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FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act)
This is a US tax law that requires foreign financial institutions to submit US taxpayer account information to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The Act was passed on 18 March 2010 by the US Congress and came into force on 1 July 2014.
Raiffeisenbank's obligations in connection with FATCA are primarily based on the Agreement between the Czech Republic and the United States of America to Improve International Tax Compliance. The Agreement came into force as of 18 December 2014 and was subsequently implemented, like CRS, by Act No. 164/2013 Coll. on international cooperation in tax administration and on amendments to other related Acts.
FATCA applies to US nationals (regardless of whether they live in the US or not) as well as green card holders, their spouses, children and all persons having material assets in the United States of America, regardless of their domicile or nationality. Since these individuals are required under US tax law to declare and pay taxes on their global income in the US, FATCA was designed primarily as a means of combating tax evasion.
Under the above legislation, banks are required to identify persons with potential US tax obligations and report them to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) through the Specialized Tax Office. The structure of the reported data is comparable to the CRS report.
For new and existing clients having a potential relationship to the US, the bank must verify tax obligations in the United States of America. This is done using W-9, W-8BEN and W-8BEN-E tax forms.
- W-9 must be completed by US tax residents. Such persons may include:
- persons having their permanent residence in the US,
- US nationals (including dual nationality),
- Green Card holders,
- legal entities registered in the US,
- legal entities with a registered office in the US,
- legal entities of any kind organized under US law.
- W-8BEN is to be completed by natural persons and individual entrepreneurs who are not US tax residents.
- W-8BEN-E is to be completed by legal entities that are not US tax residents.
More information is available on the website of the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic.
Raiffeisenbank a.s. performs client due diligence to eliminate the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing to the greatest possible extent. Client due diligence is often known as "Know Your Customer". At the bank's request, every client is obliged to provide the information necessary for the due diligence and to submit the relevant documents. If the client fails to provide such cooperation or if the client due diligence cannot be carried out for any other reason, the bank must proceed in accordance with applicable laws.
The bank ascertains and evaluates information on the purpose and nature of the transaction or business relationship, the nature of business activities, information on the identification and verification of the client's beneficial ownership and identification of the client's management and ownership structure, and information on the origin of assets of a politically exposed person or on the application of international sanctions to the client. In accordance with Sec. 9a of Act No. 253/2008 Coll., the bank carries out enhanced identification and due diligence of clients with a high-risk third country as their country of origin, all at any time during the establishment or existence of the business relationship. The list of high-risk countries is determined on the basis of Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/1675 and the FATF list of high-risk countries. From the bank's perspective, AML (Anti Money Laundering) rules must be adhered to. These are anti-money laundering measures that are also intended to combat the financing of terrorism (CFT).
The bank treats all client data and submitted information in accordance with the principles of banking secrecy.