to be filled in by qualified financial agents of the government. The result, and the hype surrounding it has created a new sphere of regulative uncertainty and hyperbolic reactions from a variety of players impacted by the legislation.

I spoke with Michael Hirschfeld, Partner at Dechert, a global law firm, about how FATCA is likely to be implemented in practice and what the government is doing in light of significant industry comments on the initial draft.

"In Congress they had a concept that sounded simple when you think about it, that they wanted offshore investor to disclose their identity but they left the details to the IRS and the details are a major problem," Hirschfeld says.

FATCA is essentially designed to force US citizens with financial accounts abroad to pay taxes on those accounts. The federal government has created an agreement with a number of countries to help to enforce these new laws and create an international information sharing environment about accounts held within their borders. Countries that have decided not to participate may face up to a 30% automat......................

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